General

A survey reported in 1974 of the 47 charter members of the OCLC network, including site visits and interviews (148) with all levels of library personnel in member libraries, showed that responses from 35 of the libraries regarding production rates for cataloging with records in the OCLC data base ran at an overall average of 14.3 titles/hour. The rate for the 25 libraries using LC classification ran an average of 14.9 titles/hour, while the rate for the 10 libraries using Dewey classification ran 12.9 titles/hour.                         (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thatof the libraries using the LC classification system the production rate for 5 libraries using restrictive procedures (exact match) was 17.4 titles/hour, for 10 libraries using semi-restrictive procedures (close match) 14.9 titles/hour, and for 10 libraries using nonrestrictive procedures the rate was 12.1 titles/hour.                    (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thatestimates from 40 libraries for the rate of inputting bibliographic records from pre-tagged input forms averaged 8.7 records/hour excluding time for revision. Revision rates, based on reports from several libraries, suggested a revision rate in the range of 4 minutes/title, indicating an overall input rate of 6 titles/hour.                         (Source)

Academic

A study during academic 1972-73 of cataloging production at Wichita State University involving 4 professional catalogers who handled original and problem cataloging and reclassification along with other duties such as catalog maintenance and editing of nonprofessional copy cataloging (a total of 15,450 titles; 24,494 volumes) showed thatthe average number of titles handled per day per professional ranged from 10 to 25, while the average number of volumes handled per day ranged from 20 to 31.              (Source)

A 1977 study at Cornell Law Library of 157 OCLC member records and 424 LC records in the OCLC data base showed thatthe average cataloging time per record for records with OCLC member cataloging copy was 9.076 minutes compared to 8.148 minutes cataloging time per record for records with LC cataloging copy.                      (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thatthe average inputting time per record for records with OCLC member cataloging copy was 5.966 minutes compared to 4.498 minutes average inputting time per record for records with LC cataloging copy.                  (Source)

A 1977 survey of academic libraries with collections of 300,000 volumes or more that were also OCLC members concerning cataloging practices (survey size: 147 libraries; responding: 121 or 82.3%) showed that:

                for libraries with 900,000 volumes or more the average OCLC production (on a first-time use basis) was 2,175 titles per month and ranged from 500 to 5,455 titles per month;

                for libraries with less than 900,000 volumes, the average OCLC production (on a first-time use basis) was 1,256 titles per month

                and ranged from 300 to 3,800 titles per month.                (Source)

A 1979 survey of U.S. community college libraries selected from the 1978 Community, Junior and Technical College Directory (sample size: 98; responding: 52; usable: 48 or 48.98%) showed thatthe number of books [cataloged] added monthly to the collection was as follows:

                0-100                                           14 (29.20%) libraries

                101-500                                       19 (39.60%) libraries

                500+                                              1 (2.08%) libraries

                not recorded/not answered            14 (29.20%) libraries                (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thatthe number of audiovisual materials added monthly to the collection was as follows:

                0-100                                           31 (64.60%) libraries

                500+                                               1 (2.08%) libraries

                not recorded/not answered            16 (33.33%) libraries                (Source)

A 1979 survey of academic libraries listed in the 1979 edition of OCLC Participating Libraries Arranged by Network and Institution (survey size: 200 libraries; responding: 166 or 83%) showed thatof 166 respondents the number of titles cataloged per year via OCLC was as follows:

                less than 5,000 titles                        69 (41.6%) libraries

                5,000-9,999 titles                           39 (23.5%) libraries

                10,000-14,999 titles                       31 (18.7%) libraries

                15,000 or more titles                       27 (16.2%) libraries                (Source)

Special

A 1977 study at Cornell Law Library of 157 OCLC member records and 424 LC records in the OCLC data base showed thatthe average cataloging time per record for records with OCLC member cataloging copy was 9.076 minutes compared to 8.148 minutes cataloging time per record for records with LC cataloging copy.                      (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thatthe average inputting time per record for records with OCLC member cataloging copy was 5.966 minutes compared to 4.498 minutes average inputting time per record for records with LC cataloging copy.                   (Source)

Dr. David Kohl

 "Libraries in the digital age are experiencing the most profound transformation since ancient Mesopotamian scribes first began gathering and organizing cuneiform tablets."

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