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Our media center has been automated for circulation and inventory for 4 years, and we just completed the automation this fall by adding the computerized catalog. I agree that automation has allowed us to produce better records and track overdues and fines more efficiently. However, as yet, it has not freed up my time to spend more of it working sith students! This year, many hours of frustration have been spent trying to get our networked printers to work! Also, our shelflist records were converted retrospectively by Brodart. We sent AV as well as print records. There was a misunderstanding about general material descriptors, so our AV call numbers now begin with the GMD, which I don't like and will probably change. In addition, we keep several old sets of various encyclopedias for times of high demand. Our shelf list cards differentiated among the different editions through the copyright dates. When the records were converted, we had to be sure that the LC number was on each card to make a hit. Anyway, ALL of my World Books, for example, have been converted and listed as having the same copyright date! It seems that the LC number was unchanged from one edition to the next. HOwever, the ISBN was unique, but that wasn't the search code. We have the same problem with our almanacs. Needless to say, correcting this will take time. Subject headings have also been a problem in that many different cataloguers have created the records, and some subject headings are variations on a theme; e.g. Mystery and Detective Stories, Mystery & Detective Stories, and Mystery and Detective Story. It will take a long time to find and consolidate variant headings. However, we have noticed that books that haven't circulated in several years are being checked out. We attribute this phenomenon to the fact that students eagerly use the electronic catalog, whereas before, they rarely used the card catalog. This year, they are finding more books about their interest and are checking them out. Even with all the headaches of troubleshooting and refining our records, I love the electronic catalog. It is a vast improvement. *************************************************************************** Monica Byrne Bitnet Address: BYRNEM@FIRNVX Media Specialist Internet Address: BYRNEM@MAIL.FIRN.EDU Rock Lake Middle School (407) 831-7864 Longwood, FL 32750 ***************************************************************************