Cataloging Vocabulary

1. AACR2-   Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, 2nd edition: A set of rules that describe the content that is contained in library catalog records.

2. Access Points- This is a doorway to searching for an item. In a database, the access points are the searchable fields such as subject, tiltle etc.

3. ASCII-  American Standard Code for Information Interchange ( pronounced "askee"), the binary code built into most minicomputers and all personal computers to represent in digital format the uppercase and lowercase of the Latin script, numerals, and special characters. Each ASCII character consists of seven information bits and one parity bit for error checking.

4. Authority Control and Authority Files- The procedures by which consistency of form in maintained in the headings used in a library catalog or file of bibliographic records through the application of an authoritative list, called an authority file, to new items as they are added to the collection. Authority control is available from commerial service providers. An authority file is a set of authority records listing the chosen form of a heading and its appropriate cross-reference.

5. Automation- Is an informal group of vendors of library automation systems and otherinformation products to libraries, and other interested parties, that meets at the annual and midwinter meetings of the American Library Asociation to exchange information related to standards and other topics of mutal interest.

6. Bibliographic Records- A bibliographic record refers to all the information necessary to identify an item. This information includes title, author, call number, publisher, and date of publication.

7. Call Numbers( Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress), Cutter Tables and Numbers-  An identification code assigned to a library collection item( book, video, periodical,etc.) that distinguishes one item from another and indicates where it is located in the library. Call numbers are arranged by subject, except in Government Documents Collections which may be arranged according to SuDocs classification. These call numbers follow the Library of Congress Classification System.

Cutter Tables and Numbers-  C. A. Cutter's Two-Figure Author Table, familiarly known as the Cutter table, was developed in the 1800's as a library tool for organizing library materials alphabetically. There is also a three - figure table.Both the two-and three  figure tables are used in the Superintendent of Documents classification system. The tables are available from commerical library supply houses. Cutter numbers are used when there is no series number to identify the publications and dates are not appropriate for indentification. Cutter numbers are used to distinguish publications in the category classes, as well as in unnumbered series classes. retrieved July 8,2009 from http://www.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/classman/cl_ch4.html

8. Catalog and OPAC-  A catalog is an organized written collection of all the materials held by that library.  Traditionally each item in a catalog was represented on a written index card that gave information on the item and pointed researchers to the location of the item in the collection. Now most catalogs are stored in computer databases and are accessed through OPAC's. 

OPAC - Online Public Access Catalog- It is an electronic or digitized version of a library's card catalog.

9. CIP- Cataloging In Publication-  A CIP record is a bibliographic record prepared by the Library of Congress for a book that has not been published yet. When the book is published, the publisher includes the CIP data on the copyright page thereby facilitating the book processing for libraries and book dealers.

10. Copy Cataloging - Adaptation of a pre-existing bibliographic record (usually found in OCLC, RLIN, NUC, or some other bibliographic database) to fit the characteristics of the item in hand, with modifications to correct obvious errors and minor adjustments to reflect locally accepted cataloging practice, as distinct from original cataloging (creating a completely new record from scratch). Synonymous with derived cataloging.

11. Dewey Decimal Classification- A hierarchial systm for classifying books and other library materials by subject, first published in 1876 by the librarian and educator Melvil Dewey, who divided human knowledge into 10 divisions, and so on. In Dewey Decimal call numbers, arabic numerals and decimal fractions are used in the class notation and an alphanumeric book number is added to subarrange works of the same classification by author and by title and edition.

12. Descriptive Cataloging- A detailed set of standarized rules for cataloging various types of library materials that had its origin in Catalog Rules: Author and Title Entries, published in 1908 under the auspices of the American Library Association and the Library Association (UK), and the A.L.A. Cataloging Rules For Author and Title Entries (1949), with its companion volume Rules For Descriptive Cataloging in the Library of Congress. Cooperation between the ALA, the Library Association, and the Canadian Library Association resumed with the joint publication in 1967 of Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, which is divided into two parts: rules for creating the bibliographic description of an item of any type and rules governing the choice and form of entry of headings (access points) in the catalog.

13. URL- Uniform Resource Locator is an address that specifies the location of a file on the Internet.

      FRP- File Transfer  Protocol or Program allows files to be transfered across the Internet; now also incorporated into www browers such as netscape.

14. General Material Designation-  Use General Material Designation for current original cataloging. GMD's are generic terms describing the medium of the item. OCLC defines subfield (medium) in field 245 (Title Statement) for General Material Designation information. Enter GMDs in lowercase letters enclosed in brackets.

15. ISBN- International Standard Book Number- A unique 10 digit code assigned to a specific edition of a book before it is published.

       ISBD- International Standard Bibliographic Description- Best known in terms of ISBD punction, the distinctive punction pattern used in almost all American Cataloging since 1974.

       ISSN- International Standard Serial Number- A unique 8 digit code assigned to the specific title of a serial.

16. Library of Congress Classification and Library of Congress Control Number- A classification sysem developed by the Library of Congress that is used to organize the collections of many academic and research libraries. This alpha-numeric system arranges materials by subject. Each subject or class is represented by a series of letters and numbers, which are used to create a LC call number. To see the main classes in the LC system, go to Library of Congress Classification. 

17. MARC andUSMARC-  Machine Readable Cataloging is an international standard digital format for the description of bibliographic items developed by the Library of Congress during the 1960s to facilitate the creation and dissemination of computerized cataloging from library to library within the same country and between countries. By 1971, the Marc format had become the national standard for dissemination of bibliographic data and by 1973, an international standard.

18. OCLC- Online Computer Library Center is the largest bibliographic utility in the world, providing cataloging and acquistions services, serials and circulation control, interlibrary loan support, and access to online databases. OCLC maintains WorldCat  the largest online bibliographic database in the world, containing over 50 million MARC records.

19. Retrospective Conversion- The process of converting existiong bibliographic records from manual, human-readable form, such as a cards in a card catalog, into machine readable format, usually by matching the old records one at a time to those contained in an authoratative database of machine readable records.

20. Sears' List of Subject Headings-  Sears' List of Subject Headings has served the needs of small and medium libraries, delivering a basic list of essential headings, together with patterns and examples to guide the cataloger in creating further headings as needed. Practical features include a thesaurus- like format, an accompying list of cancelled and replacement headings, and legends within the list that identify earlier forms of headings.

21.  Precataloged Records- These are MARC records that are sent to the library media specialist by the jobber or vendor via CD or Internet. MARC records via these two methods can be imported into the library automation system.