Introduction to Cataloging

Lecture VIISpring 2006Dr. Joel Battle

Part I: History of Catalogs

History of Catalogs The purpose of a catalog

To communicate the essential facts The information in the catalog allows a

user to identify particular items in the collection and to select items relevant to his or her needs

History of Catalogs

The oldest library catalog Discovered is from the library of Edfu in Upper

Egypt It was engraved on the walls of the library itself

and was probably just a list of the books in the collection

The first library of the Babylonians Was built at Akkad in the seventeenth century

B. C. It was classified by subject and contained

instructions to users on how to retrieve the books

History of Catalogs

The first Assyrian library Was founded in 1300 B. C. at Calah But the most remarkable was the Royal

Library at Nineveh, founded in 700 B.C.

History of Catalogs

The famous Alexandrian library Was built in two parts, the Bruchium

and the Serapeium The Bruchium was destroyed by

Aurelian in A.D. 273 The Serapeium survived until A.D. 642,

when it was destroyed by the Saracens

History of Catalogs

Callimachus The second librarian of the Alexandrian Created a classified catalog arranged in a

hundred and twenty classes It was made on slips of papyrus and each slip

included a short title which corresponded with the label on the papyrus roll

He also gave a brief analysis of the work and a biographical note on the author

History of Catalogs

In the Middle Ages Cassiodorus and St. Benedict’s Abbey of Monte Cassino established the patterns followed by other monastic libraries of the time.

Catalogs were arranged by location symbol and the libraries rarely contained more than a few hundred volumes.

With the invention of the printing press, book catalogs became the standard.

They were produced in multiple copies and used for inventory and interlibrary loan.

But, collections began to grow so rapidly book catalogs required constant updating.

History of Catalogs

At the end of the 18th century, the revolutionary government of France confiscated large numbers of private and church libraries.

Descriptions of these books were entered on the backs of playing cards in regional centers and mailed to the National Library in Paris where they were arranged alphabetically by author and fastened together by a cord in one corner of each card.

This card system made adding and subtracting entries simple.

History of Catalogs

In 1902 the Library of Congress began selling sets of printed cards and book catalogs gradually disappeared.

In the late 1960s, book catalogs started to appear again.

Card catalogs were beginning to create space problems and many libraries were able to print book catalogs from computer files.

History of Catalogs

Another form of computer produced catalog is the microform catalog.

Microfiche or microfilm catalogs are compact and relatively inexpensive to produce.

Although anyone who has ever used one knows how difficult they are to read, many libraries with online catalogs still produce the microform catalog in case of computer problems.

History of Catalogs

Online catalogs are interactive and users have the ability to search for more than just author, title, or subject.

Keyword searching and help screens offer the user the best access possible to a library’s collection.

OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog)

Part II: Sources for Catalogs

Free Cataloging in publication (CIP) data printed in

books- from the Library of Congress Libraries with online catalogs and Z39.50

interfaces, including the Library of Congress http://catalog.loc.gov

Other libraries’ catalogs (with permission). See Texas Woman’s University Library as an example – you can get to the MARC record.

Sources for catalogs

Minimal cost Book and media vendor-supplied

cataloging records: Follett, Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Brodart, etc.

Cataloging vendors such as Marcive, marc4media and itsmarc

Sources for Catalogs

Higher cost Bibliographic utilities such as OCLC and RLIN

Some colleges, universities, research and specialized libraries may have to create much of the cataloging needed locally. This is called “original” cataloging – when no one else has the item and a bibliographic record is needed

Part III: Catalogs, Definition, and Roles

What is a catalog? A catalog is not a dictionary A catalog is not an encyclopedia A catalog’s role is changing Traditionally the catalog was a list of the

library’s holdings. It is evolving into an information retrieval system. On many library websites, it’s often difficult to tell where the catalog begins and ends.

The Catalog Card

The card catalog was the standard repository for bibliographic information for over a century. Although book catalogs still exist for smaller collections, most libraries are now using online catalogs. Unfortunately, even though the catalogs are on the web, many of them still have displays based on the format adopted for card catalogs.

The Catalog Card

The basic component used to enter information in a card catalog is the catalog card.

