Introduction to Cooperative Cataloging Panel Discussion

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Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you this morning and to be part of a program that should be of much interest to many of us. The subject of cooperative cataloging, what it is, and how it supports the cataloging of U.S. Government publications has been of interest to people for some time.

With us this morning are two well-known people from the national cooperative cataloging communities. They are Jean Hirons, a former supervisor of serials cataloging at the Government Printing Office and presently CONSER Coordinator, Library of Congress, and Carolyn Sturtevant of the Cooperative Cataloging Team of the Library of Congress. I have worked closely with Jean over the years and rely on her advice to ensure that we meet the standards expected of us. Jean will discuss the CONSER Program for serials and Carolyn will discuss the various national programs associated with the Program for Cooperative Cataloging.

Before proceeding with Jean’s presentation, I would like to assure you that GPO has been a member of all national cooperative cataloging programs since their inception through the present. Our participation in these programs means, in part, that our catalogers adapt records that have been produced by program members whenever these records represent resources that are being cataloged. In effect, we take full advantage of records produced by member libraries by adapting their records as appropriate. Because most of our cataloging is original, we are also the leading contributor of cooperative cataloging records for United States Government publications.

Our time is short and we will now proceed with Jean’s presentation. Both Jean and Carolyn are experts in their respective fields and I encourage all of you to take advantage of their presence by directing questions to them at the conclusion of their presentations.