1. LIB 630 Classification and Cataloging
Spring 2013
What is Cataloging
The Big Question

2. 2
What is Cataloging?
• cataloging
– The process of creating entries for a catalog. In
libraries, this usually includes bibliographic
description, subject analysis, assignment of
classification notation, and activities involved in
physically preparing the item for the shelf, tasks
usually performed under the supervision of a
librarian trained as a cataloger. British spelling is
cataloguing. See also: cataloging agency,
Cataloging and Classification Section, cataloging-
in-publication, centralized cataloging, cooperative
cataloging, copy cataloging, descriptive cataloging,
encoding level, and recataloging.
• Online Dictionary of Library and Information
Science, ODLIS

3. 3
2 kinds of cataloging
• Original cataloging
• Copy cataloging

4. 4
What is original cataloging?
• original cataloging
– Preparation of a bibliographic record
from scratch, without the aid of a pre-
existing catalog record for the same
edition, more time-consuming for the
cataloger than copy cataloging.
– i.e.: Do-it-yourself cataloging!

5. 5
Copy cataloging?
• copy cataloging
– Adaptation of a pre-existing bibliographic
record (usually found in OCLC, RLIN, NUC,
or some other bibliographic database) to fit
the characteristics of the item in hand, with
modifications to correct obvious errors and
minor adjustments to reflect locally accepted
cataloging practice, as distinct from original
cataloging (creating a completely new record
from scratch). Synonymous with derived
cataloging.
• i.e. Copy from others cataloging!

6. 6
But what are we actually doing when
we catalog a book or whatever?
• We’re entering information about
the book into the library’s catalog,
so that when patrons are searching,
they can find what they’re looking
for, or, at least, something that will
help them find an answer to their
question.

7. 7
What is a card catalog?
• card catalog
– A list of the holdings of a library, printed, typed,
or handwritten on catalog cards, each
representing a single bibliographic item in the
collection. Catalog cards are normally filed in a
single alphabetical sequence (dictionary catalog),
or in separate sections by author, title, and
subject (divided catalog), in the long narrow
drawers of a specially designed filing cabinet,
usually constructed of wood (see this example).
Most large- and medium-sized libraries in the
United States have converted their card catalogs
to machine-readable format. Also spelled card
catalogue. Compare with online catalog.

8. 8
Online catalog?
• online catalog
– A library catalog consisting of a collection of bibliographic
records in machine-readable format, maintained on a
dedicated computer that provides uninterrupted interactive
access via terminals or workstations in direct, continuous
communication with the central computer. Although the
software used in online catalogs is proprietary and not
standardized, most online catalogs are searchable by
author, title, subject heading, and keywords, and most
public and academic libraries in the United States provide
free public access, usually through a Web-based graphical
user interface. Click here to log on to the online catalog of
the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Synonymous
with OPAC.
– OPAC=online public access catalog

9. 9
Why make this distinction?
• There are those who call an online
catalog the “online card catalog” or
something similar.
• There are no cards on the computer,
so that calling the online computer
the “card” catalog is a misnomer
• “Card” refers only to the medium the
catalog appears on
– PLEASE DON’T DO IT!

10. 10
Elements of cataloging
• From ODLIS definition:
1. bibliographic description
2. subject analysis
3. assignment of classification notation
(meaning the symbols used by the
classification system)
4. activities involved in physically preparing
the item for the shelf

11. 11
What information do you put into
the catalog, then?
• Basic bibliographic information (AKA
bibliographic description):
– Author, title, publisher, date
– Edition
• Basic physical information (AKA physical
description):
– Size, no. of pages, whether illustrated, if it
has a bibliography and/or index
– Format (book, recording, electronic, etc.)
• Subject information (AKA subject
analysis)

12. 12
What is bibliographic
description?
• The official international definition:
– “. . . lists all the elements which are
required to describe and identify all
types of material which are likely to
appear in library collections, . . .”
• ISBD(G): General International Standard
Bibliographic Description 1992
http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/pubs/isbdg0.htm

13. 13
Wait, there’s more, though!
• International Standard Bibliographic
Description
– “. . . assigns an order to the elements of
description, and specifies a system of
punctuation for the description.”
• ISBD(G): General International Standard
Bibliographic Description 1992
http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/pubs/isbdg0.htm

14. 14
What is the prescribed order?
– 1: title and statement of responsibility area, with the contents of [4]
• 1.1 Title proper
• 1.2 General material designation
• 1.3 Parallel title
• 1.4 Other title information
• 1.5 Statements of responsibility
– 2: edition area
– 3: material or type of resource specific area (for example, the
scale of a map or the numbering of a periodical)
– 4: publication, production, distribution, etc., area
– 5: physical description area (for example: number of pages in a
book or number of CDs issued as a unit)
– 6: series area
– 7: notes area
– 8: resource identifier (e.g. ISBN, ISSN) and terms of availability
area
– Structure of an ISBD record
• International Standard Bibliographic Description
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Bibliographic_
Description

