I have just read a tribute to catalogers and cataloging that was written by David Badertscher on his blog, Criminal Law Library Blog. You can find the posting here
http://www.criminallawlibraryblog.com/2009/07/in_appreciation_of_library_cat.html.
Not only does David tip his hat to catalogers for the work they do describing materials and organizing collections, he gives an explanation of the need for cataloging rules. It's a great article and I heartily recommend reading it.
Cataloging rules are changing. This is a natural evolution. They have always changed because ways to store and retrieve information have changed and because librarians have always worked to find clearer ways to describe the materials being cataloged.
When I was in graduate school in the early 1970s librarians were excited by the first cooperative set of rules created by American, British and Canadian library associations. The Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules of 1967 wasn't perfect, but it was a great step forward. Even though there was a British edition and an American edition to allow for areas where the groups couldn't compromise, it set standards we could all follow. These standards affected libraries beyond England, Canada and the US because catalogers in other countries look to the Library of Congress and the British Museum for leadership. The Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, generally called AACR, had worldwide impact. In 1978 the 2nd edition, soon to be called AACR2, came out. This revision brought cataloging into line with the International Standard of Bibliographic Description and changed the way corporate bodies were described.
Change is still in the wind. The third revision of AACR will be coming out in 2009. The committee charged with revising AACR found so much change needed that they have written an entirely new set of standards called RDA or Resource Description and Access. Since the formats of information have changed from print media, such as books and magazines, to electronic forms, such as databases and web pages, the new cataloging rules have had to develop more efficient ways to describe them. This isn't as easy as it seems, because the rules have to be written flexible enough to embrace the next generation of information storage, too, whatever that might be.
I haven't had a lot of exposure to RDA. When I was a full-time cataloger in Texas I subscribed to the AUTOCAT list. AUTOCAT is an online list where catalogers can chat with their peers worldwide. It's a wonderful group and helped to keep me, a solitary cataloger, in touch with the larger world of cataloging. It was great to be able to ask the group about things that stumped me.
Proposed sections of RDA would be posted on AUTOCAT from time to time and discussed in detail, but I didn't understand it well enough to join the discussion. I could see that its going to be quite different from AACR2 and will put many of us outside our comfort zones. Ah, well, why not? AACR, and AACR2 did that as well, but the result has been better service to our patrons in the long run. Come on, RDA, let's see what you can do.
http://www.criminallawlibraryblog.com/2009/07/in_appreciation_of_library_cat.html.
Not only does David tip his hat to catalogers for the work they do describing materials and organizing collections, he gives an explanation of the need for cataloging rules. It's a great article and I heartily recommend reading it.
Cataloging rules are changing. This is a natural evolution. They have always changed because ways to store and retrieve information have changed and because librarians have always worked to find clearer ways to describe the materials being cataloged.
When I was in graduate school in the early 1970s librarians were excited by the first cooperative set of rules created by American, British and Canadian library associations. The Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules of 1967 wasn't perfect, but it was a great step forward. Even though there was a British edition and an American edition to allow for areas where the groups couldn't compromise, it set standards we could all follow. These standards affected libraries beyond England, Canada and the US because catalogers in other countries look to the Library of Congress and the British Museum for leadership. The Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, generally called AACR, had worldwide impact. In 1978 the 2nd edition, soon to be called AACR2, came out. This revision brought cataloging into line with the International Standard of Bibliographic Description and changed the way corporate bodies were described.
Change is still in the wind. The third revision of AACR will be coming out in 2009. The committee charged with revising AACR found so much change needed that they have written an entirely new set of standards called RDA or Resource Description and Access. Since the formats of information have changed from print media, such as books and magazines, to electronic forms, such as databases and web pages, the new cataloging rules have had to develop more efficient ways to describe them. This isn't as easy as it seems, because the rules have to be written flexible enough to embrace the next generation of information storage, too, whatever that might be.
I haven't had a lot of exposure to RDA. When I was a full-time cataloger in Texas I subscribed to the AUTOCAT list. AUTOCAT is an online list where catalogers can chat with their peers worldwide. It's a wonderful group and helped to keep me, a solitary cataloger, in touch with the larger world of cataloging. It was great to be able to ask the group about things that stumped me.
Proposed sections of RDA would be posted on AUTOCAT from time to time and discussed in detail, but I didn't understand it well enough to join the discussion. I could see that its going to be quite different from AACR2 and will put many of us outside our comfort zones. Ah, well, why not? AACR, and AACR2 did that as well, but the result has been better service to our patrons in the long run. Come on, RDA, let's see what you can do.
