By: Patrick J Raftery Jr
Patrick J Raftery Jr is Senior Library Associate: Technical Services, at The Thomas J Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Backlogs are quite the norm within cataloging and technical services departments. Workflows attempt to manage the processing of materials in a timely fashion. Efforts are put forth to avoid having the backlog multiple in size. However, what does one do when you are gifted another institution’s backlog?
In 2015, The Thomas J Watson Library, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was gifted a large backlog from The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA. The backlog consisted of seventeen skids, each skid consisting of thirty-two bankers boxes, filled with art related materials. Due to the sheer size of the gift, the backlog found its resting space at an offsite facility. Under the guidance of former Associate Chief Librarian Daniel Starr, former Technical Services Librarian Andrea Puccio and a volunteer began to make a dent in this enormous project. However, the project was suspended in the fall of 2016 to complete the renovation of the Technical Services department, and other high priority projects.
As the renovations of the Technical Services room drew near, Daniel had retired and Andrea relocated to The Clark Art Institute. The MoMA backlog project was brought back to the discussion table for best practices on how to proceed. Under the guidance of John Lindaman, Associate Museum Librarian, Technical Services, the project took an unexpected turn. Instead of overloading the cataloging librarians with this immense project in addition to daily tasks, John approached me, a full-time para-professional member of Technical Services, and MLIS/MA History student at Queens College to become the project manager.
The MoMA backlog project became an educational project for both para-professional staff members and all Watson Librarians who wanted to volunteer their time and/or expand their skill sets in cataloging. To ensure a smooth workflow, that would not create another backlog of work or take away from other responsibilities, interested volunteers were asked to take ten volumes a week. Items are reviewed within the collection development policy. Additional copies of highly circulating volumes are added. For volumes that meet criteria and are not in our collection, OCLC Connexion is used to search for copy cataloging and original records are created if needed. Copy cataloging training/refreshers were provided by John. Para-professional staff who were interested in creating original records, like myself, began a Mentor-Mentee relationship with either Associate Museum Librarian, Principle Cataloger, Tamara Fultz or Assistant Museum Librarian William Blueher. All Chinese, Japanese, Korean (CJK) materials were directed to CJK Museum Librarian Min Xu and Assistant Museum Librarian Luxuan Liu. Volumes with non-roman characters are directed to Tamara and Associate Museum Librarian Jared Ash. Upon creation/completion of full bibliographic records, all new volumes are sent back to the offsite facility for storage and retrieval for patrons.
What at first seemed to be a daunting project has become a successful professional development tool. None of the Watson Library staff members who volunteered to take part in this project has become overwhelmed, overworked, or frustrated with the MoMA backlog. The MoMA backlog has refreshed cataloging rules and best practices for some, and has taught others the fundamentals of cataloging, seeking good copy records and creating good original records. Moreover, we decided against using Backstage Library Marcadia for two important reasons. First, it would take away from the educational value of the volunteers who were interested in becoming skilled catalogers. Second, some of these materials had been sitting in the backlog for an unknown amount of time. We felt it would be best practice to make sure the record is as full as it could be if there was not a record already created.
The progress of the project has been fantastic. During the first stage of the project, the Watson Library acquired 2,280 volumes. 2,109 were cataloged, 111 original cataloging and 1,998 copy cataloged, and 171 added copies. Stage two, the educational volunteer phase, began in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017. At the end of fiscal year 2018, the Watson Library has acquired 3,390 volumes, 3,172 volumes were cataloged, 676 original cataloging and 2,496 copy cataloged, and 218 added copies. This brings a combined total of 5,670 volumes added to the Watson Library collection.
We have now completed 43% of the MoMA backlog project. The current workflow consists of receiving, searching, cataloging, and processing, four boxes every two weeks. Since the backlog is housed at an offsite facility, we can pause at any time for higher priority needs or unforeseen circumstances.
The MoMA Backlog Project has become a valuable resource for the Watson Library’s holdings, the Metropolitan Museum of Art curators, the independent researchers, and all of the college and university patrons we serve. It has also sharpened and widened the skill sets of the Watson Library staff. Furthermore, I have truly benefited from the MoMA Backlog Project from the guidance and support of my supervisor, John Lindaman, and my cataloging mentor, Tamara Fultz.
Who would have thought a backlog could provide so much opportunity!
The Cataloging Section welcomes contributions on the topic of cataloging within the art library community. Please share relevant resources, issues, conundrums, projects, cataloging hacks, tips and tricks or news from your library! We would love to hear from catalogers like you.