Participants in the Cooperative Acquisitions Program (CAP, or ‘LC Coop’) regularly receive print publications from around the world, expanding existing library collections and putting a focus on international acquisitions. These materials, some of which are in non-Roman character sets, need to be catalogued and processed before they can be used within the library, and members may be experiencing a bottleneck in processing and cataloging those acquisitions.
Backstage is happy to help get those new items onto your shelves. We help to streamline your acquisition process by receiving your LC Coop items and performing all of the relevant cataloging and processing before they reach your library.
What is involved in the Backstage Process for your LC Coop items?
Establish Project Profile
To make this process as easy as possible, Backstage will utilize a set of defined specifications unique to LC Coop materials. These specifications have been verified by fellow research libraries and will make the cataloging process as streamlined and economical as possible when handling your new items.
Process Any Existing Backlog
Have you already been receiving LC Coop materials that you haven’t been able to process yet? We can help. Part of our process involves taking care of any backlog you already have and getting those items on your shelves.
Ship Directly to Our Offices (Drop Shipping)
You can arrange with the LC Coop offices to have your materials sent directly to our offices in Provo, Utah or Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. With each new shipment we will let you know that your items have arrived, and we will check the contents of each shipment against an existing packing list or create an inventory if one is needed.
Catalog Your Items
With the established project profile, we will catalog and process your items before shipping them directly to you. We begin by checking to see if any of the newly arrived items have existing records we can utilize for copy cataloging. If records are found, we can provide the unedited records, or we can edit the existing records to your specifications by adding non-Roman scripts. If no copy records can be found, or if you would like to start with a new record, we will then create original records for your new items. If you wish for us to flag items with no copy for you to later complete original cataloging in house, we can do that as well.
Duplicates
In some cases, a shipment may arrive that has items that are already in your database. If you foresee overlap in your LC Coop shipments, we can check your database before we begin cataloging, and if any duplicates are found, those items will be flagged and set aside.
Physical Processing
After your items are cataloged, the physical processing begins! We will prepare your materials by affixing labels, adding a handwritten call number, and applying your specific library stamp. Our goal is to catalog and process these items as if we are an extension of your staff.
Delivery
Once all tiles are cataloged and processed, we will pack them up and ship them directly to you for shelving – they’re ready to be shelved right away! – or storage.
If you would like to learn more about how Backstage can be a partner in your LC Coop (CAP) participation, we would be happy to chat with you! Feel free to reach out to your representative, or contact us at our general inbox for more information. We can talk through a custom solution to help streamline your acquisition process.
