It can be just as helpful to include some hands on exercises in class, I
often ask students to explore certain online catalogs which can display the
same features for what we need to understand. Learning OCLC Connexion and
then a local system for libraries using them as well as Koha is fine, but it
will also require a certain amount of specific keying in, macro specifics
etc, which can not only confuse but take up time. I find what is helpful to
students is to see the records online, the fields, and the new ways of
displaying information in both WorldCat, and also in a variety of online
catalogs.
It can be very time consuming for the experienced cataloger to just set up
an account, learn the specific keys/macros for even an initial session.
Having students search and then talk about what they like , find
problematic, or what features are helpful is especially helpful I find with
making 'connections' in class.
Lately we have been looking at online catalogs using classification to
'browse shelf' more etc it is definitely helpful to make the connection
from the documentation alone. We've been looking at Endeca from NCSU and
also at VuFind from Villanova U. many of these also have podcasts about the
catalog and features.
I picked up a pack of Koha education material at ALA in Chicago, but I don't
know whether I will be incorporating it in to the class right now, many
libraries and programs use this I know, but I also find students can easily
become overwhelmed with logins and passwords to cataloging modules.
--Best, Karen W
Karen Weaver, MLS, Adjunct Faculty, Cataloging & Classification, The iSchool
at Drexel University, College of Information Science & Technology,
Philadelphia PA email: [log in to unmask] / Electronic
Resources Statistician, Duquesne University, Gumberg Library, Pittsburgh PA
email: [log in to unmask]
On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 1:07 PM, Cheryl Tarsala <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> Hi Suzanne,
>
> I can't see using our Koha for basic cataloging students to input
> records for graded assignments.
>
> My plan is to input a set of records for some cookbooks that I use as
> descriptive cataloging examples. It will be much more instructive for
> students to see the "answers" in a local catalog where I can control how
> they are displayed and searched. I can also put variant descriptive records
> for each book in the database, some without their access points, etc., to
> show how searching is affected and authority control works. I'm also fine
> with them doing whatever they want to input records for these via the staff
> client for practice. This (I hope) will be more useful for their exploration
> than just showing them the "right" answer MARC records from OCLC or in
> someone else's catalog or typing up an assignment as a document.
>
> With our new live online session environment I'll also be able to share
> my screen and show what a staff client looks like and how the input process
> works, as Faye has done.
>
> Cheryl
>
>
>
>
> On Aug 21, 2009, at 5:04 AM, Suzanne Stauffer wrote:
>
> Is or has anyone used Koha to teach cataloging? If so, would you mind
>> sharing how you did it?
>>
>> I finally got the company to respond. David Bavousett set up 5 "instances"
>> and 5 "staff clients", complete with bibliographic records. That would be
>> great for staff training, but I'm having trouble seeing how I would use this
>> in a cataloging course. Obviously, I don't need or want bibliographic
>> records. I want the students to create and add records, not search for them.
>> I've asked for help and tried using the documentation, but can't find
>> anything on using it in teaching.
>>
>> I can see how students can add records to the databases, but what I can't
>> figure out is how I would find the records they created to grade them. Even
>> more importantly, with only 5 bibliographic databases, either the students
>> will all be cataloging different items (which would make grading oh so much
>> fun), or I'll have to divide them into 5 groups, with students in each group
>> cataloging different items. That means I'd have between 1 and 6 different
>> items per group. I'm assuming that the system won't allow duplicate records
>> in a single database; if it did, it would be too much to expect students not
>> to "just take a peek at how superstudent did it."
>>
>> I'm probably missing something extemely elementary. Can anyone help?
>> Suzanne M. Stauffer, Ph.D.
>> Assistant Professor
>> School of Library and Information Science
>> Louisiana State University
>> 275 Coates Hall
>> Baton Rouge, LA 70803
>> (225)578-1461
>> Fax: (225)578-4581
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>>
> *****************
> Cheryl Tarsala
> [log in to unmask]
>
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