This session will present the process of conducting the first inventory in a library (Kroemer Library, Concordia Theological Seminary) in thirty years-after a retrospective conversion, addition of smart bar-codes to library volumes, merging of a storage in collection with the main collection, and several changes in integrated library systems. Most integrated library systems provide some method of inventorying. We will present the reasons for bypassing this capability and developing our own process because of the complexity of the situation. How accurate was the machine-readable shelf-list after all this time? Were the students who put in the smart bar-codes as smart as the bar-codes? How does one tackle such a project? These and other questions will be considered, and lessons learned will be shown. For comparison, the process of inventorying another library (Cardinal Stafford Library, St. John Vianney Theological Seminary) for the fourth time in a biennial process will be considered. Do frequent inventories make a difference in maintaining the integrity of the collection? What lessons were learned from this process?
