Fundamentals of technical services

For Immediate Release
Thu, 08/13/2015

Contact:

Rob Christopher

Marketing Coordinator

ALA Publishing

American Library Association

312-280-5052

rchristopher@ala.org

CHICAGO— Written by John Sandstrom and Liz Miller, two librarians working and teaching on the front lines, “Fundamentals of Technical Services,” published by ALA Neal-Schuman, uses a functional, hands-on approach to lay out the basics of technical services, from acquiring new materials to making them available to library users. Perfect for those just moving into the profession, as well as library staff in need of a brush up, this primer concisely examines:

  • what precisely Technical Services are, with a brief history of the field;
  • collection development and acquisitions, including budgeting, ordering and receiving;
  • metadata and cataloging, from MARC to RDA: Resource Description and Access;
  • dealing with different kinds of materials, including books/monographs, serials, video, audio and electronic/e-resources;
  • the basics of physical processing;
  • systems such as ILS, ERM and EDI;
  • collection maintenance issues such as book repair/preservation and weeding;
  • authority control and database maintenance;
  • vendors, contracts, workflow and other administrative functions; and
  • forward-looking analysis of important trends and developments such as pricing, consortia/co-ops, languages of materials, and outsourcing.

Sandstrom is the acquisitions librarian at the New Mexico State University Library. At various times he has worked in technical services, branch management, and administration in academic, public, and special libraries, and library education.  Miller is the Cataloging Librarian at the New Mexico State University Library. She has written and presented workshops about practical aspects of RDA. She served as President of the OLAC (Online Audiovisual Catalogers) from 2013 to 2014.

ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide. Founded in 1976 by Patricia Glass Schuman and John Vincent Neal, Neal-Schuman Publishers, now an imprint of ALA Publishing, publishes professional books for librarians, archivists, and knowledge managers. Contact us at (800) 545-2433 ext. 5052 or editionsmarketing@ala.org.