College and Research Libraries


By MAURICE F. TAUBER 

Personnel in Cataloging Departments 

The paper following~ directs attention to 
certain considerations in cataloging which 
have received less attention than have the 
technical aspects. It was read before the 
New York Regional Catalog Group~ Nov. 

24~ 1944· 

SOME TIME AGO, in a review article in College and Research Libraries/ atten­
tion was called to three aspects of personnel 
management in cataloging departments. 
These were ( I ) the alleged lack of dis­
criminatory powers and responsibility on 
the part of cataloge~s, ( 2) the relation of 
administrative organization to production, 
and . ( 3) the absence of a recruiting pro­
gram for cataloging personnel. It is 
proposed to consider each of these in relation 
to the general problem of cataloging person­
nel -in libraries, primarily from the stand­
point of the subordinate members of the~ 
staff. 

Five general observations concerning pre­
sent cataloging personnel may be made. The 
first is that cataloging is predominantly 
a feminine occupation. Probably this is 
truer in cataloging than in some other areas 
of librarianship. Out of 803 names of 
persons engaged in cataloging, as given in 
the Catalogerl and Classi/ierl Yearbook 
for 1937, only twenty-five, or a little more 
than 3 per cent, were men. This figure 
does not include male librarians and teachers 
who did no cataloging. The percentage is 
probably less at present. 

The second observation is that catalogers, 

1 Tauber, Maurice F. "Is the G9lden_ Age Really
Over?" College and Research Ltbranes 3:183-85, 
March 1942', 

probably more so than other librarians, are 
inclined to stay fixed in their jobs. That 
is, there is less mobility from library to 
library. This is probably truer of the older 
members of the staff, who are in many 
instances lacking college and/or library 
school training, than of recently trained 
graduates. This has changed considerably 
during the war period. 

The third observation that may be made 
arises from the war. There is considerable 
difficulty at present in getting new cata­
logers. Practically the only way is to 
attract them by higher salaries from posi­
tions in other libraries. It is almost im­
possible to get male catalogers. At the 
same time, many libraries are suffering from 
accumulating arrears. This is a serious 
situation, since it is l'ikely that libraries will 
not be in a position to process quickly the 
foreign materials which may be acquired 
after the war. 

The fourth point to be observed is that 
salaries for catalogers, considering the ex­
perience and training expected of them and 
the concentrated work they must do, are 
relatively low. So long as salaries are .low, 
positions in cataloging departments will 
go begging. This will be especially true 
at such times as the present, when the 
practice in most good libraries is to recruit 
catalogers who have both academic and 
professional training. 

The final observation concerns catalogers 
as people. Many statement~ made in the 
past have been devoted to such rna tters as 
efficiency and job analysis, as if these were 
things dissociated from human beings. 

COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 224 



Ability of Catalogers 

Attention may now be turned to the first 
of the three points to be discussed-the 
ability of catalogers. Recently there ap­
peared in the Wilson Library Bulletin two . 
relevant articles, one a rebuttal of the other. 
The first, "A Philosophical Analysis of 
Cataloging" 2 by L. H. Kirkpatrick, con­
tained some caustic criticisms. His remarks 
were summarized by · Marian C. Conroy 
and M. Lucille Duffy in. the second paper, 
"Cataloger Bites Dog."3 According to them, 
Kirkpatrick accused catalogers of bigotry, 
chronic indecision, donkey-like stupidity, 
would-be omniscience, and nauseating 
egoism. 

Actually not all of these appellatives were 
used so explicitly; nevertheless, catalogers 
lately have been taking considerable verbal 
pummeling. In a sense, they have become 
the scapegoat for most of the library's 
ills. If it is observed here that catalogers 
are inclined to follow, rather than to ques­
tion, no slight is intended. In many ways 
they are no different from other librarians 
in this respect. Yet there is some evidence 
that many of them give the impression of 
being introverted. To support this it may 
be pointed out that cataloging as a back-stage 
or off-the-scene process too frequently has 
been considered by administrators as a type 
of work that the less competent individuals, 
and the misfits on the staff, should be given. 

