Resource Acquisition and Discovery Services

Brendon Etter, Acquisitions Manager

Coordinates purchasing and tracking of finances for library materials. Carries out and monitors library purchase orders, tracks and reports on endowed funds, general budget, invoices, requests for new material, renewal of subscriptions to databases, book packages, electronic resources, services, and many other orders.

Katie Lewis, Cataloging and Government Documents Librarian 

Catalogs print books and DVDs, and contributes towards maintaining Catalyst. Contact for Gould’s FDLP government document and map collections. 

Hsianghui Liu-Spencer, Cataloging & Digital Services Librarian

Responsible for managing the catalog of materials at the Gould Library with my cataloging colleagues; main areas in Special Collections and Archives. Collaborating with others to support digital projects hosted at CONTENTdm and to manage student work deposited at Carleton Digital Commons. 

Kate Niemisto, Periodicals & Cataloging Librarian

Manages print and electronic journal subscriptions for the library. Also supervises our department’s student employees and catalog newly acquired books. Administrative assistants for academic departments can contact Kate for help with binding their department’s comps papers.

Amy Rachuba, Bridge Electronic Resources Librarian

Answers questions regarding access to electronic resources, usage statistics, EZproxy/authentication, and troubleshoots Catalyst links and other access problems. This is a joint position, working both at Carleton and St. Olaf libraries.

Susan Shirk, Acquisitions Specialist, Music Collections Curator

Purchases print and ebook monographs, and manages receiving of physical items. Person to contact for requests to buy materials for the library. Also manages the Music Resource Center and the Ensemble Library. Person to contact for recordings of past Music Department sponsored concerts on campus.

Christina Sinkler-Miller, Head of RADS

Helps to coordinate and facilitate the work within the RADS department, as well as with other departments within the library, across campus, and with the Bridge Consortium.

The Acquisitions unit within RADS focuses on carrying out all tasks related to the actual purchasing, invoicing, and receiving of physical and electronic materials for Gould Library. Functions include creating, tracking, and paying for orders, receiving items as they arrive, communicating subscription renewals to vendors, beginning the processing of physical items, and reconciling the library’s general and endowed funds with all expenses.

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Here is more information on how to suggest an addition to the Library’s collection.

Cataloging Librarians support patron access to our print and electronic collections by updating and maintaining records in the Catalyst database. Catalogers check that the records for individual print books match an item, and add more information as needed to make resources discoverable. The cataloger for electronic resources manages large batches of vendor records for database articles, eBooks, and more.

What is available in Digital Collections?

The Library manages a large number of digital collections across several platforms. These collections include digitized Library materials as well as materials contributed by campus and community partners. Collections in these platforms are managed by by the Digital Collections Advisory Team (DCAT). The Cataloging & Digital Services Librarian serves on DCAT in an ex officio capacity. For questions about new collections, or about the content of or access to existing collections, please contact digitalcollections@carleton.edu.

Digital Collections

The following are the Library’s most significant digital collections platforms, where digital collections are hosted. For a full list of collections hosted and maintained by the college, consult the following guide. 

Carleton Archives database: A full record of the physical and digital holdings of the College Archives. Contains many digitized copies of physical items, including photographs, historic documents, and audio-visual recordings.

Carleton Archives digital collections: Contains links to a number of digitized collections created from the College Archives. This includes collections hosted in Carleton Digital Collections (CONTENTdm) and historical issues of The Carletonian. The majority of collections are open-access, but some may require a login using Carleton credentials.

Carleton Digital Collections (CONTENTdm): Contains a variety of Digital Collections contributed by the College Archives, by Carleton faculty, and by community partners. These include historical documents related to Carleton, Northfield, and Rice County, Carleton academic catalogs, the Voice alumni magazine, alumni scrapbooks, and historical documents. The majority of collections are open-access, but some may require a login using Carleton credentials.

Carleton Digital Commons: A place for open access publishing and other collected research, scholarship, and creative expression of Carleton College faculty, staff, and students.

Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection : Contributed by Northfield Community partner and maintained by College Library.

What are eResources?

Electronic resources (eResources) include the wide variety of electronic content available at Gould Library, including everything from databases (i.e. JSTOR) to electronic books and streaming video. We need to monitor access, create ways to discover these resources, provide statistics on use, and do any troubleshooting necessary. 

Report a problem

Having a problem accessing a database or other library content? This could include:

• PDF is blank or missing pages
• Can’t see link in Catalyst record
• 404 / Page not found error
• EZProxy error message
• Article not found in database
• Full text not found (e.g., only an abstract)
• Link went to a webpage other than the article
• Website says I don’t have access to resource/asked me to pay for article
• Problem accessing streaming film

Report the problem through this form, or through the “report a problem” link embedded in the Catalyst record.

Periodicals

Gould Library provides access to many periodicals (also known as journals or magazines), as well as newspapers. Print periodicals and newspapers can be found in the Rookery as well as on the 3rd floor. Online periodicals and newspapers can be found through the catalog’s journal list. More information on the library’s newspaper access can be found on the site Newspapers: Current and Historical.

RADS facilitates the subscription, cataloging, processing, and maintenance of the library’s periodical resources. 

To request a new periodical subscription, use this suggestion form.  

For other questions about periodicals, contact kniemisto@carleton.edu

2022-2023

Young Adult Collection

During the fall term of 2022-23, Library Intern Sophia Chuen ’23 put together a new collection of books for display in the Rookery on the Libe’s 4th floor. The Young Adult Collection was a selection of YA novels, non-fiction, and graphic novels, with a focus on books with LGBTQ+ main characters. Also included were a number of books highlighting other underrepresented groups, such as novels written by BIPOC authors. Click here to browse many of the YA titles held by the Library.

2021-2022

Call number project

Changed the Nx cutter (“Negro”) to the updated cutter of Bx (“Black”) in the call number of all print materials in the library’s stacks. A cutter is a part of the library call number that is assigned to each book so that it can be found in the stacks, and allows materials with similar content to be shelved together. These measures were taken in an effort to begin lessening the harmful language that patrons encounter when using the online catalog, Catalyst.

Student Work in RADS

RADS employs part-time student employees during academic terms and both full-time and part-time student employees during academic breaks.

Some of the work our students do includes:

• processing new books and media
• entering new periodicals into our catalog
• shelving periodicals
• delivering the library’s mail each day
• enhancement projects for the library’s catalog records
• special projects in the library’s digital collections

To learn more or to apply, contact Kate Niemisto kniemisto@carleton.edu