John Sandstrom is the Acquisitions Librarian at the New Mexico State University Library. At various times he has worked in technical services, branch management, and administration in academic, public, and special libraries, and library education. He received a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Oklahoma, a Master of Public Administration from The University of Texas at El Paso, and is currently working on a doctorate in Education Leadership and Administration at New Mexico State University.
- Description
- Table of Contents
- About the Authors
- Reviews
Written by librarians working and teaching on the front lines, this guide uses a functional, hands-on approach to lay out the basics of technical services, from acquiring new materials to making them available to library users. Perfect for those just moving into the profession, as well as library staff in need of a brush up, Fundamentals of Technical Services concisely examines
- What precisely Technical Services are, with a brief history of the field
- Collection development and acquisitions, including budgeting, ordering, and receiving
- Metadata and cataloging, from MARC to RDA
- Dealing with different kinds of materials, including books/monographs, serials, video, audio, and electronic/e-resources
- The basics of physical processing
- Systems such as ILS, ERM, and EDI
- Collection maintenance issues such as book repair/preservation and weeding
- Authority control and database maintenance
- Vendors, contracts, workflow, and other administrative functions
- Forward-looking analysis of important trends and developments such as pricing, consortia/co-ops, languages of materials, and outsourcing
Complete with a handy glossary, this primer provides essential coverage of the broad array of technical services and how the library's back-office operations work together.
Examination copies are available for instructors who are interested in adopting this title for course use.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Managing Technical Services
Chapter 2: Systems
Chapter 3: Collection Development
Chapter 4: Acquisitions
Chapter 5: Cataloging
Chapter 6: Physical Processing
Chapter 7: Authority Control and Catalog Maintenance
Chapter 8: Collection Management
Appendixes
A: Content Standards
B: Classification Systems and Call Numbers
C: Subject Term Lists
D: MARC Digital Format
Glossary
Index
"The individual sections within each chapter describing various tasks, such as budget creation, copy cataloging, authority control, and communicating with entities outside technical services are simple, clear, and very useful ... This book is a starting point, but a worthy one, and I would recommend it to someone wishing to begin to understand library technical services."
— Technical Services Quarterly
"The tone of writing clearly conveys the authors' enthusiasm and passion for technical services and emphasizes the crucial role that technical services staff play in providing access to resources through purchasing, cataloging, physical processing, and authority control. This book begins with a chapter … This well-written, enthusiastic text provides a great introduction to the many aspects of Technical Services."
— Library Resources & Technical Services