The certified school library media specialist will make all final decisions for cataloging changes, including copy cataloging, original cataloging, classification and shelving, weeding, and donation use. They are responsible for training and evaluating volunteer preparedness to follow these policies and reviewing volunteer work once begun.
Alexandra Bell developed OUR Cataloging Policy for a fictional school, but implementation in a real school would include permissions for use by other schools and professionals in the field. The Cataloging Policy would be used to ensure quality in collection development and services to students and would align with the larger standards of excellence for the school. It is a tool for professional development, training, and evaluation. All library stakeholders are welcome to contribute in the review process, and all library staff, volunteers, teachers, and administrators will know of the resource. The digital copy here will be bookmarked on staff devices, and a Word document version will be saved with the school library media specialist and principal and kept on a flash drive in the library; a hard copy of the Word document will be printed and saved in a binder in the library.
This policy was developed for graduate course LIS 60624: Cataloging for School Libraries, taught by Dr. Meghan Harper. In Cataloging review, a WebEx recording retrieved from Blackboard Learn, Dr. Harper (2017) states, “your catalog should be showing the value of your library collection." The OUR Cataloging Policy site is designed to show the value of my professional skills and the strength of a library program and could be tailored to a school to enhance its operation.
The text for the course was Intner, S. S., & Weihs, J. (2015). Standard cataloging for school and public libraries (5th ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited. They state, "not only has the size of library collections changed, their very nature has changed and so have the expectations for services related to collections on the part of the diverse group of people who use them. It is appropriate, then, that the catalogs libraries provide to facilitate the use of their collections reflect these developments" (p. 1). In the conclusion they state, "at a time when many people who use resources and services cannot come in person to the library or media center, but must rely on searching its catalog, the work of the cataloging department is essential to institutional success" (p. 190). This Cataloging Policy is reflective of developments and standards of excellence in the field. It is designed to help promote the collection as well as information literacy, and it will enhance student and professional experiences in the library and in their education as a whole.