7.5 x 12.5 cm. (approx. 3 x 5 in.) since 1901

Each card in a catalog represents an access point or entry for a work in the library.

But each item is represented in the catalog by a set of cards. The set usually consists of “unit cards.”

What is the role of the catalog?

Cutter’s Rules for a Dictionary Catalog were written in 1904 but are still considered the standard for any library catalog AS: Objects Means

What is the role of the catalog?

Objects To enable a person to find a book of which

either The author is known The title is known The subject is known

To show what the library has 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)

What is the role of the catalog?

Means Author-entry with the necessary

references (for A and D) Title-entry or title-reference (for B) Subject-entry, cross-references, and

classed subject-table (for C and E) Form-entry and language-entry (for F) Giving edition and imprint, with notes

when necessary (for G) Notes (for H)

What is the role of the catalog?

Traditionally the role of the catalog was to allow the reader to find out what a library had and where it was located to answer user’s questions as anticipated by librarians. Now, it’s evolving into an information provider, regardless of location or format, to improve the reader’s decision making process.

How is the catalog designed?

For who? Traditionally the catalog was designed as

a findings list with limited access points basically designed for librarians. It is evolving into an integral part of the information transfer (or scholarly communication) process for use during both the data gathering and publishing phases. Now, more emphasis needs to be placed on designing the catalog for readers.

What is the cataloger’s role?

Traditionally the cataloger created the descriptive records with various access points for record retrieval and item location. The cataloger’s role is evolving into one which will translate readers’ needs into empowering systems, providing access to records, items, information, etc. A catalog should be flexible and up-to-date. A catalog should be constructed so that all

entries can be found easily and quickly. A catalog should be economically prepared and

maintained.

The Shelflist

Another important part of the catalog is the shelflist. This is a listing of all the items the library owns arranged in call number order. Most of you are probably used to thinking of these resources as separate items. That doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. Although some librarians love to argue over the necessity of a paper shelflist, the truth is that any good online system should be able to produce one through its report function.

Bibliographic Records

At the heart of all this- Bibliographic record Simply, you can think of it as something that

contains important information for the cataloged item

All catalogs are made up of records. In the card catalog, it was called the main entry card. Main Entry Card

This was the only card to contain all the bibliographic information pertinent to the cataloged item.

Bibliographic Records

In an online catalog we use the MARC format for creating a bibliographic record. Rather than rekeying (or retyping) the same information repeatedly, we simply code those fields by which we want to search. Local automation systems can take the record beyond what MARC allows and let any field be searched.

The process of cataloging produces a bibliographic record. A record is a collection of fields which when combined accurately and completely describe one item. In an automated environment, a bibliographic record is a single MARC record.

Part IV: Cataloging

What is cataloging? Storytelling for each understanding of

cataloging Let’s talk about it in a very simple way

In our society, we, human beings continuously store our knowledge using containers. Books, CDs, and now…any cyberspaces can be the examples of containers for keeping the knowledge.

As time goes by and as the amount of knowledge becomes so huge, we have to find some other ways to represent and organize it more effectively and efficiently.

What is cataloging?

Storytelling for easy understanding of cataloging In order to do that, we begin to pull out some

important information from the knowledge containers (books, CDs…etc.) and to keep them in other places which are organized better to find knowledge (so called catalogs).

Thus, the term cataloging includes the processes both representation (pulling out important information from the container) and organization (organize the important information for users easy to use, creating catalogs).

What is cataloging?

Storytelling for easy understanding of cataloging Since there are many different standards and

rules for cataloging all around the world, we needed to have a unified “standard” and “rules” for cataloging.

So, something like AACR2 has been established for a unified standard for cataloging (more explanation about AACR2 coming up)

What is cataloging?

Storytelling for easy understanding of cataloging Cataloging is composed of four parts:

Description of the physical piece according to standardized rules

Access points formatted according to standardized rules

Subject description through standardized subject headings

Subject classification (or sometimes format classification) through standardized classification schemas

When one does cataloging, s/he follows rules and other standards which have been established. Following these standards allows one to use cataloging forms external sources as noted above.

