Meeting with Collection Development and Management

Yesterday I went to the Collection Development and Management Department. The first person I met while there was Chris. Chris catalogs books. She has worked for Yale for 38 years. She has had her current position since 1993 and previously worked at Yale University's Sterling Memorial Library and was an EPH. Chris is currently working on cataloging 15,000 volumes in the stacks that were originally in the Annex. These volumes were never cataloged. So far, only a couple hundred have been cataloged. One of her most memorable professional experiences is when the library was transitioning into computers. Prior to the transition a book would have to go through presearching, acquisition, post searching, and then cataloging. Now cataloging is computer based instead of card catalogs. Getting through all of the books needing to be cataloged is one of the most difficult aspects of her job. Chris enjoys her job, but she will be retiring soon.

After meeting with Chris, I met with Mary. Mary is originally from Rhode Island and attended school there. In Rhode Island she received her bachelors in Health Education and then received her masters from the University of Toledo. Mary's job consists of changing records. The records need to correspond to what is on the shelves, so that there is no confusion for the patrons. Mary updates thousands of records for inter library loans, as well. She also updates a database, HINARI, for the World Health Organization, which gives the latest information on major journals. Two afternoons a week Mary answers questions for patrons that are not able to get material the library is supposed to have. Mary works at the information desk, too. At the information desk she helps patrons with printing and other issues. Also, she puts in holdings for DOCLINE. Mary has had her current position for 3 1/2 years and likes that she does different things. The most challenging thing about Mary's job is responding quickly and accurately to people.

Once I was done meeting with Mary, I briefly met with Daniel. Daniel is the Head of Collection Development and Management. Daniel attended Appalachian State University and received his bachelors in political science. He also received his M.L.S. at the University of Maryland. Daniel fell into working in D.C. under a U.S. senator. From there he went to work at the library of congress, which led to a job at UCONN. After that he came to his current job of 8 years. Daniel buys things for the library, processes them, gets books labeled and cataloged. Also, he manages the electronic collections and troubleshoots problems. A typical day for him includes: digging through his email, reading offers from vendors, working with staff, answering questions, helping to solve problems, looking at budgets, and looking at usage data.