The idea for this study arose from the desire to understand the realities of the everyday operations of a cataloging department and how those realities intersect with the state of cataloging practice and education as it is reported in the library and information science literature. It comes also from an educator’s need to prepare new catalogers for real-time cataloging, but who is continually frustrated when faced with the inability to send both local and distance students to their own local libraries to observe or even borrow cataloging tools. With the demand of web-based cataloging courses on the rise, the ability to supplement course materials with hands-on experiences is critical to the success of both the student and instructor.