The cost of cataloguing : an evaluation attempt by several French libraries

Starting with a cataloguing questionnaire sent to around 20 French libraries, this is an evaluation attempt of the cost of an entry. Whether it is a card or an on-line catalogue, original cataloguing takes longer or shorter to perform according to the type of libraries. Cataloguing in public libraries is shorter than in university libraries. The cataloguing cost depends also on the level of cataloguers, the management of the library and the use of a bibliographic utility to reprocess cataloguing copies. Staff costs a lot more than computers. So that to get maximum profits from investments there is a trend towards cataloguing copies from national bibliographic agencies.
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