ILS Exploration

My partner for the OPAC project was Maggie Barrett and we luckily both live in the Boston-area, so we met IN PERSON. Whether in person or on zoom, it's nice to see an actual face rather than just a name on Canva. Maggie walked me through Destiny and I asked my questions as we went. I learned that there are some inconsistencies with patron accounts, limited report functionalities, and books can only be assigned to one genre. I also learned that it's very easy for both staff and students to use. There is great customer service. I was also surprised that Medford High gets their books from Mackin who also upload their MARC records to Destiny for them. I figured that Follett would not allow any interoperability to force people to buy books from them. One question I had was about linking subject headings and after doing some exploring, we realized that the records can't be linked and there is no authority control in that way. 

From there, we explored different ILS options until we stumbled upon Koha. We were shocked by how much it can do. Some of the standouts were that it can run SQL reports to provide more options for creating lists. I was personally impressed with how they have patron-side accounts, so students can keep track of their own books. Free and open source is so important to allowing everyone to have equal access to technology. It has its pitfalls, such as usually needing someone with a heavy tech background to manage it. But otherwise, I could see myself choosing Koha over Destiny if that decision ever came about. 

The latest issue of American Libraries happened to be about ILS profiles. This was brought to my attention in the discussion broad because despite getting my copy in the mail, I didn't look closely enough at the cover. I read the section about ByWater who owns Koha and would have included that information into the presentation if I'd read it sooner. Adding 37 contracts who are small libraries is quite significant and lends to security that the company will not go bankrupt. I would certainly use that as an argument for implementing Koha in an OPAC proposal. 

Reference

Breeding, M. (2025). "2025 Library Systems Report." American Libraries, 56(5), 16-27.

It's All Coming Back to Me

 

Cataloging is hard. I took descriptive and subject cataloging at Simmons University with the infamous Danny Joudrey who wrote our textbook. His policy was that if you truly took the class seriously and tried your best, he'd give you a B. I got a B+ in both classes. I've done two cataloging internships, but have never worked as a cataloger. Mostly due to there not being a whole lot of cataloging jobs out there. Or if one came up, it wasn't worth leaving my current job as an ILL Librarian for. 

Getting my MS LIS was a blur. I went right after college, so I'm 22... no real life experience with a still developing frontal lobe. I felt pretty lost when I graduated Simmons and like I had learned nothing and still had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. And then a series of events fell into place that led me to the Library Media Studies program here at SSU. 

When I saw we would be reading Catalog It! I thought this would finally be my chance to really solidify my cataloging knowledge. After all, I only have B+ wealth of information in my head. I figured this book would help clarify some things and whisk away some of the blurriness from my Simmons days. 

I was surprised to learn that I actually remember way more than I thought! Reading through chapter 4 about subject headings, it all started to come back about how to build those very long LCSH strings. Dr. Joudrey referred to the dewey decimal system as the most interesting way to use numbers. The book didn't bore me either. I found it to be interesting as to how the author chose to simplify cataloging into one (comparatively very short) book. These past two weeks reminded me why I chose cataloging to begin with and also why I'd rather teach! I'd rather teach because I learned I have a knack for it in a way that I will never be an exemplary cataloger. So anyways, while others in the class may have been struggling to learn a new skill, I've been over here having an existential moment.