Re: Clerical Job Titles TSANDERS@AUDUCVAX.BITNET 23 Mar 1991 17:36 UTC
We are in the final (I pray!) completion stages of a massive university-wide program to re-evaluate, re-title, reconsider classification level, etc., every non-faculty university employee. Titles have been somewhat arbitrary but at least are now slightly more descriptive than the old business of calling the person who paid invoices a "staff secretary" when that person did no real secretarial work. (Titles are now pretty fixed, only descriptions and job standards are still being tinkered with in most cases.) However, because we obviously do not divide our work exactly the way any other library does, it is not easy to directly answer Karen Nedeski's questions. Here is an attempt: Periodical check-in is mostly done by students. One regular staff member is involved and she also has responsibility for mail sorting, some student supervision, etc. Her job title is currently "Library Clerk I" (I am not absolutely sure we have a job title "Library Clerk II", if so it is probably in circulation.). Other people with this job title are in bindery preparation and in holdings/location work (see below). This position also handles serials which are straight-forward "adds". There is currently some attempt afoot to move this person into a job title called "Library assistant I, Receiving" which currently belongs to a single individual in monographic acquisitions. These two job titles are the same pay scale. However, acquisitions dept head is fighting this move because her person "has a much more responsible position"--basically because invoices are involved. Our person has to sign for registered mail, act as liaison with postal service, campus mail, UPS, and make sure mail gets to right department but does not have a responsible position (largely because she is in the wrong department). Standing orders, memberships, and other more difficult serial/series receipts are done by a "Library Assistant V, Acquisitions", who also handles corresponden ce with publishers and vendors, approves invoices, arranges return of unorder ed materials, etc., etc. Also involves some placement of orders, choosing correct vendor and fund, etc. This is the next-to-the-highest available level olibrary assistant; the only higher level would require the individual be in charge of a work unit. Non-serials (in our department, books in series) are entered/editted mostly by the job title "Library Assistant III, Catalog"; serials are entered and edited mostly by an individual being reclassed to "Library Assistant V, Serials" who has further responsibilities to work on catalog maintenance issues, work as liaison to receiving departments, etc. Some of this work is done at a higher level--Library Assistant VI or Librarian II/III. Holdings information is edited at a lower level--largely Library Clerk I. Item records are created by whomever is working on the material. This will primarily (in Serials) be Library Clerk I, as these are the people doing check-in, added-volume activity, bindery, etc., activities. Monographic materials have item records created largely at the Library Assistant III level, although other people are involve. Our bindery adds call #s to the spines, so it is mostly pre-bound serials and monographs which get spine labels and this is done in the end-processing unit of Cataloging (Monographic) under the supervision of a Library Assistant VI but largely by lower level employees. (Students usually affix the labels but are not normally allowed to run thprogram .) Shelf-list program is run by each Library Assistant III, Catalog with production reviewed at the Library Assistant IV (?), Catalog Maintenance level. Thus, our system largely is based on a semi-generic title (e.g. Library assistant III) modified by a department/work-unit/function name (Cataloging, Receiving, etc.). Our claiming and backfile/replacement issue work is now down by people called Library Technician I but I believe there is a move to retitle those positions into the Library Assistant ranks. Hope this helps. Thomas Sanders, Serials, Auburn University, AL (tsanders@auducvax)