-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Outsourcing the Catologing of Cartographic Materials
Date: Sun, 1 Jul 2012 14:09:58 -0400 (EDT)
From: Paige G Andrew <[log in to unmask]>
To: Air Photo Maps, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship <[log in to unmask]>


Hi Greg,

Sorry for the delay in replying, I am STILL not caught up on
conference-related things! I sure hope others are. So, here it is on the
weekend and I'm trying to clear up several things.

Outsourcing the cataloging of cartographic materials -- there really is
only one viable option, and its an expensive one that doesn't net you
the best of records ("useable", "average" are a couple of words that
come to mind from my experience), and that is OCLC's retrocon service.
Here at Penn State in the late 1990s/early 2000s I coordinated a project
to get all of our city maps from Pennsylvania and the surrounding six
states cataloged by outsourcing them to OCLC (the project was of course
run by our Cataloging and Metadata Services Department's head and
assistant head, they took care of things like the budget stuff,
higher-level communication between us and OCLC initially, communication
up the organization from within, etc.). I would have to dig to see if I
even have any dollar figures available, keeping in mind that its been
about ten years ago, whether for the entire project or per-record, or
other. My post outsourcing thoughts gather around a couple of things;
the over!
  all quality of the work done at the bib. record level on their end,
and for the project as a whole.

Starting with the bib. records, and you know I am a pretty picky and
high-detailed maps cataloger, I was not too happy with the outcomes. I
did have a good line of communication with the person doing the
cataloging on OCLC's end for our project, and he was very amenable to
either my suggestions for changes or my outright request in specific
cases. But, I felt like some things were often overlooked when they
should not have been, though I would say that outright errors were
minimal. Mostly it was information *lacking* that made me have to step
in and do additional work at times. That said, I do know that the
catalogers at OCLC don't necessarily specialize in specific formats of
materials (unless that has changed in the meantime) and thus I think the
lack of experience with map cataloging showed in the results.

As for the overall experience with OCLC, I think it was positive. As
noted above I had a very good line of communication with the fellow
cataloger. In addition the "red tape" side of things, filling out forms,
tweaking profiles to fit our needs, and so forth, was positive, the
folks at OCLC were timely in their replies and provided good
explanations when needed.

However, whenever you have another person or organization doing the work
for you, in instantly lose control over the ability to make changes in a
timely manner. Changes to workflow (e.g., let's say you decided you
wanted to only have your Tennessee city maps cataloged, and then a
couple of months later you decide to also add doing all the Tennessee
maps, this kind of change takes time to propose, work around from both
ends, etc., until implementation), changing the specifics you want
included or not included at the record level, and even the reality that
at a moment's notice the budget for the project might be cut suddenly --
all of these mean it takes more time to do because you aren't able to
sit down with a supervisor and maybe an administrator quickly and make
decisions and then begin implementing them. That can be frustrating at a
minimum, and more costly at a maximum, because as we all know time is
money.

I would hedge my bet and say that if one has a relatively small and
focused project in mind, with the budget to see it completely through,
then perhaps outsourcing is a viable alternative. But, if the idea is to
outsource a major part of a collection to get the cataloging done, or
the entire collection (or remainder thereof), and you have the capable
cataloger(s) to do the work, you will end up with a better result, for
less money, in the long run.

Are there other persons or companies that take on outsourcing
cartographic materials cataloging? Well, I know in the 1990s there was a
person I believe in Virginia that started such a company but a few years
later folded. Outside  of OCLC I don't know of any others, though there
may be one or more, and I trust others on this list can fill in the
blanks for me.

Hope this helps.

Your friendly, neighborhood maps cataloger,

Paige

----- Original Message -----
From: "Angie Cope, American Geographical Society Library, UW Milwaukee"
<[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2012 11:05:09 AM
Subject: Outsourcing the Catologing of Cartographic Materials

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        Outsourcing the Catologing of Cartographic Materials
Date:   Fri, 29 Jun 2012 15:01:00 +0000
From:   March, Greg <[log in to unmask]>
To:     [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>



Hello,

Would anyone be willing to offer any opinions, advice, personal
experiences related to outsourcing the cataloging of cartographic
materials? Any input you can offer would be very much appreciated.

Thank you!

-Greg

Gregory H. March

Associate Professor

Map/GIS Librarian and

Head of Map Services

University of Tennessee

G21A Hodges Library

Knoxville, TN 37996

865-974-3878 (phone)

865-974-3925 (fax)