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April Blog- A Piece of Cake...

MapButBlondie_th.jpg If I told anyone that this course was a piece of cake, I would be lying. At this juncture, I  would honestly like to feel that I have mastered these concepts, more effectively, but I have come to the realization that I will just have to continue to work at cataloging and classifying. After utilizing for these concepts over a period of time, I foresee that I will possess a much greater understanding of how to use both to manage a media center.

Prior to taking this course, I remember hearing to drastically different viewpoints about this course. Number one, "Classifying and Cataloging was one of the easiest courses I have taken thus far." Number two, "That class was really difficult, required lots of work, and I earned the lowest grade I have ever received during my graduate studies." As a result, I didn't know what to think and how to prepare. Throughout this course, I have felt so unsure of what was right and wrong.  A lot of the time, it seemed as though many of the concepts were very subjective so I was left to doubt if certain questions could be so easy. Occasionally, they were.

If I had to rate my confidence regarding the information presented within the modules, I would have to declare that feel like I am more comfortable with my understanding and utilization of Dewey Decimal Classification and MARC tagging. For the most part, I felt like I could determine the answers questions about these areas with the least hesitation and certainty.

Looking back, I do feel like I have learned a great deal about what cataloging really entails and understand that keeping consistency is crucial within the media center. Utilizing a central, consistent system allows information to be shared almost seamlessly.

Latasha Allison, LIBS 6120, April 30, 2008 Cool

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Posted Wednesday, April 30, 2008 9:45 PM by Laa2d | 0 Comments

Looking at Marc Anew

    Sample008.jpg As I began to read the Marc booklet, I noticed that there are a lot of smaller components involved in Marc tagging. Marc, ISBD, and AACR3 involve so many rules and regulations it seems like I will never remember them all. However, the Marc booklet mentioned that librarians start to begin to speak in Marcesse and readily remember all the tags, indicators, and fields. My mind keeps telling me, just like everything else, practice makes perfect.

    Lately, the assignments seem much easier and clear cut. As a result, I have started feel like I can actually grasp the recent concepts, but subject headings still baffle me. I simply feel incapable of handling the cataloging and classifying skills that a media specialist must possess. Still, I thought I was perfectly ready for the quiz, but when I started everything seemed to fly out the window and I was left speechless, thoughtless, and overwhelmed by all questions. Why does everything seem so easy until you really get involved?

            I just realized how much time, energy, and work goes in to organizing and library. In the addition, the constant influx of media, such as books, audiovisuals, electronic resources, and etc, requires media specialist and organizations like the LOC to constant make additions to the database. As a potential media specialist, I am so glad that I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Furthermore, having a standard cataloging method allows libraries to have greater access to a larger amount of resources.

 Honesty, I feel like I have been rambling, but when your mind is everywhere that all you can do to keep your sanity.

Laa2d- Latasha Allison- LIBS 6120- March 31, 2008
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Posted Monday, March 31, 2008 11:39 PM by Laa2d | 0 Comments

February Blog- Acronyms, Symbols, Indicators....Oh, My!

Tree.jpg Brancking out into Subject Headings, MARC, and ISBD

Acronyms, symbols, punctuation, delimiters, and indicators…OH, MY!  I know that mnemonic devices are a great way to memorize large amounts of information quickly and easily, but how can you remember so many at one time.

 In January, I was overwhelmed by the sheer multitude of information that librarians have to classify and catalog within the library and now I am a beginning to remember the terms and gain a better understanding of how to apply them in the library. Subject Headings have been a tough concept for me, because it seems like the headings depend on so many different factors.

Quite honestly, I feel like I second guessed myself on a lot of the headings, because they seemed too vague or too easy. Throughout this courser, we have continually talked about rules for punctuation and organization, yet everything seems open to interpretation. Prior to completing the Digging Homework, I felt like I had done well on the practice so I thought that the homework wouldn’t be too bad. Nevertheless, the homework left me completely unsure of myself.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to boost that grade and gain a better understanding of the material.

Even thought I have had trouble getting started in this course, I think that ISBD information and Marc Tags are much easier for me to comprehend. The Power Points and text lay the information out very clearly and provide multiple opportunities to practice locating and setting up the tags for a variety of information packages. Nonetheless, there are still a lot of rules to remember and factors to consider while creating the elements. And to top it off, it’s still wide open to interpretation. How do you truly know that everything is there? I know that there are clear guidelines for creating these records, but even the book mentions that “cataloging requires a bit of judgment on the part of the person doing the cataloging” (Kaplan and Riedling, 2006).  Who is to say my judgment is better than their judgment?

- Latasha Allison/LIBS 6120

Bibliography

Kaplan, A, & Riedling, A (2006). Catalog it! .Worthington: Linworth.

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Posted Friday, February 29, 2008 7:05 PM by Laa2d | 1 Comments

I feel like a blogger...(Blogging For the First Time)_ LIBS 6120

my eyes.JPGI have always heard people talking about blogging, and how it allows them to keep in touch with family and friends. I even had a co-worker that kept in touch with a terminally ill son and his wife through a family blog. Yet, I have never blogged. It is so new, but so full of possibilities. It seems so cool!

Anyway, enough of my nervous babbling. I was scared to start my blog, because I didn't quite no what to say. After I previewed a couple of blogs, I didn't feel alone anymore.

I am so overwhelmed, already. This course seems to full of new terms and numbers  that need to be remembered and processed. Quite honestly, I didn't understand how detailed and time consuming cataloging was. Generally, I am good with numbers, but there are so many.

Before each quiz, I thought to myself...you can handle it. Then five minutes in I would find myself wishing the timer would add an extra five minutes. That timer is evil. Thirty minutes seems like an eternity until you really get engrossed in something.

During my previous coursework, I realized that the history of librarianship is full of pioneers. After a couple weeks in this course, I have learned about even more contributors, specifically in the area of cataloging. Now I am starting to wonder, where did they get all of these ideas from? What lead them to these principles and systems of cataloging? Maybe they were a little obsessive compulsive and needed to organize everything. Or maybe they were just  like many of us, driven by the need for order.

For all those naysayers, Librarianship is definitely a profession! It is more than most people perceive it to be!

After learning all this information about cataloging and classifying, I might even have a cataloging system for my classroom library. If I don't have a meltdown before then.LOLWink

- Latasha Allison/LIBS 6120

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Posted Wednesday, January 30, 2008 6:26 PM by Laa2d | 0 Comments