Cataloging Internship- how that's going

It's been a long time. I have no excuse, except that life sometimes gets in the way of writing about life.

I thought I'd use this entry to write about my progress in my cataloging internship at the IU Music Library. I haven't written a lot about this internship. I thought I knew a lot about cataloging before I started--even music cataloging. The more time I spend doing it, especially classical music cataloging, makes me think this ain't so. (Humility--always a good lesson to learn).

So what have I been doing for the last month and a half? Well, after spending a good amount time absorbing MARC 21, the LC Rule Interpretations, the Music Cataloging Decisions, re-reading AACR2, and reading Smiraglia and Weitz's authoritative books on music cataloging and MARC coding, I've actually been doing cataloging every hour I've been at the Music Library. (No big shock).

I've created name authority records for composers and performers. I've created name-title authority records for classical pieces that need a uniform title. I've edited records from the Library of Congress and other institutions. I've created original records of classical music, conjunto music, and Norwegian jazz (Solveig Slettahjell).

Every time we use an access point, I check IU's authority record against OCLC to make sure we have the most current version. I've inputted both bibliographic and authority records into IUCAT's SIRSI Workflows system, adding copies and volumes.

I've created shelflist cards for the Music Library's Technical Services Division cuttering the recording based on a former IU Music Librarian's (de Lerma) classification scheme. [FORMAT-COMPOSER/PERFORMER CUTTER-GENRE-WORK-THE # OF THE LATEST COPY IU HAS]. It's kind of clunky, but it works for a closed system.

I have around 86 more hours to get done in this internship by finals week.