Outsourcing: a customer’s perspective on the process and the potential

Many public library administrators are being forced to look toward outsourcing as a way of securing critical support services. Begins with a description of the Charleston County Library’s use of cataloging outsourcing services, followed by an explanation of the various methods employed by vendors to transmit cataloging data to customers. There are practical suggestions for those considering an outsourcing arrangement, with solutions for offsetting the cataloging quality shortcomings inherent in some outsourcing practices. Concludes that with proper planning and vigilance, outsourcing can produce a quality product, one that will allow the technical‐services staff the time needed to construct a unified index for the library’s multifarious materials and information sources.