This attitude, however, gradually is being 
changed. The professional and personal 
qualities of members of the cataloging 

.departments in well-administered libraries 
are being subjected to the same rigorous 
examination as those of other members of 
the staff. The various personnel classifica­
tion and pay plans appear to recognize this 

fact. 
The real criticisms that hav.e been made of 

2 W ilson Library B u lletin I7 :443-47, February I943· 
3 W ilson Library Bulletin I 7 :8 22 -2 5, June I 943· 

catalogers may be stated as follows: They 
are rule-bound and possess little imagina­
tion. They have failed to examine their 
work in the light of the needs of the users. 
They have neglected to examine the product 
of cataloging in relation to other library 
tools, and they are not concerned with cost. 
They resent criticis~ of their work and 
oppose change. Probably all of these 
charges are true to some extent. Yet cata­
logers have been among the first to suggest 
modifications in practices, to meet the wishes 
of reference and circulation librarians, 
and to retain an open mind concerning 
proposals for altering cataloging practices. 
Catalogers as a group are flexible and will 
fit into an efficient administrative organi­
zation if administrative principles relating 
to personnel are properly applied. Cata­
logers, no less than other types of workers, 
are human beings. They are interested in 
such things as security, adequacy of pay, 
fairness, recognition, social approval, oc­
cupational adjustment, acceptable working 
conditions, exercise of initiative and re­
sponsibility, and the right to be heard. 
These are normal demands of all workers, 
and catalogers have a right to expect that 
they will be met. 

Consider for a moment the question of 
adequate compensation. Underpaid cata­
logers are not likely to be interested in such 
things as attacking back problems,. clearing 
arrears, suggesting new procedures, or de­
veloping simple practices. In fact, just 
the opposite may be true. Like other 
workers, they are likely to be idle at times 
and may be tempted now and then to 
ignore authority, to waste supplies, to handle 
equipment carelessly, to make errors suf­
ficiently to require constant revision, to do 
personal work during regular hours of 
service, to visit and talk about subjects not 
related to cataloging, and to be tardy and 

absent. 

JUNE, 1945 225 



Many grievances reflect the resentment 
and frustration of the individual whose 
personal progress has been blocked. For 
example, a worker may be subjected to 
continuous shift in his surroundings and 
even in himself. This requires persistent 
efforts of the administration to assist him 
in making adjustment. It is often difficult 
to understand behavior changes, and, be­
cause there is no set pattern to these, the 
head of a department should not be surprised 
if they appear unexpectedly. 

Administrative Organization 
and Production 

Even though catalogers have been accused 
of lacking discrimination .and a sense of 
responsibility, this situation usually reflects 
poor leadership. A well-organized catalog­
ing department in a well-organized library 
will be as efficient as a well-organized unit 
in any type of endeavor. If there is a pay 
system understandable to all, if employees 
are given a chance to ad vance, if workers 
are superv:ised carefully and are allowed 
latitude to use judgment and to exercise 
responsibility, if favorable working condi­
tions are provided, if all staff members are 
treated on an equitable basis and are re­
wa\ ded for meritorious service, there is no 
reason to believe that cataloging production 
should not reach the highest possible point. 

A happy cataloging personnel is generally 
an efficient personnel. In order to keep a 
group of workers contented, the head of 
the department should consistently be con- ~ 
cerned about supervision. For example, he 
should know at all times the progress of the 
flow of work, as compared with normal 
requirements. The efficient way to ac­
complish this is to delegate authority to 
responsible subordinates. The head also 
needs to know the quality of the product 
and the conditions under which it is turned 
out. As for the former, various factors 
may be responsible. To control the latter, 

the supervisor himself should travel through 
the department often enough, with a list 
of points to observe, to make adjustments 
on the basis of factual evidence. 

