Public Library Catalog

Among my many laborious tasks and duties, I am a member of the Collection Development Advisory Council.  Recently, as a member of said council,  I have been reviewing our Collection Development Policy, as it has been in existence for five years now and may be in need of revision in some areas.  In doing so, I discovered a neglected reference source that may be of some value to you while performing collection management (weeding) in your assigned Dewey area(s):  The Public Library Catalog.

"JAXCAT?  Seriously?  Why the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks would randomly scrolling through a list of books that we own, help me determine which books that we should own?  Refman is an idiot!"

Thank you Anonymous Commentator, for questioning my intelligence - I'll eventually find out who you are!  I may in fact be an idiot, but you'll have to use different evidence.

I do not refer to our OPAC of course, but rather the book The Public Library Catalog and it's various supplements (REF 017.1 Public).  The Catalog "lists non-fiction books published in the United States, or published in Canada or the United Kingdom and distributed in the United States" and is intended to highlight recommended reference items within topics, subjects or fields of interest.  It is arranged by Dewey classification, and includes "complete bibliographic data and descriptive and critical annotations" to help you make informed decisions when weeding and assessing the strengths and weaknesses of your assigned area.

Be sure to give it a look before it gets weeded - unfortunately the editors neglected to list their own book.