Types of cataloging

Copy cataloging: obtain the bibliographic record from an external source – database or vendor – and use it in the local catalog. This includes using CIP found in the book.

Adaptive cataloging: obtain a similar bibliographic record and adapt it to match the item in hand; use the resulting record for the local catalog and/or (if appropriate) a shared database like OCLC. This would be using a ‘book’ record to create a ‘video’ record.

Basic steps

Examine the item for as much information as possible. Review any accompanying, related materials such as book jacket, video or audio sleeve notes, container (for audio/video).

When copy cataloging, compare the item to the bibliographic record obtained and verify that they match Using the areas listed below.

Basic steps

For adaptive cataloging, compare the areas listed below and make changes to the bibliographic record as necessary. Replace or remove standard numbers or other information so that the resulting record is unique to the item in hand.

For original cataloging, create all the bibliographic information needed. Describe the item using cataloging rules

(AACR2rev) Create the necessary and needed access points Classify or assign a call number so that the

material can be found later

Description

(What kind of information should be pulled out from the item)

Title/statement of responsibility Edition Imprint: Place, Publisher, Date Physical Description: pages (or items): illustrations; size Note that some sizes are given in centimeters (cm.) &

others in inches (in.) Series Notes Especially important are things such as the ISBN,

publisher number, existence of an index or bibliography, restrictions on use, credits, summary (for children’s books) & table of contents

Access Points

(Which data from the work would be useful for users to find the item)

Author (first only) Subject headings Other persons involved in the creation of

the work All access points should come from

standard subject heading lists and name authority files. An access point can also be a ‘genre’ heading – that represent the format or type of work.

Classify or Assign Call Number

Classification number representing subject – shelving is relative to other works on the same subject (Simply, put same things together for us to keep and find)

Place location such as F/FIC or VIDEO or REF

Shelf location such as STEELE

Part V: Cataloging in Technical Services

Catalogs and the Bibliographic Record Most of technical services work in some

way involves the use of the catalog. This is especially true in the online environment. Collection Development – uses the catalog to

determine needs: What do we already own? Where is the collection weak? (This can often

come from a report generated by an online system)

Catalogs and the Bibliographic Record

Acquisitions: uses the bibliographic data in the catalog in order To purchase replacement or duplicate copies To check on late arriving serials that might

need to be claimed To find the proper names of authors and

publishers and Sometimes to begin the cataloging process by

creating a brief record Cataloging: creates the complete (though

I hesitate to say final) record that is used by all the library staff and readers

Catalogs and the Bibliographic Record

Preservation: uses the catalog so they’ll know When serials need to be bound When older documents should be microfilmed

to preserve their intellectual content and More recently, for hunting URLs to download so

that continued access can be assured Circulation: uses the catalog to

Check the status of local holdings Find the location of requested items for inter-

library loan

Part VI: History of Cataloging

Cataloging involves describing works, choosing access points for them and performing a subject analysis so that the library’s users can both identify and locate the library’s materials.

Cataloging is the result of two processes commonly known as “descriptive cataloging” – “IS”

Establishes an item’s identity by analyzing it and determining entries for it.

“subject cataloging” – “ABOUT” Consists of assigning “subject headings” and a

“call number” as locators.

History of Cataloging

Early cataloging codes were written by librarians for the needs of an individual library. Antonio Panizzi

Devised a code of 91 rules for the creation of the British Museum catalogs of 1881 and 1900

Charles Cutter Produced a five volume catalog of the Boston

Athenaeum library and in 1876 wrote the landmark volume Rules for a Printed Dictionary Catalog.

History of Cataloging

Catalogers today are still influenced by his ideas for the objectives of any library catalog: To enable a person to find a book or which

either author, title, or subject is known. To show what the library has by a given

author, on a given subject, r in a given kind of literature.

To assist in the choice of a book: as to its edition (bibliographically), or as to its character (literary or topical).

History of Cataloging

Cutter’s objectives were the basis of the “Statement of Principles” produced by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) in Paris in 1961. It is this set of principles which have guided the creators of the current code.

Today there are many sources of cataloging information which make the cataloger’s job easier.

