Abstract:
The user-centered approach to understanding information use and users has shaped
research in library and information science (LIS). User-centered research has contributed
to work in libraries, including work in reference, youth services, adult services, and
management. Cataloging is specialized work that focuses on providing access to library
materials using standards developed by the profession. Catalogers follow standards in
order to be efficient in their jobs. In a user-centered environment, however, catalogers
also are told to focus on users and adapt standards to meet users' needs. This dissertation
describes a multiple case study of three academic cataloging units as they negotiate the
demands to follow standards while adapting standards to meet users' needs. New
institutional theory—specifically, DiMaggio and Powell's (1983) concept of normative
institutional pressure—served as a framework for the study. The results suggest that
standards and users are pressures that cataloging units negotiate in their jobs, along with
demands for work efficiency and professional legitimacy. In the process of negotiating
these pressures, catalogers and cataloging units redefine their work jurisdiction and
maintain legitimacy to remain relevant in a complex work environment. Understanding
how catalogers negotiate the normative institutional pressures of standards and users is
beneficial. It leads to an understanding of the complex nature of work in areas that deal
with issues of standards and users. It shows how an area within a profession maintains
legitimacy when the profession no longer values that work. Finally, it shows the limits of
the user-centered focus in LIS practice.
