Page 23 - Cataloging and Classification for Library Technicians, 2nd Edition

Introduction 5

FIGURE 1.2. Library Orga nizational Chart (by Personnel)

LIBRARY PERSONNEL
(by Hierarchy)

PROFESSIONAL SUPPORTIVE

DIRECTOR LIBRARY ASSOCIATE

LIBRARIAN LIBRARY TECHNICIAN

CLERK

do not even make that dis tinction, and as a re sult, ev eryone who
works there is a “li brarian.” The only na tionally rec ognized re quire-
ment is that the li brarian have a mas ter’s de gree in Li brary Sci ence.
Not only is there no universal stan dard re quirement for the next level
of li brary per sonnel, but there is also no uni versal agree ment on the
title for these dedicated, im portant li brary staff. For this book, the ti tle
li brary tech ni cian is cho sen. Other pub lications may use dif ferent ac -
ceptable ti tles, such as li brary tech ni cal as sis tant (LTA), li brary sup -
port staff, paraprofessional, or li brary as sis tant. Used less fre quently
and gen er ally con sid ered in ap pro pri ate, other ti tles that have ap peared
in the lit er a ture in clude non pro fes sional, subprofessional, li brary aide,
and paralibrarian. To day, the over all con sen sus sets the qual i fi ca tion
for li brary tech nician as a bach elor’s de gree or an associate de gree or
certificate, or ed ucation and training gained from a Li brary Tech nol-
ogy Pro gram in a four-year or community col lege. This is sue is be ing
discussed ex tensively in the li brary world, and there are indications
that, in the near fu ture, ei ther an as sociate de gree or a cer tificate will be
necessary to qual ify one as a bona fide library tech nician.

CATALOGING AND THE LIBRARY TECHNICIAN

Before we talk about what types of jobs li brary tech nicians per -
form in the area of cat aloging, let us ex amine what cataloging is and
why it is the most im portant function in the total li brary op eration.