Bibliographic utilities like OCLC offer member libraries hundreds of thousands of records which may be edited to suit the needs of individual libraries.

The records of the Library of Congress are public domain items which are available through these utilities or through CD Rom products such as BiblioFile.

History of Cataloging

Cataloging-in-Publication (CIP) Started by the Library of Congress in July 1971 in

cooperation with over 1,000 publishers. Today, over 60 percent of all trade publications in the

United States provide CIP data for their works. Cataloging is done from manuscripts or galley proofs

submitted to the CIP Division of the LC. This cataloging is entered into the Library’s database

where it is picked up by bibliographic utilities and CD-Rom vendors.

The cataloging data is also forwarded to the publisher where it’s printed on the copyright page of the book when it’s published. Because the cataloging is done from the galleys or manuscripts, it is often incomplete and/or contains inaccurate descriptive information. But the record may still be a good start for editing by a library for local use

Part VII: MARC

The MARC format MARC is an acronym for Machine-

Readable Cataloging. It’s a format standard for the storage

and exchange of bibliographic records and related information in machine-readable form.

MARC records provide precise bibliographic information with more flexibility than catalog cards.

The MARC Format

Originally there were seven MARC formats, one for each of the following types of material: Books Archives/manuscripts Computer files Maps Music Visual materials Serials

The MARC Format

With the advent of Format Integration, a single USMARC bibliographic format was created which provides the complete range of content designation for all types of materials and in which all information of the same type is identified by the same content designation.

The need for Format Integration was recognized for more than a decade before implementation could actually take place.

The MARC Format

Multi-media type materials (e.g., serially produced films) could be cataloged using the serials and visual materials chapters of AACR2 but there was no way to put the information into the MARC record. Format Integration has facilitated this problem.

The most recent change to the MARC format is the introduction of MARC21. This new version combines USMARC and CANMARC (the Canadian version) into one format.

Development of MARC

Most early library systems, designed in the early to mid-1960s, were designed to serve as circulation systems. They consisted of fixed length bibliographic records and were designed for use by trained library personnel. Although the brief fixed length record worked, many deficiencies were found when librarians began to consider their use for online catalogs:

Development of MARC

Fixed length fields did not allow enough information for patrons hoping to find an item.

Entries not needed for circulation (subject, etc.) were not included in the records.

Frequently the fixed length fields required abbreviations in long fields such as the title or publisher.

If a field was not needed it had to be filled with blanks so the computer would not misread a title as an author, etc.

For filing purposes, unable to input initial articles. Most applications used limited character sets, often

restricting input to uppercase alphabetic characters, numeric characters, and a limited number of special characters for punctuation.

Development of MARC

As the largest distributor of cataloging information, the Library of Congress was the obvious choice to develop an experimental bibliographic format.

Work began early in 1965, and by June the Library had published the first draft of a format based on standard Library of Congress cataloging practices and suggestions from experts throughout the library field.

A Pilot project to experiment in the use of machine-readable cataloging data. Beginning in March, 1967, the MARC I format used during the pilot project was refined and expanded, eventually becoming the format known today as the MARC II (MARC21) communications format.

Structure of MARC

Each MARC record is made up of fields. A field contains information that forms a logical unit, such as the title page transcription. We will discuss three types of fields in this text – the leader, the fixed field, and the variable fields.

The leader is the first 24 characters of the record. It contains coded information used for processing the record. There are only a few of these characters that a cataloger needs to understand.

Structure of MARC

The fixed field is a single field made up of various elements in coded form. It is known as the fixed field because the size of the field does not vary. Each element contains a separate item of coded information. In general, fixed-field information describes the work cataloged and the record itself, and is usually information that does not appear on a typical printed catalog record.

Structure of MARC

The inclusion of coded information in the fixed field allows the advantage of using the computer’s capabilities for retrieval and manipulation of data. The elements that compose the fixed field are the same for each record in a given format but vary from format to format. The information for the fixed field can be found within the variable fields.

Structure of MARC

The variable fields make up the bulk of the record. They contain information such as main entry, title, or notes and are called variable fields because they vary in length, depending on the work being described. Each variable field is made up of three parts – the tag, the indicators, and the subfields.

