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Cataloguing: Some Issues & Resources

© Gillian Davis

The Internet “has become the single most important phenomenon in contemporary librarianship” (Weiss & Carstens, 1). And its impact on the practice of cataloguing is as significant as anywhere else in the field – “the mercurial, infinitely flexible Web forces us to examine in depth all aspects of current cataloging, from the difference between monographs and serials, to the relationship of monographic materials to one another, to the continued viability of the Machine Readable Cataloging (MARC) communications format, to the underpinnings of the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules themselves” (Weiss & Carstens, 1).

Amidst the explosion of the Internet, many questions arose for librarians and cataloguers, and are still being asked today – should we organize Web resources in subject lists? How can we link disparate resources? Should records for Web resources be integrated into the library’s catalogue? What’s the appropriate level of description for an Internet resource?

One significant and relatively recent development in the world of cataloguing is the launch of OCLC’s CORC, the Cooperative Online Resource Catalog. But will CORC succeed in becoming the WorldCat of Internet resources? Or will many different projects and models develop? Another relatively new development in the world of cataloguing is the Dublin Core, a 15-element metadata set that some librarians regard as not robust enough, but others see as an improvement over MARC for creating records.

For more information on cataloguing trends and issues regarding cataloguing Internet resources and metadata initiatives see Metadata: Cataloging by Any Other Name by Jessica Milstead and Susan Feldman, ONLINE, Jan. 1999, which is excellent reading. Other articles that may be of interest include: Now That Cataloging is Cool by Nancy Garman, ONLINE, Sept. 1999; "Cataloguing and Indexing and the Web: Help Urgently Needed?" by Ben Toth, Catalogue & Index no. 135 (Spring 2000) p. 1-2; and "Cataloging the Net: Two Years Later" by Norman Oder, Library Journal v. 125 no. 16 (October 1, 2000) p. 50-51. Perusing Cataloging & Classification Quarterly and Journal of Internet Cataloging, both published by Haworth Press Inc., will also be of interest. Finally, you may also like to have a look at my Feb. 6, 2001 article Organizing the Web.

Cataloguing and catalogue management resources are plentiful on the Internet. Whether you’re a cataloguer of monographs, serials, or Web resources, the Internet has something for you. Resources range from 'traditional' cataloguing tools, such as the LCC, the DDC, MARC, and the Anglo American Cataloging Rules (AACR2), to newer methods and resources involved with organizing Internet resources, such as the Dublin Core and other metadata initiatives.

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