Inspired Librarian

Yes, I moved. For the past few months that I have been completely "inactive," I have been busy learning and re-learning the 'new' line of work that I happily gotten myself into. And with that, I meant, from a one-man librarian, now, I sit as one of the catalogers in DLSU Technical Section.

I like new my job. While people generally perceive catalogers' work as "routine, mechanical and repetitive," (Chwe, 1978) I find it ever challenging... nerve-racking at times. The work usually calls for conferring and consultation with fellow catalogers especially when you need to catalog some esoteric materials that you just encountered for the first time. The most challenging task I had to deal with (and still will have to deal with) is cataloging foreign language books which are more than a hundred year old. I would compare a cataloger's work to being a chef whom customers doesn't usually see but is there, working hard in the kitchen to ensure that they would be served with a sumptuous meal. In the same way, catalogers' work at the back-office away from public contact - classifying and determining access points of materials and etc., but whose work is enjoyed and used by different library users.

Due to technological changes, the future of cataloging and catalogers - how the nature of the work will evolve, is uncertain. But at the moment, the important thing is knowing that we are paving the way to enable users access materials they need.