Library catalog: a black hole or the only hope for the profession?

Abstract

The catalog - or rather discovery and delivery service - becomes indispensable when almost every search returns plenty of low quality results leaving the searcher with primitive filtering tools. It is also the only area of expertise of the librarian, as nowadays there is a sufficient number of subject experts in most of the intellectual duties in libraries and cultural institutions, whereas the core of the professionals are clerks who learn their job by instruction in function. We therefore see cataloging as the basic task of the library, whereas the catalog - as attractive space between the author, the reader and the librarian, vulnerable to a significant development.