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Library Departments

Library Technical Services

Location: Room 343, Third Floor, Central Tower

Phone: 256-824-6497 or 256-824-6536

Technical Services Staff

 

The Technical Services staff is responsible for the following activities.

1. Acquisitions: The staff orders books and other library materials from the publishers, receive them and consequently pay for them.  The staff must perform extensive checking to make sure that the correct books is ordered and received.  The staff handles the invoices for the books purchased and keeps track of the accounts for each academic department's book budget allocation.  The proper expenditure of the budget for library materials is monitored by the Head of Technical Services.

2. Cataloging: The main responsibility of the Cataloging staff is to provide access to each book, non-print title, or serial title in the Library's online Catalog iLink.  Each title is represented by a cataloging record in the database which provides a description of the work and it can be retrieved by author, title, series, keyword or subject search.  The staff also makes sure that each catalog record is linked to the barcodes which are placed on the books and also enter information concerning the item's location and circulation availability.  Other cataloging duties include: physically processing all materials with correct labels and barcodes, correcting barcode problems with older books, maintaining the online catalog to correct errors and improve indexing and displays.  They also maintain the lost book file and statistics.

3. Serials: The main responsibilities of the Serials staff are the acquisitions, receiving and physical maintenance of the library periodical and standing orders.  Each new title is represented by a cataloging record in the online catalog which provides a description of the work and can be retrieved by using the author, title, subject, series or keyword search.  All currently received titles are reflect in the online catalog.  Other duties performed by the staff include: Checking in each issue and maintaining accurate records, claiming missing issues and keeping track of accounts for serials and standing orders.