Library technical services

Library technical services are the processing and maintenance activities of a library's collection. These include:

Collection Development

• Identification: locating potentially worthwhile items to add to the collection
• Selection: deciding which of the identified items to add to the collection
• Acquisitions: securing the items for the collection. This includes purchasing books, electronic resources, and multimedia materials for a library's collection.

Cataloging

• Cataloging: creating and adapting records for the library's materials to allow users to search for them via online catalog.
• Organization and Classification: indexing and cataloging the items acquired in a manner that will aid the end-user in locating materials in the collection. Materials are organized by classification systems such as the Dewey Decimal System or Library of Congress classification system.

Processing

• Preparation: labeling, binding, repairing, conservation, and otherwise making items ready for (and maintained during) storage in a manner that allows for easy retrieval and maintenance of what is in a collection
• Preservation: maintaining and repairing of both print and electronic materials. The former includes repairing damaged books, binding journals into hardcover volumes, and reformatting print materials to digital. The latter includes digital curation, in which archivists work to preserve electronic materials from data deterioration, and periodically migrate data from older to newer formats.

Technical services may also include: maintenance of online catalogs, creation and maintenance of MARC records in the catalog, labeling, covering, security processing, and/or distribution of materials, maintaining a library's technology resources, such as servers, OPACs, circulation, scanners, and other devices.

See also

• ALA - Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS)
• OCLC - Webjunction
• Library of Congress - Resource Description and Access (RDA): Information and Resources in Preparation for RDA (Acquisitions and Bibliographic Control, Library of Congress)