Fifth Stop: Behind the scenes with Technical Services
	Back to main story		Jack Knapp, technical services librarian, edits the catalog. Jack Knapp, technical services librarian, and his staff are responsible for getting books and recordings from the publishers and printing houses onto the library shelves. Technical services' task is two-fold: cataloging and preparations, and toward that goal, the staff provides a complete range of technical services including acquisition, cataloging, and preparations of our scores, sound recordings and books. Cataloging entails assigning call numbers and titles to ensure easy access to recordings, scores and books in OBIS. "It sounds simple," says Knapp, "but it is challenging because we must provide thorough access to materials to make them in the catalog. Also, the materials must be researched locally and in the national database for cataloging copy." He continues, "Preparations generally means binding. Many books don't require binding, but most music scores do. We prepare the books and scores, then ship them off to be professionally bound. For most materials, we apply labels, ownership stamps and security strips. "I am essentially the editor of the catalog," says Knapp. "My job is to make sure the catalog is as correct as possible, and that it maintains its integrity. Lots of details work? That's an understatement. The whole point of cataloging is attention to detail. You have to enjoy it. It is labor intensive and requires a knowledge about both music and cataloging practices. Knapp has been at the Conservatory library for more than 25 years. What keeps him going? "Oberlin. It's a wonderful library. We have excellent support to create and maintain vivid collections, so we can serve the needs of all our public. It's a lot of work but it's great to work in a place so supportive of our public's needs." Maurine McCourry, assistant music librarian, transfers card catalog information to the online catalog. Another important task of the technical services department is retrospective conversion, or "recon." Recon entails the transfer of information from card catalogs to online catalogs, a process that recon librarian Maurine McCourry describes as "fascinating." "I really enjoy seeing all of the old literature that is not used much anymore," says McCourry, "especially since most of what I've been cataloging lately, the rest of the country doesn't have. If this information stayed on cards, it would only be available here. Recon makes our catalog accessible nationally." SIXTH STOP: Special Collections Stop 1 Stop 2 Stop 3 Stop 4 Stop 5 Stop 6 Stop 7