The first part of the field is the tag. A tag is a three-digit code which identifies the type of data to be found in the field. For example, a personal name main entry heading is identified by tag 100.

Structure of MARC

The indicators are the next two positions in the field. Although not all fields require indicators, they appear as numerals in the 4th and 5th positions when applicable to a particular field. In some fields, numerals appear in both indicator positions. In other fields, a numeral appears in only one or in neither indicator position. When no numeric value is defined for an indicator, the position remains blank.

Structure of MARC

Indicators supply information about the data in a particular field. However, they do not mean the same thin in every field. For example, in the 245 (title) field, a second indicator of ‘0’ means the title contains no non-filing characters (the title does not begin with an article). However, in the 650 (subject added entry) field, a second indicator of ‘0’ means the heading came from the Library of Congress list of subject headings.

245 _ 0 $a Gone with the wind / $c Margaret Mitchell

650 _ 0 $a Animals $x Fiction.

Structure of MARC

Within each field, information is subdivided into smaller fields or subfields. For example, a typical imprint (260 tag) contains

three subfields: place (subfield ‘a’), publisher (subfield ‘b’), and date (subfield ‘c’). A title (245 tag) often consists of three subfields: title proper (subfield ‘a’), remainder of title (subfield ‘b’), and remainder of title page transcription (subfield ‘c’). Some fields, such as certain notes, consist of only one subfield.

260 _ _ $a New York : $b Doubleday, $c 1995. 245 _ 4 $a The wind returns : $b renovations at

Tara / $c by the daughters of Atlanta.

Structure of MARC

Each subfield is identified by a character called a subfield code. A subfield code is usually a lowercase letter but may also be a number. A special symbol called a delimiter appears before each subfield code. The delimiter symbol varies depending on the database being used. In this text the dollar ($) symbol will be used as the delimiter.

300 _ _ $a xii, 87 p. : $b ill. (some col.) ; $c 28 cm.

Structure of MARC

Because tags, indicators, and subfield codes identify each element of information that may occur in a bibliographic record, they are known collectively as content designators.

Patterns in the MARC record

Tag group Function 0xx Bibliographic control numbers and codes

(including call numbers and classification numbers) 1xx Main entry headings 2xx Body of catalog entry 3xx Physical description 4xx Series statements 5xx Notes 6xx Subject added entries 7xx Added entries 8xx Series added entries (traced differently) 9xx Local-use fields

Patterns in the MARC record

Example 6xx – Subject Added entries, may include: 600 – Personal name used as a subject added entry

(Jefferson, Thomas) 610 – Corporate name used as a subject added entry

(University of Virginia) 650 – Topical subject heading (Architecture) 651 – Geographic subject heading (Virginia – Colleges and

Universities) The number nine within a MARC tag indicates a local

field. The nine may appear in the first, second, or third position. Local information refers to information specific to a particular library. The one exception to the number nine rule is the 490 field. The 490 is reserved for series, untraced or traced differently.

Patterns in the MARC record

Tag Local use field 049 Local holdings information 09x Locally supplied call numbers 59x Local notes 69x Local subject headings 9xx Miscellaneous (used by vendors)

Patterns in the MARC record

9xx Miscellaneous (used by vendors) 69x – Local subject headings may include: 690 – Local topical subject heading (Jeffersonian

architecture) The final MARC format pattern is the function and

form repetition pattern. All tags that relate to the traditional access points – main entry (1xx), added entries (7xx), and subject headings (6xx) share a pattern in which the first digit indicates the function of the field and the last two digits of the tag indicate the form.

Patterns in the MARC record

Tag Form of Heading X00 Personal name X10 Corporate name X11 Conference name X30 Uniform title X40 Alternate title X45 Main title X50 Topical subject X51 Geographic subject

Patterns in the MARC record

Example Personal name main entry 100 Personal name added entry 700 Corporate main entry 110 Corporate subject 610

Discussion

Name two functions that library catalogs perform and provide an example of its use for each

Define “levels of cataloging” and explain what factors determine an appropriate level for a library