15. 15
What is the punctuation?
Spaces before and after the special GMD=General material
punctuation (shown in red)! designation. New rules: [ ] not ( )
Slide from presentation Introduction to Description: History of
Cataloging Codes What is cataloging?
March 17, 2013

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An Example
Author
Edition
Title
Author
Notice the spaces!
Slide from presentation Introduction to Description: History of
Cataloging Codes

17. 17
What do the punctuation symbols mean?
[. . .] usually means that what’s included within
the [ ] is General Material Designation, i.e.
physical or electronic or other format
: usually means that what comes before the : is
the main title and what comes after is the
subtitle (if there are spaces before and after)
OR what comes first is the place of
publication and what comes after is the
publisher
/ means that what follows is the “statement of
responsibility”, i.e. author, editor, etc.

18. What’s the advantage of having 18
everything so standardized?
• You can recognize and read a
bibliographic record, no matter what
language or script it’s written in
• You can tell what’s being described,
no matter what kind of material it is

19. 19
An example in English
Statement of
responsibility
Main title
Subtitle
GMD—format
realia=real-life
object
Edition Publication
info
Physical
description Series info
Standard number Cost of item
Slide 18 from CATALOGING: Ticket to the Past, the Present,
and the Future © Arlene G. Taylor

20. 20
An example in German
Title GMD=General Material Designation Subtitle
(in this case: electronic resource)
Statement of responsibility
Publication area
Series information
Standard Number
Physical Description

21. 21
An example in Bulgarian Author
Title
Subtitle (or
possibly GMD?)
Statement of
responsibility
Edition area
Publication
area
Physical
description
Standard number
Classification number
Dewey Decimal

22. 22
ISBD in an online catalog
/ shows statement of responsibility, i.e. author, follows
General
Material
Designation
Spaces before
and after
punctuation
to separate
sections

23. 23
What does AACR2 have to do with
this?
• Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules
(AACR)
– A detailed set of standardized rules for
cataloging various types of library
materials . . . which is divided into two
parts: rules for creating the
bibliographic description of an item of
any type and rules governing the
choice and form of entry of headings
(access points) in the catalog.
Click here to read a brief history of AACR2 up
to the 2002 revision, courtesy of the JSC.

24. 24
Do we need to learn all these rules?
• If you plan on specializing as a
cataloger, especially in a large
research library, where you will be
doing a lot of original cataloging,
then you will need to learn the rules.
• As an LMS, most of your cataloging
will be copy cataloging, so that a
general awareness of the rules will be
all you need—plus knowing where to
look them up!
In any case—the times, they are a-changin’!

25. 25
Will there be an AACR3?
• Yes and no (actually, no)—FRBR
and RDA are coming!

26. 26
What is FRBR?
• Functional Requirements for
Bibliographic Records
This comes • Either F-R-B-R or “Ferber”
from the • A report in 7 languages (soon to
Powerpoint add simplified and traditional
presentation Chinese)
below: • A “conceptual model”
– entities
– attributes
– Relationships

27. 27
Goal of cataloging
• FRBR • Cutter (19th century cataloging pioneer)
• To enable a • To enable a person to find a book of which either
person to: – the author
– the title
– Find – the subject
– Identify ...is known
– Select
• To show what the library has
– Obtain – by a given author
– on a given subject
– in a given kind of literature
• To assist in the choice of a book
– as to its edition (bibliographically)
– as to its character (literary or topical)
Adapted from FRBR; or, How I learned to stop
worrying and love the model

28. 28
Do we need FRBR?
What is cataloging?
March 17, 2013

29. 29
There’s also FRAD
• FRAD?
– Functional Requirements for
Authority Data
• Authority data?
– This is part of what librarians call “authority
control”
» Authority control enables librarians to
create standardized catalog entries to
avoid confusion
» e.g. to differentiate between authors or
artists who have the same or similar
names
» John Willams the composer and
conductor vs. John Williams the
classical guitarist

30. If you’re not “frbred” or “fraddled” 30
enough:
• RDA is almost here!
– RDA: Resource Description & Access
– Designed for the digital world and an
expanding universe of metadata users,
RDA: Resource Description and Access is
the new, unified cataloging standard—an
evolution of the cataloging principles from
AACR2, with rules carried over or
adapted to the RDA model.
• Introduction, RDA Toolkit

31. 31
RDA builds on FRBR & FRAD
• FRBR and FRAD are conceptual
models
• RDA puts them into practice

32. 32
Does a humble school librarian have
to worry about all this
gobbledygook?