Cataloging at Columbia University Libraries

Cataloging at Columbia University Libraries falls within the Bibliographic Services and Collection Development Group (BSCDG), the result of a 2007 merger which more closely aligned acquisitions and cataloging and incorporated the Office of Collection Development. The Group reports to the Associate University Librarian for Bibliographic Services and Collection Development. We are functionally divided into six areas, with the common mission of providing timely and effective bibliographic control for materials acquired by the Libraries.

Original and copy cataloging occurs in the following areas:
  • The Monographic Processing Services Division (MPS) handles most copy cataloging and monographic ordering and receiving.
  • The Original and Special Materials Cataloging Division (OSMC) provides original cataloging for all formats and copy cataloging for some special materials and has responsibility for bibliographic projects and metadata coordination for digital collections.
The remaining three areas of the BSCDG are concerned with other aspects of bibliographic control:
  • The Continuing and Electronic Resources Management Division (CERM) orders, receives, and adds traditional print and non-print continuing resources and manages Columbia's electronic collections. For more about CERM, please visit its Behind the Scenes site.
    •     Main contact: Joyce McDonough (jm86@columbia.edu ; 212.854.4764)
  • The Recon and ReCAP Processing Unit coordinates retrospective conversion work and the transfer of materials from campus collections to the ReCAP facility in New Jersey. For more about ReCAP, please visit its Behind the Scenes site.
    • Head, Recon Projects: Misha Harnick (harnick@columbia.edu ; 212.854.5722)
    • ReCAP Coordinator: Zack Lane (zl2114@columbia.edu ; 212.851.5621)
  • The Office of Collection Development develops and manages policies for library collections and allocates and oversees the materials budget.
    • Main contact: Jeff Carroll (jc677@columbia.edu ; 212.854.7349)

 

CLIO Open Data

In an effort to further support the wide variety of research and experimentation happening around open library data, the Columbia University Libraries has made our catalog data open and available for download.

Links to downloads and additional information can be found on the CLIO Open Data site.

 

Additional Resources:

Cataloger Language Expertise

CUL Cataloging Information Blog

RDA Wiki (Columbia)