Cataloging at Columbia University Libraries (Butler)

Cataloging at Columbia University Libraries falls within the Collections Group. The Group reports to the Associate University Librarian for Collections. We are functionally divided into five 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 Collection Acquisition and Description Division (CAD) 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 following three divisions are concerned with other aspects of bibliographic control:
  • The Collection Development and E-Resources Management Division (CDERM) orders, receives, and adds traditional print and non-print continuing resources and manages Columbia's electronic collections. For more about CDERM, please visit its Behind the Scenes site.
  • 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.
  • The Office of Collection Development develops and manages policies for library collections and allocates and oversees the materials budget. It is part of CDERM.

 

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)