Suddenly find yourself cataloging in a library? Or supervising? Or in library school and feeling lost? These Ten Tips will set you on the right path by giving you some tips and getting you in the right mindset.
4. Ten Things About Cataloging
1. You already know about cataloging.
Can you find a book in the catalog?
Subject, keyword, main, and added entries
Can you find a book on the shelves?
Classification, Description
5. Ten Things About Cataloging
2. The goal is to make it easier for the user.
Ranganathan’s 5 Laws of Library Science
(updated by Melissa Powell)
1. Information is for use.
2. Every patron his information.
3. Every information its user.
4. Save the time of the patron.
5. The library is a growing organism.
6. Ten Things About Cataloging
3. Cataloging is not the MARC record.
7. Ten Things About Cataloging
3. Cataloging is not the MARC record.
8. Ten Things About Cataloging
3. Cataloging is not the MARC record.
It is the process of gathering the information to PUT in whatever
bibliographic framework you use.
Describing the item and determining all of the different ways people will
LOOK for the item.
9. Ten Things About Cataloging
4. It’s only as complicated as you make it.
10. Ten Things About Cataloging
4. It’s only as complicated as you make it.
Minimum bibliographic standards
ISBN/ISSN
Main Entry (Author/creator of work)
Title
Edition
Publisher and date
Physical description
Subject/Genre heading
11. Ten Things About Cataloging
4. It’s only as complicated as you make it.
*Garbage In, Garbage Out
12. Ten Things About Cataloging
5. It does have to be consistent
• Enable sharing of records (cooperative
cataloging)
• Ensure consistency and predictability
• Provide a foundation for local practice decisions
16. Ten Things About Cataloging
6. It’s like being an orienteering guide
Describing the item/information in detail so the user knows
where to find it and when they do that they have found
exactly what they are looking for.
I am an Independent Librarian based out of Northern Colorado. I have worked for over 30 years in libraries as a paraprofessional and degreed professional, in addition to a 4-year “retirement” to learn about the book & publishing industry. She is an Independent Librarian currently teaching Cataloging Fundamentals both online and through state libraries and library consortia. She spent 2009 organizing a local history collection at a public library in the mountains of Colorado (“from boxes to shelves”) and regularly consults with school and public libraries on technical and public services.I am the Webcast Producer for Publisher’s Weekly, Content Editor for Colorado Libraries Journal, and Editor of the Biblio Tech Review, an international library technology newsletter. Ireceived a B.A in History and a Masters in Library and Information Studies at Northern Illinois University and I have additional training in coaching, leadership, and communications.
If you can search a database, including using advanced searching and subject headings, then find the item on the shelf, you understand a lot about how cataloging works.
Concerns over access have led to controlled vocabulary for names, subjects and sometimes, titlesEnables collocationNo keyword searching in card catalogs necessitated controlled vocabulary Necessary in online catalogs to minimize natural language ambiguitiesControlled headings, or controlled access pointsAuthorized form of entry
Concerns over access have led to controlled vocabulary for names, subjects and sometimes, titlesEnables collocationNo keyword searching in card catalogs necessitated controlled vocabulary Necessary in online catalogs to minimize natural language ambiguitiesControlled headings, or controlled access pointsAuthorized form of entry
Cataloging is both an art and a science. Even though there are definite rules to follow, there is also room to be clever and to make cataloging work well in vastly different kinds of libraries.What you get to decide is where you think your readerswill most likely look for an item in YOUR library.You probably noticed that some of the books in the last shelving exercise could fit in almost any section in your library. Something like Blackout is science fiction and historical fiction and military history all in one. Does it have a broad appeal that non-science fiction readers might like? Then maybe it would do better in regular fiction. You have to decide.
The advent of technology has meant changing the way we think about describing information and how we make it accessible. It has not changed the basics of descriptive cataloging or the need for standards. People are searching without the assistance of a librarian, at least in the physical sense. The cataloger becomes the librarian assisting people in their searches by providing a multitude of intelligent and carefully chosen terms and access points. And because libraries are now connected to each other we need to be consistent and “play well with others”. Even if you are not connected to other libraries now, you will be one day. [real world example—AspenCat]
I am an Independent Librarian based out of Northern Colorado. I have worked for over 30 years in libraries as a paraprofessional and degreed professional, in addition to a 4-year “retirement” to learn about the book & publishing industry. She is an Independent Librarian currently teaching Cataloging Fundamentals both online and through state libraries and library consortia. She spent 2009 organizing a local history collection at a public library in the mountains of Colorado (“from boxes to shelves”) and regularly consults with school and public libraries on technical and public services.I am the Webcast Producer for Publisher’s Weekly, Content Editor for Colorado Libraries Journal, and Editor of the Biblio Tech Review, an international library technology newsletter. Ireceived a B.A in History and a Masters in Library and Information Studies at Northern Illinois University and I have additional training in coaching, leadership, and communications.