He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Student Assistant: Using the Skills of Students for Library Projects By Patty Falk MLA Midwest Chapter Meeting, October 16, 2015

Student Projects at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) Creating Brief Cataloging Records for Popular Music LPs Creating Brief Cataloging Records for 45 RPM Records Using Excel Spreadsheets, MarcEdit, and Sierra Data Exchange Loader

LP Project Began in 2013 with students creating brief bibliographic records using Excel spreadsheet Records are created for LPs already in call number order by label on shelves in unprocessed area Fields include performer (100/110), album title (245), publisher name and number (02802), physical description (300), access note (500), and local call number (099) as Uncat LP Records were saved in Dropbox initially-currently using Microsoft Sharepoint to create Excel spreadsheets Cataloger downloads spreadsheets on desktop and loads records into Sierra using MarcEdit and Sierra Data Exchange Have created records from A-L labels and are currently working in the M record labels

Example of Uncat LP Bibliographic Record JZ-37004|bCurb 099 Uncat LP 110 Burrito Brothers 245 Hearts on the line|h[sound recording] sound disc : |b analog, 33 1/3 rpm, stereo. |c 12 in 500 Please ask at the Music Service Desk on the 3rd Floor of Jerome Library for access to this title

Cataloging 45 RPM Records Grant Project BGSU received CLIR (Council on Library and Information Resources) grant for $64,064 to catalog 64, RPM records in 3 years using student assistants working in Excel spreadsheets and Cataloger to load records into ILS Project began in May 2015 with hiring and training of student assistants Fields included artist (100/110), album title side A and side B (245), publisher name and number (02802), physical description (300), access note (500), LCSH (650), alternate title for side B (74002), and local call number (099)

Cataloging 45 RPM Records Grant Project Records are created for 45s already in call number order on shelves Records are saved in Excel in Microsoft Sharepoint site established for the grant students and staff Cataloger downloads Excel spreadsheets to desktop and loads records weekly into Sierra using MarcEdit and Sierra Data Exchange Currently ahead of schedule for project-reaching the May 2016 goal of 21,600 discs by September of 2015

Example of Uncat 7/45 Bibliographic Record Promo|bABC Paramount 099 Uncat 7/45 ABC Paramount Promo 100 Hamilton, George IV 245 Can you blame us|h[sound recording]|bThe steady game sound disc :|b analog, 45 rpm ;|c 7 in 500 Please ask at the Music Service Desk on the 3rd Floor of Jerome Library for access to this title Popular music The steady game

Pros and Cons of Using Student Assistants for Cataloging Projects Cons: Regular turnover of students Call number issues with items not in correct order on shelves Need to make sure students understand shelving rules and call number rules in order to correct errors on shelves Tedious work for students No authority control Cataloger has to check for typos and errors and make adjustments on spreadsheets for call number anomalies (45 RPM project specifically)

Pros and Cons of Using Student Assistants for Cataloging Projects Pros: Easy to train students on 45s in particular Most students are familiar with Excel and can learn quickly if not already familiar Gives Music Library more control over collection to avoid duplication of material Gives Cataloger deeper understanding of ILS and loading records process Creates records for otherwise unknown collections

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Student Assistant: Using the Skills of Students for Library Projects MLA Midwest Chapter Meeting October 16, 2015 Questions?