Born-Again Cataloging in the Online Networks

Participation in an online network means that the work of individual libraries and their cata-logers becomes visible to, and utilized by, many other libraries. Network affiliated libraries and network quality control personnel thus become participants in evaluating each cataloger's work. Results of a 1983-84 case study of six academic libraries indicate that the shift from in-house to nationwide evaluation of catalogers ' records creates enhanced status and influence for cataloging peer groups and provides both networks and individual libraries new opportunities to identify master catalogers by online inspection of their work. ne of the most important devel-opments affecting library and information agencies in the past decade has been the grow-ing reliance by individual libraries on the services of automated cooperative net-works, also known as bibliographic utili-ties. These utilities offer a range of prod-