Changes in Technical Services and Their Effect on the Role of Catalogers and Staff Education: An Overview

Summary: Though all library operations are affected by the development of technology, technical services operations are the first to undergo massive organizational restructuring in response. Some current changes and their effects on library cataloging departments are addressed. Two cataloging options are discussed. One is the use of vendor services, such as OCLC's Contract Cataloging, Prompt-Cat, and OCLC Selection. The other is the use of non-traditional staff. The impact of such changes on the role of librarians and on staff education is considered