A Day in the Life... of Dr Karen F. Pierce
Karen is the Medical Library Cataloguer in Information Services.
8.30 am Arrive and begin checking records | 9.00 am Off to a meeting | 9.30 to 11.30 am At the Staff Development Group meeting | 12 pm Donations | 12.30 to 1.30pm Lunch! | 1.30pm Human Genetics Historical Library project | 2.45 pm More books arrive! | 3.15 pm Troubleshooting | 4.45 pm Reflections on the day
8.30 am – Arrive and Begin Checking Records
Arrive at work and start day by checking emails. As the ‘medical cataloguer’ I am responsible for cataloguing the books of Cardiff University’s medical and healthcare libraries, and for being a national contact for the AWHILES libraries to answer their cataloguing queries. AWHILES is the All Wales Health Information and Library Extension Service.
As it is near the beginning of the month I have received an email from the library systems team alerting me to an updated file containing details of the new items added to the catalogue by the AWHILES libraries. I print out the list of 287 items, and distribute it amongst the cataloguing team. We check the records that have been added and upgrade details where necessary; to ensure a nationally consistent online catalogue.
9.00 am – Off to a Meeting…
I leave the office to walk from McKenzie House on Newport Road (where the cataloguing department is based) to the Arts and Social Studies Library (ASSL) for a meeting. Luckily it is not raining today, as it is a good twenty minutes walk from the south to the north of the campus, where ASSL is situated.
9.30 to 11.30 am – At the Staff Development Group Meeting
I am a representative on the Staff Development Group which meets every two months and arranges the program of training events available to INSRV staff.
The location of meeting rotates as the group is comprised of staff from both campuses, sometimes, as in today, it is within walking distance and other times it is a taxi ride away (e.g. Whitchurch Postgraduate Centre Library).
By the end of this meeting I have agreed (perhaps foolishly?) to do a presentation on my dissertation topic (from the distance learning Library Masters I have recently completed) at a future event. My dissertation was on aspects of myth and landscape within the children’s novels of Susan Cooper – literature rather than library based I hope the talk will at least prove entertaining.
I have made brief notes at the SDG meeting, anything of relevance I will relate back to the cataloguing department at our monthly team meeting.
12 pm – Donations
Arrive back at McKenzie House and find a query from an AWHILES library about adding multi-volume works waiting for me; I respond to the email and inform the library they are welcome to phone me if they need further clarification.
Then a package full of donations from the Nursing Library based at the Heath arrives, and a box of theses from the Duthie Medical Library. I pass the theses to the cataloguing assistant who will put the basic details on the catalogue (Author, title, date, etc.), before returning them to me to add the subject headings (these must be consistent with the recognized medical thesaurus to ensure national and international consistency in searching medical catalogues).
12.30 to 1.30pm – Lunch!
1.30 pm – Human Genetics Historical Library Project
While I have been out at the meeting a shelf full of books has accumulated waiting my attention!
I have decided to spend half the afternoon on new books, and half on the Human Genetics Historical Library project I am working on.
This project involves preserving and promoting the history of human and medical genetics of the 20th century, and I am responsible for cataloguing the books that are being collected from around the country, and which, once catalogued are being housed in Special Collections - SCOLAR.
These donated books are coming from personal collections, and hospital and university departments, and the main proponant of the project, Professor Peter Harper, is continuing to hunt down and collect more books as the project continues.
This is now the world’s largest collection of modern genetics books (over 1,500 volumes and growing). We have enriched the catalogue records with provenance data, to enhance searches for researchers using this collection; thus linking data on key geneticists with the copies of books they personally owned and used.
2.45 pm – More Books Arrive!
As expected six more boxes of books have arrived for me from the Institute of Medical Genetics. I unpack two of the boxes and actually do some cataloguing.
3.15 pm – Troubleshooting
The librarian from one of the AWHILES libraries has indeed rung me as a follow up to our email correspondence, at times it is much easier to explain things verbally than in email. We sort out the problem and I reassure her that I am happy to hear from either herself of her staff if they have any similar problems.
As the ‘medical/AWHILES’ cataloguer I attend the annual AWHILES conference held in the summer, and thus meet up with the librarians in person – it is always good to put a name to a face, and for them to get to know me and network with other key workers in the field.
4.45 pm – Reflections on the Day
End of another day, most of the new books have been catalogued, but as I am about to leave I discover a few more have found their way from the acquisitions section and are now waiting for attention – they will just have to wait until tomorrow!