A Library is considered the heart of an institution. Library catalogues are the essential parts of a library. Library users can easily find their resources using catalogues. C. A Cutter, in the book "Rules for Dictionary Catalog", stated6 the objectives (functions) of library catalogues [1]. A user can find resources by author, title, and subject with the help of a catalogue. The environment of every library today has changed due to the advancement of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs). We are witnessing the transition of card catalogue to machine-readable catalogue. So, it's all about the bibliographic description. To take it to the next level, cataloguing skills are very much needed.
A cataloguer needs the basic knowledge of:
- Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR2R)
- Resource Description & Access (RDA)
- MARC21, standard for bibliographic data
- Classifying documents using DDC (Dewey Decimal Classification), LC (Library of Congress Classification), and UDC (Universal Decimal Classification)
- Use of thesaurus or subject heading lists SLSH (Sears's List of Subject Headings), LCSH (Library of Congress Subject Headings Lists)
- Use of Author Tables (e.g. Cutter's table)
- Authority data [2]
Having knowledge of the above might not be enough for a cataloguer. The cataloguer has to stay up-to-date regarding changes, updates made by the cataloguing tools.
This article discusses why good cataloguing is important. The reasons are as follow:
- Getting right results
Users may not be aware of searching; they just do a basic search on the search bar in the online catalogue or discovery tool. They will get the results related to their query. Their search may return a huge number of results. Hence, the exactness of cataloguing can be very effective. If the cataloguing is done accurately, the users will get most of the documents that they queried for. If the cataloguer makes mistakes during cataloguing, users may not meet their needs. Each and every field of a bibliographic format (e.g. MARC21) should be filled with exact data. Avoiding errors is a good practice in cataloguing. The thumb rule is "Every Metadata is important."
2. Updating Regularly
Updating records timely is another important task of a cataloguer. It is important for updating. For instance, serial maintenance, multi-volume resource addition. Users can get the latest information regarding the addition. Here the cataloguer needs to be very skilful in editing and updating records.
3. Uniformity in the practice
To keep records consistent, a cataloguer should take care of cataloguing rules, proper classification of documents, and applying subject heading lists accordingly. These approaches have inter-relationships. For example, if a document is wrongly classified, then it will affect the subject heading list(s). So, uniformity must be followed according to the code of practice. A wrong entry can infuse users with negative perspectives regarding library services.
4. Understanding the recent developments for better tomorrow
References
[1] Cutter, Charles Ammi, et al. Rules for a Dictionary Catalog. United States, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1904.
[2] https://www.ala.org/alcts/resources/guides/serstdsbib/cataloging
[3] https://librarianresources.taylorandfrancis.com/services-support/discovery/#:~:text=Discovery%20Services,-What%20is%20a&text=A%20discovery%20service%20is%20an,an%20accurate%20and%20efficient%20way.
[4] Wikipedia contributors. "VuFind." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 21 Jun. 2021. Web. 28 Oct. 2021.
[Note: This article is only for educational purposes]