Core Creative Ideas in Technical Services Interest Group

Portraits of three Core members with caption Become a Member: Find Your Home: Core.

 

  • 1.  Conundrum for February 2025

    Posted Feb 03, 2025 08:37 AM

    Please respond with ideas or relevant experiences that you have that will address this conundrum:

    In my library, two long-term catalogers are getting ready to retire on the same day.  In order to replace them and hire new catalogers, I need to justify that the positions are needed both to my director and to the administration.  Open positions are not currently being filled due to budgetary constraints, so it will take some extraordinary justification.  My director is hinting that at least one of those positions might be moved to public service, where it is easier to make a case for hiring a full-time librarian because there, they would be working directly with the students.  What concrete ideas do you have to help me justify keeping the two cataloging positions in my department and filling them with full-time librarians?

    If you are facing a different conundrum and would like to mine the experience of this interest group, please send a brief description to rbuser@cscc.edu.

    Thanks for your input,

    Robin Buser

    Chair, CORE Creative Ideas in Technical Services Interest Group

    rbuser@cscc.edu



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    Robin Buser
    Supervisor, Acquisitions & Metadata Services
    Columbus State Community College Library
    She/Her/Hers
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  • 2.  RE: Conundrum for February 2025

    Posted Feb 03, 2025 09:26 AM

    Hi Robin,

    Whenever I have a vacancy, I need to justify filling, I start by running whatever statistics I have. For serials roles, this usually equates to number of subscription orders and total annual item receipts for the library the incumbent would support; for e-resources staff, that usually  focuses on the annual dollars spent. In both cases, I try to stress that even short-staffing in technical services has meaning for patrons, seen through missing material or delays in providing them with whatever they are looking for.

    Do you have cataloging statistics at your disposal that you could use to help highlight how much would probably need to fall into a backlog, therefore reducing patrons' ability to find the collections they need? 

    Amy



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    Amy Dittman
    Head of Electronic Resources & Serials Acquisition & Management
    Harvard University
    She/Her/Hers
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  • 3.  RE: Conundrum for February 2025

    Posted Feb 10, 2025 06:27 AM

    Hello Creative Ideas in Technical Services Interest Group!

    Please take a few minutes to respond to the February conundrum if you have any thoughts on what this librarian could do.  You don't need to have a complete solution or a well-crafted post.  An informal response with your thoughts on the topic will be much appreciated.

    I am also seeking a conundrum to post for March, so if there is a challenge that you are facing, please send me a brief description.

    I look forward to the help that I know this group can provide.

    Robin Buser

    Chair, CORE Creative Ideas in Technical Services Interest Group

    rbuser@cscc.edu



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    Robin Buser
    Supervisor, Acquisitions & Metadata Services
    Columbus State Community College Library
    She/Her/Hers
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: Conundrum for February 2025

    Posted Feb 18, 2025 08:27 AM

    Hello Creative Ideas in Technical Services Interest Group,

    This is your weekly reminder to please take just a few minutes to respond to the February Conundrum and help out a fellow librarian.

    Thanks!

    Robin Buser

    Chair, CORE Creative Ideas in Technical Services Interest Group

    rbuser@cscc.edu



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    Robin Buser
    Supervisor, Acquisitions & Metadata Services
    Columbus State Community College Library
    She/Her/Hers
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Conundrum for February 2025

    Posted Feb 24, 2025 09:49 AM

    Hello CITSIG!

    This is the final week for the February conundrum.  If you have any suggestions or experiences you are willing to share about advocating for filling empty positions, please post a reply to this message.

    If you have a conundrum in your technical services work life, please send a brief description directly to me at rbuser@cscc.edu.

    And stay tuned for the March Conundrum of the  month, coming next week!

    Thank you,

    Robin

    Chair, Creative Ideas in Technical Services Interest Group

    rbuser@cscc.edu



    ------------------------------
    Robin Buser
    Supervisor, Acquisitions & Metadata Services
    Columbus State Community College Library
    She/Her/Hers
    ------------------------------

    Original Message