CaMS Cataloging Production Expectation

The managers in CaMS have established the expectation of cataloging production for individual catalogers in the CaMS Department. The purpose of this expectation is to create a clear framework for both staff and supervisors to assess individual production work and to express the CaMS departmental commitment to efficient user service. They also provide a way to quantify the effect of time devoted to activities that do not directly involve cataloging production. 

For monographic publications, catalogers are expected to create an average of at least 5 to 7 original bibliographic records per full work day, including associated authority work. Copy cataloging is counted at the ratio of 5:1. That is 5 copy cataloging records are equivalent to 1 original record. These long term average numbers take into account variations in the difficulty of materials and in the amount of time spent on non-production tasks. The expectation was determined based on CaMS average production over the years and also team managers’ own cataloging experience and their supervision of their team members. 

Cataloging and metadata work is essential for public resource discovery and access and for many internal library functions. Cataloging production is the most basic element of the CaMS mission and of catalogers' jobs. Departmental accountability is based on individual accountability of all staff. These benchmarks are established to ensure that we meet our collective responsibility by allocating staff time appropriately. That is we do our work and fulfill obligations with reliability, integrity, and accountability. It involves understanding our role, meeting expectations, and taking ownership of our responsibilities and the outcomes. 

Supervisors will monitor their team production responsibly. Team leaders will provide any training needed to help catalogers achieve the target numbers while maintaining expected production quality.  We will re-evaluate the production thresholds periodically making sure the expectation is reasonable and make adjustments as needed.

Definitions: 

Copy cataloging: Copy cataloging involves using a pre-existing full-level bibliographic record (the "copy") for an item and adapting it for the local library's needs. Copy cataloging requires careful verification to ensure the existing record accurately reflects the item being cataloged. Edits required for accurate representation (such as fixing a typo) or addition of local fields are included in copy cataloging.

Original cataloging: Original cataloging involves creating a completely new bibliographic record for an item when a suitable full record cannot be found. In technical sense, when the cataloging process generates a new OCLC#, it should be considered original cataloging. Also, working with a less-than-full record (such as in-process records from vendors) and providing full level descriptive and subject cataloging data should be considered original cataloging.