2025/07/04 by Abigail Connick, Jessica Grzegorski, Libby Hertenstein +1 · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Computer Science · #Digital Humanities and Scholarship #Digital and Traditional Archives Management #Library Science and Information Systems
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/01639374.2025.2537129
openalex publication_date 2025/07/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/15
The catalog and catalogers’ work are at the foundation of the public services of libraries and special collections, allowing librarians and library staff to do their work and their communities to discover their resources. Yet the skills and training required for cataloging rare and unusual materials can be difficult to acquire formally. At the 2024 Rare Book and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) Conference, the authors facilitated a discussion session on how to teach rare materials cataloging on the job. Takeaways included the value of linguistic expertise, building discrete projects with clear parameters, robust documentation and workflows, clear expectations, regular check-ins, and feedback.