Many congratulations to Paul Weiss, Senior Cataloging Policy Specialist, in the Library of Congress's Policy and Standards Division. After participating in an Advanced Writing for the Web course I recently taught, Paul rolled up his sleeves for a re-do of his FAQs page on cataloging.
Paul's FAQs, intended for archivists and librarians, had become an apples-and-oranges list of 23 questions. Some of the FAQs were clearly written for librarians--What office is responsible for cataloging policy at the Library of Congress?--and others were for publishers--How can I get my publication cataloged? And, as we all know, a list of 23 FAQs is too long for users. Instead of using the 23 FAQs to answer their questions themselves, most users will just give up and send an e-mail or give you a call.
The old version of the Library of Congress's FAQs about Cataloging
The new-and-improved version of the Library of Congress's FAQs about Cataloging
The new FAQs are truly improved:
- They have been sorted into three main categories--for the General Public, for Publishers, and for Librarians--and several subcategories.
- They are written in first person. Now the FAQ reads How can I obtain information about cataloging when the old version read How can publishers obtain ...
- Some FAQs were eliminated, which means the old list of 23 was given a thorough content review.
Have a great before-and-after example you'd like to share? Let me know and I will feature your rewrite here.
-- Leslie O'Flahavan
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