When it comes time to plan a large-scale project that includes every item in your collection, such as an inventory review, it’s important to consider what additional work you might want to do with each item while you have them in hand. Since it is rare to have an event where an entire collection will be handled, you want to make sure you get the most bang for your buck when you do. For this reason, Backstage recommends considering these additional services for any on-site project, whether you are doing them on your own or using our team to handle the work.
- Verifying the presence and data integrity of barcodes to catalog records.
- Verifying the presence and data integrity of RFID tags to catalog records.
- Creating brief bibliographic records for items that don’t appear in your catalog. These brief records can then be searched by Backstage’s automated copy cataloging service to acquire full MARC records from databases such as WorldCat.
- Preparing surrogate images for original cataloging of items that don’t have a record in your database or available copy records from other sources.
- Identifying and replacing absent, inaccurate, or worn spine labels.
- Establishing proper shelf-list order, interfiling or separating collections, or shifting collections into a new order.
- Rehousing fragile items and archival materials.
- Weeding items according to parameters for circulation frequency, multiple copies, age, physical damage, or your deselection lists. If your organization permits the resale of these materials, they can also be packed up and sent off to Better World Books, who can handle the resale for a portion of the profit.
- Cleaning books and shelves.
- Preparing materials for digitization and preservation microfilming, to be transported to a Backstage imaging studio, or to be captured on‑site at your facility.
In this way, you can make the most efficient use of the time spent handling each material, while also improving the accessibility of the collection in multiple ways in one fell swoop. By combining multiple tasks into a singular workflow, a larger set of goals may be achieved. While adding on these additional tasks may extend the project’s overall timeline, labor hours are actually reduced compared to if these tasks were completed over the course of multiple disparate projects. It may seem overwhelming to consider “over-complicating” a single-task project by combining it with other sought-after deliverables, but with careful planning and even some workflow piloting, the effort spent will result in major payoffs. Not to mention, Backstage is here to help in any capacity whether it be project planning and workflow creation all the way through completing all the work for you.
Contact Us
To learn more about our pricing and how Backstage can help you with your collections, you can call us at 1.800.288.1265, visit us online at www.bslw.com, or send an email to info@bslw.com.
