using the catalog
Roy Tennant says that “No one in their right mind wants to use a library catalog,” and I must, respectfully, disagree.
I agree that he’s right in some situations — if you just want to look for a mystery or a cookbook and you want go to the library to do so, then no, you probably don’t want to use a library catalog. But not every library user in every library is after a casual browsing experience, and not every user wants to use the library that way.
I know several people who go to the library only to pick up holds they’ve requested. You know how they request those holds? They use the catalog. When I was in college (when I would not have been caught dead consulting a librarian) doing research for a paper, I did not want to tromp all over the library looking for things; I wanted to have a list and go after it. You know how I got that list? I used the catalog (which, helpfully, listed both subjects and sub-subjects–I was a literature geek, so whenever I hit –History and criticism, I knew I was good). Sometimes I want a book but I can’t think of who the author is. You know how I find that information out? I use the catalog. One could, of course, use Amazon these days, but for much of my library-going life, that wasn’t an option.
We all know catalogs could be much, much better. But I’m not ready to throw them away entirely.
Comment by your mom
24 July 2008 @ 11:04 am
yes–and I miss the old card catalogues, where a whole lot of stuff would be in the same drawer (or 3, if you were doing a Shakespeare term paper). And the random interesting things you could come across just because they were next to Shakespeare. Can’t do that on-line. Of course, I actually had to go to the library to use it, but I forced myself once or twice a semester. love from your mom, also a literature geek.