Just a couple of weeks ago the Catalog Department announced that it has achieved independent status as NACO contributors of series authority records to the OCLC authority file. Shortly after that, we received notice that we had achieved independent status for personal name headings as part of our larger NACO membership. NACO (Name Authority Cooperative) is a program sponsored by the Library of Congress. A goal of this program is to provide for “the timely creation and maintenance of authoritative, cost-effective … authority records by knowledgeable catalogers at many institutions around the world.”
In February, eleven members of the Catalog Department and Anselm Huelsbergen participated in 4.5 days of NACO training. Following training our work was under review by a Library of Congress designated reviewer to ensure that we know what we are doing. Our independent status means that we’ve passed! We now belong to a select group. While thousands of libraries around the world contribute bibliographic records to WorldCat, there are under 250 NACO participating institutions and projects.
Congratulations are especially due to Mary Aycock who coordinated the effort in the Catalog Department.
Amanda Sprochi and Wayne Sanders also participate in NACO work via other projects.
Congrats to Mary A. and Cataloging Dept. on this national recognition of your quality work.