Interview with Supervisor(s)
University Library at UTEP 9-5pm
TiJeat Berry
Intern Supervisor: Joy Urbina
Supervisors: Virginia, Ale
I conducted interviews throughout my hours, including with Joy, but there were different supervisors I spoke with, some were the head of departments, others were the supervisors of a particular section.
Joy Urbina
What Data, technical courses have you/are you taking? What technical skills do you recommend an entry-level librarian have to perform their job tasks? (Language programming, coding, data analytics, business administration) (June 22)
I am currently working on a micro credential learning from Amigos on MARCEdit, Python, Open Refine that also includes a Capstone project. Also a Coursera Data Analytics certification with nine courses including Python and Intro. to Excel.
1a. How did you decide what platforms to use to develop your technical skills?
The university pays for courses to take and is connected to Coursera.
1b. Have you looked into LinkedIn for certificates and courses?
Yes, there were some courses that interested me and that I felt could help others in Discovery Services, but the library doesn't pay for LinkedIn courses anymore.
1c. How did your background in business help you to be successful in your role as a librarian?
Joy has a degree in business administration which has provided her with advanced Excel skills, proficiency in statistics, and the ability to create a FY 2016 Stats Manual using Excel and JSON to pull data and create codes that when entered would display the inventory of the library; the initial request for had 30 numbers and she expanded it to 80 with a break down by department, collection, and type.
2. Alejandra from government documents states that she gets instructions and information on what documents to pull from you. As head of discovery services, how do you determine which items should be kept in the collection? (June 14)
Some of the documents have to be weeded with permission from the federal government because they are federal documents. As a federal repository we must keep their documents for at least 5 years. I have help from the reference librarians who are in contact with faculty. From them, I learn what their future plans are, and where their research is headed. If this research is heading away from a topic, and books related to that topic/subject are not being circulated I will start the process of weeding them out. She will also give a list of items that discovery services will potentially weed to the library specialists who can then raise objections to certain material. I also look at the implementation of new projects across the campus. Ex. there is a sufficient collection on astronomy and NASA government documents. We will keep these materials, despite the currency. Justification is that there is construction of a new building which will be dedicated to an astronomy department, I must foresee that these materials are going to be heavily utilized by these future students.
3. What technical skills do you recommend an entry-level librarian have to perform their job proficiently?
Have at least basic Excel skills for entry-level reference librarians; For discovery services departments you want to have intermediate to advanced knowledge in Excel. The Duplicates Project that all departments are working on incorporates Excel where individuals and work on their allotted section and then all the data is merged into a single spreadsheet. Additional technical skills are CSS, HTML, Python, Dublin Core, XML, and MARCEdit. She leans more towards Python because that is what she hears about from librarians at conferences.
Alejandra (Ale)
A description of her tasks includes “Performs and manages the original cataloging and authority work of all formats for materials going to the Special Collections dept” (Urbina, 2024).
She was one of the individuals present when Jorge Ignacio Angulo Parro. Brought his gift for Special Collections. Cataloging for the special collections so I wanted to know,
3. When will you receive the finding aid for the items donated by Jorge Ignacio Angulo Parro and how will you catalog them? (June 7th)
This is a new part of her job description and I learned from Susannah Holliday that she will be moving to the 6th floor with Special Collections soon. She stated the usual process is that Special Collections creates a finding aid for the item that is given to her to catalog, but she does not think this will occur for this one.
She also told me that her role is changing, and as a result, she wanted to learn more about the archiving process and recently obtained an Archives Management Certification from LibraryJuice.com, which was an efficient way for her to learn what she needed to know without having to go back to college. She agrees with other catalogers in the department and stated that archivists do not use the same “authority language” or descriptors as catalogers because the verbiage does not accurately represent their items.
4. How did she decide to use this service to obtain her certificate? (June 7th)
She chose LibraryJuice because it was taught by archivist, and she researched the individuals and the institutions they worked to ascertain their credibility.
Course Recommendations
XML
Coding
Dublin Core thru Library of Congress
23 Linked Data Things
Python
IBM Data Analyst Professional Certificate
RDA Official Webinars
5. BIBFRAME
I asked her about this because of my discussion with Alyssa about BIBFRAME and she stated that Ale was going to a convention which will address its future. Ale told me she is going to a convention this year about BIBFRAME and there will be presentations from librarians who have left BIBFRAME. There are already librarians who have “given up” on BIBFRAME to return to MARC21. I also want to know what knowledge catalogers can provide about BIBFRAME as I still have a difficult time with it.
5a. What is your experience with BIBFRAME (July 22nd)
Ale has experience viewing BIBFRAME in the University Library ALMA system which displays the library collections records.
There is a split in the cataloging department between those who recommend learning, implementing, and using BIBFRAME and others who feel that MARC21 is the best utilization of their skills to help patrons as opposed to further education in learning the convoluted BIBFRAME script. Ale confirmed that BIBFRAME is essentially XML coding, and that she knows some XML but she still finds looking at a BIBFRAME record perplexing let alone trying to create one.
5b. What is the future of BIBFRAME, what is its goal, and what has it accomplished? (July 22nd)
BIBFRAME's purpose seems to be to provide a language that can better work with systems, computers, and machines; it is essentially XML. The university that held the conference she went to is moving back from BIBFRAME towards MARC because it was taking too long to get records created which was a detriment to the patrons. As for the future, neither MARC or BIBFRAME is going away, but that information professionals should learn BIBFRAME in case in the future it becomes more sufficient and the move away from MARC21 builds up again.
5c. What are you next steps to learn BIBFRAME (July 22nd)
My next steps are not focused entirely on BIBFRAME but more on brushing up on XML, which is related to BIBFRAME, but also helps in her work in archives because the finding aids are submitted to Texas Archival Resources Online in XML format.
Virginia (July 22nd)
6. How might a job seeker with little experience in this area best convey the worth of their skills?
I would like to see that they are interested in the world of cataloging and willing to continuously learn; either by showing the professional development courses they have or other work efforts. Technical skills that they should learn is coding, computer skills, and language programming. At an ALMA conference the young librarians were speaking, writing, and continuously updating code. For interviews, I would recommend stating that you are familiar or have experience with tools like RDAToolkit and Classification Web.
7. What are the most important tools/websites that you utilize during your time performing original cataloging?
The basics are RDAToolkit, Classification Web, OCLC Connexion, NACO, Classification Shelflisting Manual, MARC21 formats.
7a. What were the websites that you went to when we were doing original cataloging for the music and zarzuelas?
For those items we used OCLC Connexion, Discogs.com and I was just informed by Alyssa of a new one zarzuela.net . When cataloging music, and especially zarzuela's I like to briefly listen to the work to make sure I am describing the work efficiently. It takes a lot of research to do original cataloging and you must try different online sources to gather information. For example, to make authority records more distinct I like to add dates, and their educational background.
7b. What is your experience using BibFrame or RDF?
I do not have much experience; I have looked at the BIBFRAME records in our system but I do not use or created them. As I understand it, RDF is used for linked/data and the semantic web to connect information and webpages. To see an example of its usage think of Google and Facebook, how the later will send you a message "do you know 'person x'" based on 'person x' being in the friend group of one of your Facebook friends. Technical experts work the program by telling RDF what they want it to do and the rules they must follow. I compare it to our validations in Connexion, where it has been taught what data needs to go in the fields and an error message will appear if you enter something against the rules that it has been taught.
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