Thanks again to everyone who responded about using Destiny. Your comments are
much appreciated and very helpful. I have shared them with the other librarians in
our district, and they were thrilled to have some information ahead of our
training, and also to know that we don't have to be so stressed about the change.
I was asked to post a hit from several people.
Thanks again!
Vicki
nelsonvl@ector-county.k12.tx.us
****************************************************************************************
Don't worry everything will work out. We love Destiny.
You are correct. When cataloging, the first thing you will do is to
check to see if there is the book already exists in the database.
If there is a copy in the District database, you will only be adding
a copy. When you add the copy you will put in the barcode number,
call number and any subject headings you want to add for your location.
****************************************************************************************
If it is the first book in the District, you can import the
information from a purchased record or search zSources for the MARC
record.
You really don't lose that much autonomy. You do want to keep things
consistent throughout the district, and have a good full MARC record,
but you can add different call numbers and additional subject headings.
****************************************************************************************
We don't have central cataloging. We have 6 schools and we all do our
own cataloging. Using the zSources to search for records for books
that may have been donated or purchased from a book fair will yield
good MARC records.
***************************************************************************************
Do not stress. Destiny is wonderful. I am one of your trainers that will
be in Odessa on the 6th and 7th of December. I am also the librarian at
Lake View High School in San Angelo. We have used Destiny since January.
You will be adding records using Z-sources which include Library of
Congress, etc. And yes, the person that puts the first record in, is the
record that will be used. But you will be putting in good records. This
is something that I will show you during training.
***************************************************************************************
Colton High has had Destiny for almost 3 yrs now,
almost as long as I've been here, and apparently the
1-catloguer for a whole dist. must be an individual
factor. Normally, we obtain cataloging data from the
suppliers from whom we buy our books and upload the
data. For the many donated books we receive as well
as a current project cataloging VCRs for the Soc. Sci.
Dept., I do all the original subject cataloging. As
far as I know, none of my work goes anywhere except
right here in CHS.
***************************************************************************************
We made the switch from Circ+ to Destiny this year. All in all, it has been a good
move. Yes, the first one to put the record for a book in sets it up for the entire
district. This year the district hired one of the high school librarians to be, in
effect, our district cataloger. She enters all the new books and downloads. The
delay in getting new records entered is very slight - it usually gets done within a
day or so. And, of course, if the record is already there, you can just enter a
copy yourself. And it has been really great not having to worry about original
cataloging.
***************************************************************************************
Yes, it's true to some extent. We don't have a central cataloger and were told to
use the record "with the schoolhouse" if the copies matched. I was the first one
to be done cataloging my collection, so most other schools are using mine. You can
still select a different record or edit it for your own school.
***************************************************************************************
It is true that the first one adds the title for everyone. After the title is
added, others just add copies. However, Destiny searches for reputable records
from various sources. We have been using it a year and I have not hand cataloged
anything. You scan in the ISBN and Destiny does the work of finding a record. It
searches your database, then Follett's database, then others that you choose.
When we have purchased records to import, Destiny can overwrite an existing record
with a more complete one if you choose that option. I love the ease of cataloging
in Destiny.
**************************************************************************************
It probably depends how the administration of the system is set up.
At my school, even though Destiny is for a district, we are only one
school with two librarians that catalog, the elementary librarian and I.
If she has cataloged a book that I also want to catalog, I can use her
MARC record and just add a copy, or I can make an entirely different
MARC record for my copy. Sometimes I make a second record because her
record shows a book with an F classification while the same book at my
level is JF. Or the same title might have a different publisher. I could
also go in and change or 'improve' her record. A search will find all
copies of a title.
***************************************************************************************
We just switched to Destiny from Spectrum this year and we are finding
cataloging much, much easier. You are right that the first person to
add a new title to the catalog has to create a good record. What we've
found, though, is that 99% of the titles we're adding are already in
Destiny's Alliance+ records or are available from Library of Congress as
a Z-Resource. All you do, then, is copy catalog and download a nice,
clean, complete record. I've had to do very little original cataloging
but even then, I think the template for that is pretty easy to use.
****************************************************************************************
I think the biggest problem you're likely to have is cleaning up the
old records already in your catalog. The quality of those can depend on
the quality of the librarian who originally added them and we've found
some very interesting variations in the records for the same title. It
is possible to merge and purge duplicate records, keeping the best one,
but it's something we do on the fly as it would be very time-intensive
to do it for real.
It is a little difficiult to get use to. It seems to run a bit slower with the
checking in and out. I love the cataloging partI have 3 buildings so it is a smooth
operation,because I can even work from home and catalog. (Not that I really want
to) but the option is there.
There are only 2 in our district, so you ever enters a title first, has sthe
honors. We still can use whatever call number we see fit for our libraries. Most of
the entries are on their default cataloging system so it is a matter or looking it
over and changing what you would like. For us this is not really a problem.
It has saved so much time and has helped in other ways such as running overdues,
finding students bar code numbers etc. We were really skeptical at first but would
hate to go back. Still working out a few bugs, such as starting a new school year
and the students where not promoted to their new class, but they figured it out.
Good luck and keep an opened mind.
****************************************************************************************
Feel free to check out the information on our website
for Destiny.
My media specialists do not enter records directly
into Destiny -- they load them or create them in MARC
Magician -- then they load into Destiny
Makes for a much cleaner catalog.
You can twek the import features on how records load
We do that at the district office.
We also have stand templates for various materials --
I have not finished posting yet but feel free to look
at these as well.
http://www.dillon2.k12.sc.us/staff/cataloginglmc.asp
http://www.dillon2.k12.sc.us/staff/MARCmagician.asp
http://www.dillon2.k12.sc.us/staff/destiny.asp
Vicki Nelson
Librarian
Odessa High School
Ector County ISD
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