Will library technical services exist thirty years from now? If so, what do leading experts see as the direction of the field?
In this visionary look at the future of technical services, Mary Beth Weber, Head of Central Technical Services at Rutgers and editor of Library Resources and Technical Services (LRTS), the official journal of ALA’s Association for Library Collections and Technical Services and one of the top peer-reviewed scholarly technical services journals has compiled a veritable who’s who of the field to answer just these questions.
Experts including Amy K. Weiss, Sylvia Hall-Ellis, and Sherri L. Vellucci answer vital questions like:
Is there a future for traditional cataloging, acquisitions, and technical services?How can librarians influence the outcome of vendor-provided resources such as e-books, licensing, records sets, and authority control?Will RDA live up to its promise?Are approval plans and subject profiles relics of the past?Is there a need to curate data through its lifecycle?What skills will be needed in the future in technical services jobs?
Mary Beth Weber has served as the head of Central Technical Services at Rutgers University Libraries since 2008. She has experience with acquisitions (requests for proposals, approval plans, PDA/DDA/EBA plans) and resource description. Early in her career, she established herself as an expert in cataloging non-print resources. Weber has been active in ALA Core (previously ALCTS) and served as editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed scholarly journal Library Resources & Technical Services for nine years. She has authored numerous books on technical services and cataloging. In addition, she has been active in mentoring programs, both within ALA and at Rutgers University. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Art History (Double Major) from Michigan State University, and holds an MLS from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.