(via Dr. Pamela Thomas, Illinois Heartland Library System)
The list of Cataloging Maintenance Center courses for 2025-2026 is now available. Please see below for more information, including the links to registration. Direct any questions to Dr. Pamela Thomas, Bibliographic Grant Manager at Illinois Heartland Library System’s Cataloging Maintenance Center, at pthomas@illinoisheartland.org. For more information on the CMC and the services and educational opportunities it offers, please go here.
“Subject Analysis”. Monday, January 26 – Sunday, February 22, 2026. Register in L2.
Dr. Pamela Thomas will cover topics such as controlled indexing language, keyword versus controlled vocabulary, the purpose of subject headings, the 20% rule, content analysis, Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), word-based approaches to retrieval, Sears List of Subject Headings, and MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) in this six-week course.
“Focus on Deriving a Record”. Monday, March 9 – Sunday, March 22, 2026. Register in L2.
Have you found records in OCLC that are almost a match, but you need to create a new bibliographic record? Or do you? If you find a close match, you can derive a new record. Eric McKinney will teach you how to do that.
“Focus on Cataloging CDs”. Monday, April 6 – Sunday, April 19, 2026. Register in L2.
Cataloging CDs can be challenging—what MARC (MAchine-Readable Cataloging) fields are required, and which ones are optional? How do you fill out the fixed-field elements? Eric McKinney will guide you through the process of creating bibliographic records for CDs.
“Cataloging Basics”. Monday, April 27 – Sunday, June 7, 2026. Register in L2.
This six-week crash course in basic cataloging dives into cataloging using RDA, the Resource Description and Access standards, and using MARC, the MAchine-Readable Cataloging standards. Eric McKinney will cover MARC fields 0XX-8XX and fixed-field elements, the most commonly used fields when cataloging library items.