In, out, shake it all about

Gradually we, as cataloguers, are getting used to the idea that we do more than just create data - more than just record bibliographical information accurately and consistently and put it into a store (whether card catalogue or database) where other people can get to it. This is pretty much where we were thirty years ago - our job then was to get the information set down correctly and we let people use it if they could work out how. Our way of doing things was the right way, and they had to learn to understand, or at least to recognise, it.

Gradually we have got used to the idea that our responsibility goes beyond merely enabling people to access the catalogue, to actively helping them to find what they want in it - nowadays we are involved in how people search, how information should be indexed and how it should be displayed. So we are involved with the output of the information, as well as the input. And this means that we have got much more involved in database structure and all sorts of technical stuff that has more to do with IT than AACR. But we still think of our users as being readers, public or students, people who come into our libraries as customers of one kind or another.

I am starting to think that we have - or could have - another sort of user amongst our colleagues and managers. Here we are, creating and managing big databases full of information about our collections and our customers. They are not just public catalogues, but also mines of information about our library service. We can find out all sorts of useful stuff - yes, we can provide management information. Before cataloguers became IT-savvy, this was the job of the system manager (even if the first thing they did was to come and ask a cataloguer where to find the information they were looking for); nowadays you can buy expensive software to run standard queries for you (as long as a cataloguer has told the programme where to find the data).

Why isn't the cataloguer building the queries in the first place? We know what information is available, how it is structured, and we know what questions to ask to get the right answer out. We know how to build shelflists for stock checking, lists of new acquisitions for publicity, we can manipulate data about stock, funds and borrowers. Let's start unpacking all this data so that our colleagues and our managers can use it to improve the whole of our service. It is valuable information and we should be the ones to release it. Suddenly our role might become a whole lot more visible and relevant.