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Catalogers and Directors
At Loggerheads or Mutually Advancing 
the Profession?
A Panel Presentation by 
Heather Hicks, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas 
Stephen Sweeney, St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, Denver, Colorado 
Thomas Phillips, Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, California 
Moderator: Richard A. Lammert, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

ABSTR ACT Especially in recent years, the future of cataloging as a 
part of the library profession has become a point of discussion. It seems 
at times that catalogers and directors are at opposite parts of the spec-
trum: catalogers holding on to cataloging because “that’s the way it’s 
always been done”; directors trying to make use of dwindling funds, and 
deciding that cataloging as we know it is not a major part of the future. 
So it seems—but is the appearance accurate? Are catalogers and direc-
tors simply saying the same thing in different ways and with different 
focuses, or is there a fundamental disconnect between the two view-
points? The purpose of this panel was to bring together one cataloger 
and two directors to discuss precisely that topic.

The purpose of this panel was to give catalogers and library directors 
an opportunity to address how cataloging currently fits into the library 
profession. During recent times, there has appeared to be a growing 
rift in how catalogers and directors view the usefulness of cataloging 
to the work of libraries. In this panel presentation, each panelist had 
seven minutes to present his or her perception of the topic, followed by 
three minutes to provide any additional comments. The panel presen-
tation was followed by questions from the attendees for the panelists.



50  ATL A 2019 PROCEEDINGS

STEPHEN SWEENEY, DIRECTOR, CARDINAL STAFFORD LI-
BRARY, ST. JOHN VIANNEY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

I believe that cataloging is a function that fits the definition of mystery. 
Cataloging is not mysterious to me; I have a good understanding of 
the process and workflows to be successful. Rather, I mean mystery 
as it relates to cataloging in the sense that this part of the profession is 
continually growing, expanding, and being lived into as it has evolved 
from AACR to AACR2 to RDA and what comes next.

Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary is the Catholic seminary 
in Denver, with 3.5 FTE in the library. We serve a population of about 
120 FTE seminarians and approximately thirty faculty and staff. Our 
seminarian/student population is 100% residential, and all students 
have the occasion to use the library. Saint John Vianney (SJV) offers 
one nondegree program in the form of a propadeutic year (it’s named 
the Spirituality Year). The Seminary offers two philosophical degrees: 
a BA in Philosophy in affiliation with Regis University in Denver, and 
a BPhil degree in affiliation with the Angelicum in Rome. SJV offers to 
some students the opportunity to complete their philosophical stud-
ies by a nondegree “standard program” of coursework in philosophy. 
Two degree programs are offered in Theology: the MDiv program is 
approved and accredited by ATS, and the STB (Baccalaureate Degree 
in Sacred Theology) is offered via affiliation with the Angelicum in 
Rome.

The library is the result of 114 years of growth and the generosity 
of St Thomas Seminary. Library offerings include e-journals and some 
ebooks as well as the OADTL and EBSCO databases (as two examples). 
The seminary is very bound to the print text tradition; the library was 
able to take on a leadership role in the formulation and approval of 
the SJVTS Style Guide. A recently approved version of the Collection 
Development Policy for the library further suggests the seminary’s 
reliance on print resources.

Now thinking about our topic at hand, the previous cataloger 
retired in 2017 after nineteen years of service to the seminary. 
Another person was hired, and she stayed until June 2018 when family 
and military obligations drew her family from Denver. From there, 
the library experienced a short gap in the position while a search 
was launched, which ultimately led to a new hire in October 2018. As 



Panel Presentation 51

happens in so many small libraries, the qualifications of the person 
who ultimately was hired last October were pretty diverse—interli-
brary loan services, cataloging, donations, volunteers, binding, and 
serials.

Looking ahead: Are directors expecting a guaranteed future for 
catalogers? In the perspective of a Catholic seminary library direc-
tor, catalogers are an integral component in decoding the mystery 
of organization and arrangement of information. The belief was also 
expressed that there is a guaranteed future for libraries, and certainly 
for professionals to organize, arrange, and describe that. With that 
said, a future for catalogers as we currently know them is certainly 
not guaranteed. The mystery of describing information and creating 
access points to them is vital to the future of libraries.

