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The practice of information technology (IT) in academic libraries is changing rapidly, not only with new and evolving developments in the technologies themselves but also with the organization and management of IT at both the library and institution levels. This study presents the results of an online survey of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) academic library members to identify the biggest challenges they perceive in the area of information technology organization and management. This article compares their responses with challenges reported in earlier studies to identify new and changing trends as well as ongoing challenges that remain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid pace of change and the high cost invested in information technology, it is important for academic libraries to evaluate the information technology solutions they use in their institutions to determine whether they are meeting the needs of their students, faculty, staff, and other users of their libraries and resources. This study presents the results of an online survey of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) academic library members to benchmark the assessment strategies that they used to evaluate their IT activities. This article compares their responses with earlier studies to identify trends and make recommendations for effective assessment practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the results of an online survey that benchmarked the organization of information technology (IT) functions in academic library members of the Association of Research Libraries. The survey investigated whether responsibility for 14 key areas resided in the libraries or in an institution-level information technology department, whether responsibilities have shifted over the past 20 years, satisfaction with services provided, assessment methods used to evaluate information technology services, and top challenges facing library IT. This paper considers the survey results addressing where the responsibility lies, satisfaction with the support, and whether and when the responsibility changed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the experience of the University at Albany (UAlbany) Libraries' migration to a centralized University data center. Following an introduction to the environment at UAlbany, the authors discuss the advantages of data center consolidation. Lessons learned from the project include the need to participate in the planning process, review migration schedules carefully, clarify costs of centralization, agree on a service level agreement, communicate plans to customers, and leverage economies of scale., INTRODUCTION Data centers are facilities that house servers and related equipment and systems. They are distinct from data repositories, which collect various forms of research data, although some data repositories [...]

This article presents the results of a survey designed to benchmark the use of vendors to support authority control activities in Association of Research Libraries member libraries. Such activities include updating authority or bibliographic records, sourcing authority records, participation in cooperative cataloging efforts, and more. The survey investigated whether and how responding libraries used vendors to create and maintain an authority file and process current cataloging records. The survey gathered demographic and other information about the libraries, and the authors sought to identify trends and correlations between these and other factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors conducted a survey on the topic of benchmarking as a tool for assessment in cataloging. While assessment is popular in libraries, little research has been done on benchmarking in cataloging, a gap that this study attempts to fill. The authors developed a survey that gauged the respondents' use of benchmarking, their goals for benchmarking, and how they applied what they learned to make improvements. The survey was administered on the AUTOCAT electronic distribution list in May 2013. There were 92 completed surveys, with 20 libraries reporting that they had used benchmarking as an assessment tool. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including quality of cataloging services, metadata quality, and librarians' perceptions of controlled vocabularies.

Academic libraries regularly conduct assessment of library services through the use of rubrics or assessment tools such as LibQUAL (www.libqual.org/home). Technical services activities are frequently assessed; however, the assessment is typically limited to the evaluation of specific processes. This study was designed to explore assessment activities in Pennsylvania's academic libraries. The author designed a survey to investigate whether technical services activities are assessed, how they are assessed, who is responsible for assessment, how the results of assessment activities are shared with others, and how those results are used to improve services or for other purposes. Sixty-three libraries responded to the survey (a 53 percent response rate). Survey results show that 90 percent of academic libraries in Pennsylvania have conducted some form of assessment of technical services activities but that most of that assessment is quantitative in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the special issue of "Cataloging and Classification Quarterly" focusing on the topic of collaboration in cataloging is presented and which includes information on improving authority files, creating solutions to share catalog expertise, and managing online catalogs.

