Changing Roles: Original Cataloging by Paraprofessionals in ARL Libraries

Abstract

The role of the paraprofessional cataloger in academic libraries is rapidly changing. The authors in this study investigated the nature, of paraprofessionals’ work in original cataloging activities at ARL institutions and compare their findings with those of an earlier survey. Original cataloging was defined to encompass a variety of activities including description, the creation of name and uniform title headings, subject analysis, and classification. Findings reveal that 77.1% of the cataloging department heads at the responding ARL institutions report paraprofessional involvement in one or more of these activities, with original description the most common and subject analysis the least common. Among the reasons commonly cited for such involvement were paraprofessional career development and cost savings. The respondents also noted advantages and disadvantages of paraprofessional participation in original cataloging as well as reactions they had observed among both professional and paraprofessional catalogers to this participation.