http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/9523901

Feasibility of a cooperative processing center for Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties in Maryland

A study was conducted for the public library systems of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties to determine what aspects of their acquisitions, cataloging and processing operations, if any, might be carried on cooperatively for lower costs and improved services. Conclusions and recommendations were that: (1) the growth of the four counties indicates that a cooperative technical services operation is feasible and will provide better services at substantial unit savings, (2) the center should continue to produce book catalogs using brief bibliographical information, as the four systems now do, although this does not preclude recording fuller bibliographical information in machine-readable form for later use, (3) uniform standards should be adopted for cataloging, classification, acquisition and processing, and cooperative methods of book selection should be explored, (4) the new processing center should be housed in quarters independent of but centrally located to all four systems, (5) the State Division of Library Extension should give financial assistance to the center for the initial establishment period, to be followed by adoption of a simple, equitable method of allocating support requirements among the member libraries and State, and (6) the libraries should begin at once a detailed implementation study for joint service. Appendixes include statistical data, sample book catalog pages, and a bibliography of 12 items. (Jb).

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