The personal problems of the catalogers 
always require the attention ,of the super­
VIsor. The head who waits for . overt 
evidence of emotional disturbances waits too 
long. He should keep himself close to his 
group by discussing personal problems with 
various individuals and make such other 
contacts as will enable him to anticipate 
deviations in interest and emotional flare­
ups. 

In order th_at catalogers may not feel as 
if pressure is being applied to them, the 
supervisor should always maintain contacts 
with his superiors, so as to be informed 
of all probable changes in organization or 
services. For example, knowledge of an 
incoming gift will make it possible to pro­
tect the department against overloading. 
Complete information on the part of the 
supervisor should aid him in preparing the 
catalogers to meet the plans of the adminis­
tration. The staff should know what is 
contemplated but, in order to prevent undue 
uneasiness, not before developments are 
fairly well along. 

Code of Discipline 

A cataloging group, just as an industrial 
group, evolves as a rule its own code of 
discipline. Restriction of output is an ex­
ample of this. It is not unusual that if a 
cataloger produces an extraordinary amount 
of work she is looked on with suspicion by 
other members of the department. She is 
frequently accused of inaccuracy . . Estab­
lished standards of performance should 
eliminate this. Similarly, the laggard is 
regarded with suspicion and dislike. The 
administrator can maintain morale by re­
moving such a person or by changing his 
work. 

A good leader can exercise a great deal 

COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 226 



of influence over the kind of self-discipline 
a group develops, If the attitude is against 
the interest of the library, the librarian or 
the head of the department must share the 
responsibility for neglect or failure to direct 
it properly. The head, likewise, may have 
other important effects upon the group. If 
he is fair to the workers, while protecting 
the interest of the library, he will find that 
his subordinates respond. If he places the 
interest of the library above those of the 
workers, at the latter's expense, he may dis­
cover that the staff members are not only 
uncooperative but antagonistic. The wise 
administrator also will seek out in the 
cataloging staff the individuals who can 
participate in projects and committee work. 
Incidentally this will give them a library 
outlook rather than a departmental one. 

An efficient cataloging department is 
usually characterized by the active partici­
pation of all staff members. One of the 
best ways of developing this is to solicit 
suggestions. Suggestions so derived serve 
two purposes. They stimulate the worker 
and they serve as a basis for singling out 
for promotion the more competent individ­
uals in the department. Moreover, a well­
regulated suggestion plan should improve 
methods of work and reduce the cost of 
cataloging. There, of course, should be a 
wise distribution of praise and reprimands 
when occasions warrant them. 

There are other ways of applying admin­
istrative principles to cataloging production. 
The establishment of quotas and efficiency 
ratings have been frowned upon, but this 
practice should not be discarded without 
due consideration of the possibilities in­
volved. The presence of adequate mechani­
cal equipment, staff manuals, codes for 
preparing copy, reference works, and suffi­
cient clerical assistance-these undeniably 
aid in providing a strong underpinning for 
efficient organization. 

Recently Amy Wood Nyholm remarked 

that she has "noticed no library worker 
more subject to wearing, demanding, and 
exacting pressures than is the head cata­
loger of a large and important library who 
fully understands and accepts his responsi­
bility."4 He m•st turn to account the 
malingerers, the sporadic workers, and the 
slavish rule-followers who may have got 
into his staff group. He must reconcile the 
administrator who talks only in terms of 
costs. He must guard against the reference 
and circulation librarians who consider the 
catalog as the fountainhead of all answers. 

Solution 

What is .the solution to all this? How 
can the catalog administrator and his staff 
do the things that are expected or demanded 
of the cataloging department? First of 
all there must be a definite program or 
policy for cataloging, based on the needs 
of the users of the individual library. This 
requires that the functional aspects of cata­
loging be thoroughly investigated. Herm:1n 
H. Henkle and his staff at the Library of 
Congress are studying this problem, and it 
is lik~ly that their findings will be useful 
to other catalogers and administrators. 5 

Second, a clear differentiation of the pro­
fessional and the clerical :1spects of catalog­
ing is needed. If there . can be careful 
analyses of jobs and distribution of duties, 
the professional staff members need not be 
given the time-consuming routine tasks that 
can be handled satisfactorily by clerical 

workers. 
Third, this differentiation should make 

cataloging a more attractive occupation 
· than it is now. Then there could be a 
recruiting program for "able and intelli­
gent young men and women of sound judg­
ment who have the personal traits of keen 

4 Library Quarterly 14:360, October I944· 
ll Henkle, Herman H. "Library of Congress on­

ferences on Catalo~ing, . October x8-November 19, 
1943." (Manuscript). 