Research libraries are using batchloading to provide access to many resources that they would otherwise be unable to catalog given the staff and other resources available. To explore how such libraries are managing their batchloading activities, the authors conducted a survey of the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services Directors of Large Research Libraries Interest Group member libraries. The survey addressed staffing, budgets, scope, workflow, management, quality standards, information technology support, collaborative efforts, and assessment of batchloading activities. The authors provide an analysis of the survey results along with suggestions for process improvements and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This column will feature reports on what is going on in the rapidly changing, ever-fascinating field of Technical Services. Each quarterly issue will consist of reports on systems, including new developments at the bibliographic utilities and networks, conference happenings and reports from meetings, what's new in technical services publications, as well as reports from technical services professionals on their research and projects. Such reports, announcements, and brief articles for consideration for inclusion should be sent to: Barry B. Baker, Editor, Technical Services Report, Director of Libraries, University of Central Florida, P.O. Box 162666, Orlando, FL 32816-2666. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Batchloading bibliographic records into the catalog, as a rapid and cost-effective means of providing access to electronic and microform collections, has become in recent years a significant workflow for many libraries. Thanks to batchloading, previously hidden collections, some costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, are made visible, and library holdings are more accurately reflected by the online catalog. Subject specialists report significant increases in the use of electronic resources and microforms within days (and sometimes only hours) of loading record sets into the online catalog. Managing batchloading projects requires collaboration across many library units, including collection development, acquisitions, cataloging, systems, and public services. The authors believe that their experiences will be instructive to other libraries and that Penn State's processes will assist them in making their own batchloading policies and procedures more efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the results of a survey that addressed the experiences of newly-graduated cataloging librarians. Focusing on qualitative rather than quantitative data, the survey gathered information about their position responsibilities, what new catalogers liked and disliked about their jobs, the need for on-the-job training, whether they felt prepared to take on their responsibilities, whether they had any preconceptions about what a cataloging job would be like, and whether their experiences confirmed those preconceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on the ALCTS technical services directors of large research libraries discussion group meeting. The ALCTS Technical Services Directors of Large Research Libraries Discussion Group met to discuss issues which are common to the administration of large research libraries. The agenda for this meeting included the following discussion items, the use of international MARC records; foreign vendor records for acquisitions and cataloging; backlogs that never get addressed; the many challenges facing research libraries and some strategies to meet them and marketing the services of libraries. In preparation for this meeting, members submit round robin reports about what has happened in their institutions since the last meeting, including personnel changes, ongoing or completed projects, new initiatives, etc. Foreign-language materials cataloging was also the focus of the next issue addressed by the group. Casalini Libri has been providing enhanced cataloging records for materials provided to libraries through approval plans.

This paper discusses how three developments in the Pennsylvania State University Libraries Cataloging Services department allowed it to clear out most of its cataloging backlog. These three developments were (1) the reorganization of the department into format-based, self-directed work teams, (2) training staff to create original cataloging and authority control records, and (3) the implementation of PromptCat. These developments allowed Cataloging Services to accept a number of project proposals from selectors. Cataloging Services worked with Collection Development librarians to develop policies and procedures for proposing projects to cataloging, and to set priorities for those projects based on library goals and initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This section offers news briefs related to library service in the U.S. The American Library Association held its annual meeting in San Francisco, California in June 2001. Blackwell's Book Services released Blackwell's Online Bookshop (BOB) in a U.S. version. A report from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) focuses on the economic and logistical issues associated with creating a shared library depository.

Educating librarians to perform authority work and catalog maintenance involves formal education in library school and both on-the-job and in-service training. However, the path from library school graduate to authority control librarian is neither direct nor self-evident. The authors surveyed the membership of the AUTOCAT electronic discussion group to determine how librarians learn the theory and practice of authority control and catalog maintenance; strategies that would make authority control easier to learn; levels of educational responsibility involved for the library schools, individual librarians and their employers; and how librarians value authority control. The survey results show that an ongoing collaboration among librarians, employers and educators is needed to refine and simplify the process of authority control education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This section offers news briefs related to library technical services in the U.S. The American Library Association held its Midwinter Meeting in Washington D.C. in January 2001. The book "Knowledge Management: The Bibliography," compiled by Paul Burden has been published. The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) has released a white paper on electronic journal usage statistics by Judy Luther, president of the consulting firm Informed Strategies.

This article focuses on the ALCTS Technical Services Directors of Large Research Libraries Discussion Group's Annual Conference held in Orlando, Florida, in June 2004. The agenda for this meeting included the following discussion items: a report on the CONSER summit; the use of vendor records for set analytics; the impact of PCC records; and federated searching. To prepare for this meeting, members of the discussion group submitted round robin reports about recent developments at their institutions, including personnel changes, ongoing or completed projects, new initiatives, etc. The intent of the meeting was to give CONSER some context about how to provide bibliographic access to electronic journals, not only through the catalog, but also through electronic journal management systems. One point that was clear at the meeting was that most users are looking for article-level access, rather than journal-level. The future of print journals was another topic of discussion, and there was some consensus that print will still exist in the future, but that it will be more along the lines of print-on-demand.

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Mechael D. Charbonneau on the involvement of Indiana University Libraries in the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC), one by Regina Romano Reynolds on the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) Network and one by Joan Schuitema on changes in cooperative cataloging.