What are cataloguers ashamed of?

What do you think a cataloguer would say if you asked them in casual conversation what they did for a living? Would they say that they were a cataloguer? Would they say that they were a librarian? Or would they say that they "worked in a library" - and then steer the conversation away as quickly as possible?

I have worked and talked with a lot of cataloguers and I don't think that they are proud of what they do. They take a pride in their work (which isn't the same thing), they are hard-working, conscientious and very intelligent. But they are not proud of being cataloguers.

I suggest that this reticence springs from two things, the first being a belief that cataloguing is irredeemably arcane and rule-based, not something that can be explained or that, if it were, anyone would find interesting. Being a cataloguer therefore ranks alongside being a plane spotter or a model railway enthusiast - it is something that requires dedication, knowledge and skill, but smacks of the geek and the nerd.

The second thing is that cataloguing has always been part of "support services", a back-room role, and is therefore thought to suit people who are modest and reticent. When someone enters library work who is rather quiet, their manager's immediate reaction is to pack them off to the Bib Services Department. It is, after all, their natural home - and they come to believe that too.

So what now, when cuts, always threatening, come ever closer? If no case is made for cataloguing or catalogues by the cataloguers themselves, do they deserve to survive? How can we persuade them of the value of what they do and give them the courage and pride to persuade everyone else? How can we turn the meek and mild into the loud and proud?

Introductions

I am not going to tell you who I am, because I want to maintain a distance between what I write here and my daily job, even though the one will naturally influence the other. Suffice it to say that I am a cataloguer (and have been for many many years - too many years, probably) and that I work in the United Kingdom. Although it hasn't always been the case, at the moment I am working in a public library. It's a fairly precarious position nowadays, and one of the things I want to explore through this blog is why this is so - why cataloguing is so little respected and valued. There will be lots of other things to say as well.

But, just in case the cloak of invisibility fails and you work out who I am, here is the all-important disclaimer - everything I say is my own opinion and I do not seek to represent the views of my employer or my colleagues.

And so - on to the first post.