HEATHER HICKS, TECHNICAL SERVICES LIBRARIAN, SWBTS 
LIBRARY, SOUTHWESTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMI-
NARY

Catalogers vs. Computers. Even in 2019, technology has not 
advanced enough to replace the cataloger. Specifically, computers 
are unable to perform cataloging tasks such as resource description 
as well as a cataloger and are completely incapable of performing 
other cataloging tasks such as subject analysis and authority control. 
Without the cataloger to provide the proper description, access 
points, and subject analysis, the resource would be hard to discover 
and impossible for the user to identify, select, obtain, or explore 
linked resources. Since these are fundamental to the operation of 
the library, the cataloger and cataloging are still clearly needed.
So, catalogers are needed.

Are we current? Yes. The tools (such as RDA or authority control) 
and goals (such as core or full-level cataloging) used by catalogers 
are the prevailing methods and expectations of library science—
not catalogers’ preference—but standards agreed upon by global 
library communities (such as the PCC) and bibliographic utilities 
(such as OCLC) to be successful methods of describing and orga-
nizing resources. 
Retire or retrain? Ideally, directors would desire to equip their 
catalogers with new technology and the appropriate education 



52  ATL A 2019 PROCEEDINGS

for application; while the cataloger, in turn, would also agree that 
this is wisdom for any profession, and would seek to stay informed 
and up-to-date. 
Tradition or access-driven methods? Both. Applying LC classi-
fication numbers and subject headings consistently allows new 
resources to file most appropriately within the historical biblio-
graphic universe. On the other hand, resource description has 
been redesigned to operate in an environment of relational data-
bases so patrons can find resources through linked data with the 
most recent technological devices and platforms.

Future of catalogers and the cataloging profession. From today’s 
viewpoint, directors will need both catalogers and new technology 
working in tandem to thrive in the future. Already, the cataloging 
profession has integrated a new technological role, one in which 
the cataloger utilizes, manages, migrates, and oversees advance-
ments in technology including the uncertainties of technological 
flaws, actually creating a higher demand for catalogers and cataloging 
services. Since both directors and catalogers are working towards 
the same goal of fulfilling the mission of the library, we are not at an 
impasse but rather, in partnership.

TOM PHILLIPS, DEAN OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SER-
VICES, CST LIBRARY, CLAREMONT SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY

The relationship between catalogers and directors should begin 
with the institution’s mission. The director’s job is to translate the 
institution’s mission into budgetary priorities for the library. This 
means providing access and discoverability to the content that the 
institution needs to support its educational mission to students and 
its research mission for faculty. The cataloger’s job is to increase the 
discoverability of that needed content to the greatest degree possible 
in a cost-effective manner. Of course, what is needed in an institu-
tion varies widely. In most cases, the traditional print cataloger occu-
pies a very small place within the current information economy and 
traditional print cataloging at the institutional level often does not 
stand up well to a rigorous cost-benefit analysis.



Panel Presentation 53

PANEL DISCUSSION

Director Tom Phillips argued that choosing not to have a cataloging 
librarian but instead a metadata librarian results from their library 
supporting the mission of the institution, which is primarily online 
learning and digital content. Response: Agree that the library should 
support the mission of the institution. Disagree that catalogers are 
unneeded when the content is digital: regardless of the medium of 
the resource (print or digital), the principles of organization remain 
the same and cataloging is metadata—just a more structured, tradi-
tional metadata. 

Director Stephen Sweeney argued that catalogers are still needed 
to organize information but the role has come to include many other 
skills. Response: Agree that the cataloger’s role is evolving—no longer 
exclusively just cataloging. In fact, the current Technical Services 
Librarian position that Hicks occupies includes public services and 
ILL support, book repair, binding, and serials.

AUDIENCE INTERACTION

Following are some of the comments and responses that came from 
the open discussion following the panelists’ presentations:
• There was agreement that the library should support the mission 

of the institution, but disagreement on whether or not catalogers 
are needed for digital content.

• There was agreement that the cataloger’s role is evolving; 
catalogers are usually not working exclusively as catalogers. 
Personal examples include catalogers participating in ILL and 
assisting in library public services events.

• No matter whether the medium of the resource is print or digital, 
the principles of organization remain the same. Works need 
adequate subject headings (a commentary on Judges will be 
missed if it is not in English and lacks subject headings); and 
works need authority control (a patron can be frustrated when 
looking for Pastor Dan Cummins’s book and getting books by the 
comedian of the same name because of lack of authority control).

• The Library of Congress still catalogs ebooks. If the leading 
national library sees it as necessary and not a waste of time, it 
is reasonable to conclude that e-resources require cataloging.


