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Government documents librarian vs cataloger

The differences between government documents librarians and catalogers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a government documents librarian and a cataloger. Additionally, a government documents librarian has an average salary of $52,928, which is higher than the $34,943 average annual salary of a cataloger.

The top three skills for a government documents librarian include collection development, depository and federal government. The most important skills for a cataloger are library catalog, RDA, and cataloging.

Government documents librarian vs cataloger overview

Government Documents LibrarianCataloger
Yearly salary$52,928$34,943
Hourly rate$25.45$16.80
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs1,48893
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age4848
Years of experience22

Government documents librarian vs cataloger salary

Government documents librarians and catalogers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Government Documents LibrarianCataloger
Average salary$52,928$34,943
Salary rangeBetween $35,000 And $78,000Between $23,000 And $52,000
Highest paying City-New Haven, CT
Highest paying state-Alaska
Best paying company-Harvard University
Best paying industry-Education

Differences between government documents librarian and cataloger education

There are a few differences between a government documents librarian and a cataloger in terms of educational background:

Government Documents LibrarianCataloger
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common majorLibrary ScienceHistory
Most common collegeNew York UniversityUniversity of Maryland - College Park

Government documents librarian vs cataloger demographics

Here are the differences between government documents librarians' and catalogers' demographics:

Government Documents LibrarianCataloger
Average age4848
Gender ratioMale, 44.1% Female, 55.9%Male, 37.9% Female, 62.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 5.0% White, 76.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 4.9% White, 77.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage16%16%

Differences between government documents librarian and cataloger duties and responsibilities

Government documents librarian example responsibilities.

  • Recruit, train, and manage volunteers, teen ambassadors, book buddies, elderly volunteers, and teen tech assistants.
  • Provide opportunities for students to use the library for class-relate research, individual investigation, independent reading, and personal inquiry.
  • Open new patron accounts, provide customer support regarding account status and work with Polaris systems.

Cataloger example responsibilities.

  • Manage category of materials: including books, CDs, films and other documents.
  • Assign subject headings using LCSH.
  • Cataloge books and serials for all the school district libraries.
  • Master the use of cataloguing resources such as WorldCat and HomeBase.
  • Assist librarians in other EPA libraries with the conversion of their serials list.
  • Assign LCSH and LCC, as well as a local classification system for legal treatises.
  • Show more

Government documents librarian vs cataloger skills

Common government documents librarian skills
  • Collection Development, 26%
  • Depository, 20%
  • Federal Government, 16%
  • Library Resources, 8%
  • Cataloging, 7%
  • Research Guides, 7%
Common cataloger skills
  • Library Catalog, 13%
  • RDA, 11%
  • Cataloging, 11%
  • OCLC, 8%
  • Online Database, 8%
  • Lcsh, 6%

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