Cataloging (library science)
In library and information science, cataloging (US) or cataloguing (UK) is the process of creating metadata representing information resources, such as books, sound recordings, moving images, etc. Cataloging provides information such as author's names, titles, and subject terms that describe resources, typically through the creation of bibliographic records.[1] The records serve as surrogates for the stored information resources. Since the 1970s these metadata are in machine-readable form and are indexed by information retrieval tools, such as bibliographic databases or search engines. While typically the cataloging process results in the production of library catalogs, it also produces other types of discovery tools for documents and collections.
For other uses, see Catalog (disambiguation).Bibliographic control provides the philosophical basis of cataloging, defining the rules that sufficiently describe information resources, and enable users to find and select the most appropriate resource. A cataloger is an individual responsible for the processes of description, subject analysis, classification, and authority control of library materials. Catalogers serve as the "foundation of all library service, as they are the ones who organize information in such a way as to make it easily accessible".[2]
Cataloging different kinds of materials[edit]
Cataloging is a process made in different kinds of institutions (e.g. libraries, archives and museums) and about different kinds of materials, such as books, pictures, museum objects etc. The literature of library and information science is dominated by library cataloging, but it is important to consider other forms of cataloging. For example, there are special systems for cataloging museum objects that have been developed, e.g., Nomenclature for Museum Cataloging.[3] Also, some formats have been developed in some opposition to library cataloging formats, for example, the common communication format for bibliographical databases.[4] About cataloging different kinds of cultural objects, see O'Keefe and Oldal (2017).[5]
Ronald Hagler identified six functions of bibliographic control.[6]
History of bibliographic control[edit]
While the organization of information has been going on since antiquity, bibliographic control as we know it today is a more recent invention. Ancient civilizations recorded lists of books onto tablets and libraries in the Middle Ages kept records of their holdings. With the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, multiple copies of a single book could be produced quickly. Johann Tritheim, a German librarian, was the first to create a bibliography in chronological order with an alphabetical author index. Conrad Gessner followed in his footsteps in the next century as he published an author bibliography and subject index. He added to his bibliography an alphabetical list of authors with inverted names, which was a new practice. He also included references to variant spellings of author's names, a precursor to authority control. Andrew Maunsell further revolutionized bibliographic control by suggesting that a book should be findable based on the author's last name, the subject of the book, and the translator. In the 17th century Sir Thomas Bodley was interested in a catalog arranged alphabetically by author's last name as well as subject entries. Sir Robert Cotton's library catalogued books with busts of famous Romans. The busts were organized by their name, i.e. N for Nero, and then came the shelf with its assigned letter, and then the roman numeral of the title's number. For example, the cataloging for The Lindisfarne Gospels reads Nero D IV. Cotton's cataloging method is still in use for his collection in the British Library.[10] In 1697, Frederic Rostgaard called for subject arrangement that was subdivided by both chronology and by size (whereas in the past titles were arranged by their size only), as well as an index of subjects and authors by last name and for word order in titles to be preserved based on the title page.[11]
After the French Revolution, France's government was the first to put out a national code containing instructions for cataloging library collections.[12] At the British Museum Library Anthony Panizzi created his "Ninety-One Cataloging Rules" (1841), which essentially served as the basis for cataloging rules of the 19th and 20th centuries. Charles C. Jewett applied Panizzi's "91 Rules" at the Smithsonian Institution.[13]
Types of cataloging[edit]
Descriptive cataloging[edit]
"Descriptive cataloging" is a well-established concept in the tradition of library cataloging in which a distinction is made between descriptive cataloging and subject cataloging, each applying a set of standards, different qualifications and often also different kinds of professionals. In the tradition of documentation and information science (e.g., by commercial bibliographical databases) the concept document representation (also as verb: document representing) have mostly been used to cover both "descriptive" and "subject" representation. Descriptive cataloging has been defined as "the part of cataloging concerned with describing the physical details of a book, such as the form and choice of entries and the title page transcription."[14]
Subject cataloging[edit]
Subject cataloging[15] may take the form of classification or (subject) Indexing. subject cataloguing is the process of assigning terms that describe what a bibliographic item is about whereby Cataloguers perform subject analysis for items in their library, most commonly selecting terms from an authorized list of subject headings, otherwise known as a 'controlled vocabulary.[16] Classification involves the assignment of a given document to a class in a classification system (such as Dewey Decimal Classification or the Library of Congress Subject Headings). Indexing is the assignment of characterizing labels to the documents represented in a record.
Classification typically uses a controlled vocabulary, while indexing may use a controlled vocabulary, free terms, or both.
Ethical issues[edit]
Ferris maintains that catalogers, in using their judgment and specialized viewpoint, uphold the integrity of the catalog and also provide "added value" to the process of bibliographic control, resulting in added findability for a library's user community.[42] This added value also has the power to harm, resulting in the denial of access to information.[2] Mistakes and biases in cataloging records can "stigmatize groups of people with inaccurate or demeaning labels, and create the impression that certain points of view are more normal than others".[43]
Social responsibility in cataloging is the "fair and equitable access to relevant, appropriate, accurate, and uncensored information in a timely manner and free of bias".[2] In order to act ethically and in a socially responsible manner, catalogers should be aware of how their judgments benefit or harm findability. They should be careful to not misuse or misrepresent information through inaccurate or minimal-level cataloging and to not purposely or inadvertently censor information.[2]
Bair states that it is the professional obligation of catalogers to supply thorough, accurate, high-quality surrogate records for databases and that catalogers also have an ethical obligation to "contribute to the fair and equitable access to information."[2] Bair recommends that catalogers "actively participate in the development, reform, and fair application of cataloging rules, standards, and classifications, as well as information-storage and retrieval systems".[2] As stated by Knowlton, access points "should be what a particular type of library patron would be most likely to search under -- regardless of the notion of universal bibliographic control."[43]
A formal code of ethics for catalogers does not exist, and thus catalogers often follow library or departmental policy to resolve conflicts in cataloging. While the American Library Association created a "Code of Ethics",[44] Ferris notes that it has been criticized for being too general to encompass the special skills that set catalogers apart from other library and information professionals.[42] As stated by Tavani, a code of ethics for catalogers can "inspire, guide, educate, and discipline" (as cited in Bair, 2005, p. 22). Bair suggests that an effective code of ethics for catalogers should be aspirational and also "discuss specific conduct and actions in order to serve as a guide in actual situations". Bair has also laid out the beginnings for a formal code of cataloging ethics in "Toward a Code of Ethics for Cataloging."[2]