Basics

= Cataloging Basics =

What is cataloging?
This is one of the best definitions I have seen: "Cataloging is the systematic organization of information, data, or materials so that they can be retrieved when the requester needs them. Cataloging follows rules and practices to enable users to understand the system. Putting words in alphabetical order in a dictionary or index is one example of cataloging. Alphabetical order has rules so that the lexicographer and the end user can find words. //A librarian-cataloger follows rules established by national and global organizations. The rules are flexible enough to enable interpretation and localization. Rules also include controlled vocabulary for subject headings.//..."(emphasis mine. Source: http://home.earthlink.net/~ddstuhlman/defin1.htm)

Who makes all these rules anyway?
The current cataloging standards set is called AACR2 and was most recently(fully) revised in 2002. Updates are published annually as well.

AACR2 is a collaborative standard written by a joint steering committee. Members of the most recent revision committee came from the following organizations:


 * The American Library Association(ALA)
 * The Australian Committee on Cataloguing
 * The British Library
 * The Canadian Committee on Cataloguing
 * The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals
 * The Library of Congress (LOC)

In addition to AACR2, MARC21 standards are maintained by the Network Development and MARC Standards Office at the LOC.

Classification standards are maintained by their individual scheme. The two primary classification schemes in use in the US today are the Dewey Decimal Classification(DDC) and the Library of Congress(LOC) Classification

Three parts to the cataloging process Each part has a set of information it imparts as well as a set of related MARC tags.
 * Descriptive Cataloging
 * Subject Access Cataloging
 * Classification

RDA

There has been a recent development of a new cataloging system called RDA. It has not yet been implemented by very many libraries, so it is treated briefly here