Quick Cataloguing

We have recently installed Atriuum (yesterday) and deleted our beloved Concourse. I am told I will love it! My question is concerning Quick Cataloguing. This is for those with Atriuum. I have always classified and catalogued books myself (for over 40 years). I was trained l by Jackie Anderson. I was always careful to use my Sears and Dewey and always checked to see if recommended subjects were allowed in Sears. If they were not, I did not use them. Now with Quick Cataloguing, the Dewey numbers and Sears subjects are done for you. Sears tells me to use something else. It is faster to use what is given, but after years of checking everything, it goes against my grain to accept the answers that are given to you. What do other Atriuum users do? Do you accept the Dewey and Sears info without reservations, (which is much faster) or do you double check everything? Do you get rid of your Dewey and Sears and simply let Quick Cataloguing do the work for you, even though I do not agree with them? Or do you look up everything and do it the way you have always done? Any suggestions are most appreciated.

I have been using Atriuum quick cataloging for several years now. When I started our church library, I first visited all the church libraries in our area. One of the libraries was extremely organized, neat and tidy. The librarians agonized over how to classify every book and made sure that it was accurate up to several decimal places. However, it was obvious no one ever used this library!! From that experience I learned that it is more important to catalog items as accurately as possible but to not spend too much time on it. My time is better served by making our library an inviting place to be, engaging with the church members to learn what they want and displaying and shelving items where people can quickly and easily find them. I feel sure that most true librarians disagree with my method but I have never ever had a patron question me about the accuracy of the Dewey decimal number. They just want good, new and relevant materials!

Replies

Everlie Bolton February 17, 2017 20:13

I have been using Atriuum quick cataloging for several years now. When I started our church library, I first visited all the church libraries in our area. One of the libraries was extremely organized, neat and tidy. The librarians agonized over how to classify every book and made sure that it was accurate up to several decimal places. However, it was obvious no one ever used this library!! From that experience I learned that it is more important to catalog items as accurately as possible but to not spend too much time on it. My time is better served by making our library an inviting place to be, engaging with the church members to learn what they want and displaying and shelving items where people can quickly and easily find them. I feel sure that most true librarians disagree with my method but I have never ever had a patron question me about the accuracy of the Dewey decimal number. They just want good, new and relevant materials!
Ron Brown February 12, 2017 17:07

I look at what Atriuum suggests, ponder about it, and check Dewey/Sears if my experience causes me to suspect it should be closely inspected (If the source is Library of Congress, you probably should check Sears. Dewey can be shaky too.).

When in doubt, check it out! And do not be afraid to change it. I much prefer accuracy over speed!

Ron Brown

Trinity BC

Raleigh, NC

This reply was deleted.