Home → About NC Cardinal → Policies → Cataloging Policy
Last Updated 05/16/2023
The NC Cardinal consortium is committed to providing the highest standard of library service for consortium patrons. Member libraries share the responsibility of maintaining high-quality bibliographic records, as they form the foundation of the consortium’s shared catalog. To ensure the consistent quality and integrity of these shared resources, all member libraries within NC Cardinal shall ensure that any staff who perform cataloging functions in the ILS conform to the NC Cardinal Cataloging Best Practices established by the consortium and shall pass the appropriate cataloging assessments based on the criteria below:
The NC Cardinal Cataloging Committee has identified two levels of cataloging privilege. Item Catalogers primarily impact records within their local system. Bibliographic Catalogers additionally administer consortium-wide bibliographic resources. Some actions within the catalog do not require cataloging permissions, such as editing item and volume records (replacing a barcode, changing a call number, copy status, shelving location, etc.)
Any staff who wish to have Item Cataloging permissions must pass the Item Cataloging assessment. Examples of item cataloging include adding or deleting item and/or volume records.
Any staff who wish to have Bibliographic Cataloging permissions must pass both the Item Cataloging assessment and the Bibliographic Cataloging assessment. Examples of bibliographic cataloging include creating, editing, merging, or deleting bibliographic records as well as importing records from any outside source (vendor, z39.50, etc.). All NC Cardinal libraries should endeavor to have at least one certified Bibliographic Cataloger on staff at all times.
The NC Cardinal Cataloging Committee establishes, reviews, and updates the Cataloging Best Practices for the NC Cardinal Consortium. The Committee reviews and updates the assessments to ensure they fairly evaluate comprehension of consortium cataloging standards. Periodic recertification may be required for catalogers in NC Cardinal.
Any NC Cardinal library may suggest changes to the Cataloging Best Practices and to this Cataloging Policy by contacting a Cataloging Committee, Governance Committee, or NC Cardinal staff member.
Staff who have not yet passed the necessary assessment(s) to perform cataloging duties may be assigned temporary/limited Item Cataloging permissions. If there is no other Bibliographic Cataloger in a library system and a cataloger wishes to receive temporary/limited Bibliographic Cataloging permissions, they must first pass the Item Cataloging assessment. Temporary/limited cataloging permissions may be granted for no more than 3 months. Any cataloging work performed by catalogers with temporary cataloging permission must be reviewed by a certified Bibliographic Cataloging mentor (either within their library system or from another library system in NC Cardinal). This assigned Bibliographic Cataloging mentor will have the responsibility to regularly review and correct their mentee’s cataloging work until such time as the mentee passes the necessary assessment(s).
NC Cardinal staff will regularly monitor the Item and Bibliographic Cataloging assessment results, notify successful candidates after they achieve the passing score established by the Cataloging Committee, and assign the new cataloging permissions. Assigned cataloging logins may only be used by the person to whom they were assigned and a library system must promptly notify NC Cardinal staff when a certified cataloger no longer works at the library.
Catalogers will be notified by an NC Cardinal staff member when their practices do not conform to Cataloging Best Practice Standards. Staff that fail to address these concerns will be offered the opportunity to work with a mentor Bibliographic Cataloger. If non-compliance continues, the library director will be notified of continuing concerns regarding the cataloger’s performance.
Any member library that repeatedly fails to comply with the NC Cardinal Cataloging Best Practices as agreed to in the NC Cardinal Memorandum of Agreement sections I. B. 2 & 3, may result in suspension or revocation of cataloging privileges for the non-conforming staff member, subject to review by and decision of the Governance Committee.
Passed by NC Cardinal Governance Committee on February 13, 2019