(Continued on page 248) 

JUNEJ 1945 227 

C 



1 

Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio 
Excelsior Society, 1845 1850, 1877 
Philosophian Society, 1847 1876 (?) 

Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 
Brothers' & Linonian Society 1808, 1811, 1814, 1818, 1822, 1825, 1873, 1880, 

Brothers in Unity, 
Calliopean Society 

1768 
suppl. to I 873 

1781*, 1829, 1832, 1835, 1838, 1841, 1846, 1851 
1819, 1824, i826, 1828, 1829, suppl., 1831, 1837, 

Linonian Society, 1753 
1841,.~ 1846 

1770*, 178o*·, 1790*, r8oo*, 1829, 1831, 1834, 

Moral Society 
Phoenix Society 
*Manuscript copy. 

1836, 1837, r84o, 1841, 1846, 186o 
1814, 1818, 1822, 1825 
-1806 ( ?) 

Sources of Reports and .Statistics 

American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowl­
edge for r830-40. Boston, I82'9-39. v. I-rr . 

American Annals of Education and Instruction, 
I834, I835, I836. Boston, I834-36. v. 4-6. 

American Quarterly Register and Journal of the 
American Education Societ y, I828-3 I. Andover, etc., 
Mass., I829-31. v. I-J. 

Cutter, Charles A. "List of Printed Catalogues of 
Public Libraries in the United States." (In U.S. 
Office of Education. Public Libraries in the United 
States of America. Washington, Government Print­
in~ Office, I876, p. 577-622.) ' · 

Jewett, Charles Coffin. Notices of Public Libraries 
in the United States of America. Printed by order 
of Congress, as an appendix to the fourth annual 
report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian 
Institution. Washington, Printed for the House of 
Representatives, I85L · 207p. 

Rhees, William Jones. Manual of Public Libraries, 
Institutions, and Societies, in the United States, and 

British Provinces of North America. . Philadelphia, 
Lippincott, I859. 28, 687p. 

Seeley, I. C. Manual of College Literary Societies 
with Statistical Tables. Kalamazoo, I87I. I45P· 

U.S. Office of . Education. Public Libraries in the 
United States of America; Their History, Condition 
and Management. Special report. Department of 
lnterior, Bureau of Education. . . . Washington, 
Government Printing Office, I876. 2v. in r. 

U.S. Office of Education. "Public, Society, and 
School Libraries in the United States; with Library 
Statistics and Legislation of the Various States." 
1896, 1900, etc. (In RePort of the -Commissioner of 
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Government Printing Office, I897, 1901, etc.) 

U.S. Office of Education.... "Statistics of Public 
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and Upwards for 1884-85.'' (In Report of the Com­
missioner of Education, 1884-85. Washington, Govern­
ment Printing Office, r886. ccxxix-ccxxx, 6gi-782'p.) 

Personnel in Cataloging Departments 
(Continued from page 227) 

alertness, self-confidence, perception, flexi­
bility, and balance." 6 According to Mrs. 
Nyholm, who listed the qualities above, 
these people could withstand aggressive and 
demanding pressures and make decisions 
based on "soundness" and "survival value." 

Finally, a good deal more attention 

8 Op. cit. 

should be given by adnii.nistrators to cata­
logers as people. This seems so obvious 
that one hesitates to repeat it, yet the epi­
demic of criticism suggests that administra­
tors, in their great desire to emerge from 
a bad situation, have not always used the 
proper approach. 

COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 248