1. AACR2

    

A set of rules that describe the content that is contained in library catalog records.

 

2. Access Points

    

            Access points are the doorways to searching for an item. In a database, the access points are the searchable fields such as subject, title and ...

 

3. ASCII

    

An acronym for 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 letters 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 is maintained in the headings (names, uniform titles, series titles, and subjects) 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 commercial service providers.

 

 

A list of the authoritative forms of the headings used in a library catalog or file of bibliographic records, maintained to ensure that headings are applied consistently as new items are added to the collection. Separate authority files are usually maintained for names, uniform titles, series titles, and subjects. All the references made to and from a given heading are also included in the file.

 

5. Automation

    

An informal group of vendors of library automation systems and other information products to libraries, and other interested parties, that meets at the annual and midwinter meetings of the American Library Association to exchange information related to standards and other topics of mutual interest.

 

 

6. Bibliographic Records

    

A bibliographic record refers to all the information necessary to identify one 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

    

A identification code assigned to a library collection item (book, video or audio recording, manuscript, periodical, musical score, etc.) that distinguishes one item from another and indicates its location in the library. Call numbers are arranged by subject, except in Government Documents Collections which may be arranged according to SuDocs classification. SuDocs is based on issuing on government agency. The call numbers follow the Library of Congress Classification System.

 

8. Catalog and OPAC

    

A library catalog is an organized written collection of all the materials (books, videos, journal subscriptions, films, audio recordings, etc.) 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 OPACs. A union catalog is a catalog that represents multiple libraries.  

 

9. CIP

    

cataloging-in-publication (CIP)

 

A prepublication cataloging program in which participating publishers complete a standardized data sheet and submit it with the front matter or entire text of a new book (usually still in galleys) to the Library of Congress for use in assigning an LCCN and preparing a bibliographic record, which is sent back to the publisher within 10 days to be printed on the verso of the title page. The Library of Congress distributes CIP records to large libraries, bibliographic utilities, and book vendors on a weekly basis to facilitate book processing. If incomplete, the initial record may be amended by the Library of Congress after the U.S. Copyright Office receives the deposit copy of the published work. The CIP Program began at the Library of Congress in 1971 and is used throughout the world. Click here to see an example of CIP in the book, and here to connect to the CIP homepage.

 

 

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 hierarchical system 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 main classes, each of which is divided into 10 divisions, and so on. In Dewey Decimal call numbers, arabic numerals and decimal fractions are used in the class notation (example: 996.9) and an alphanumeric book number is added to subarrange works of the same classification by author and by title and edition (996.9 B3262h).

 

12. Descriptive Cataloging

     

 A detailed set of standardized 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 and FTP

     

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

 

From the Italian word burla, meaning "mockery." A crude form of satire in which the style of a work, or of an entire genre, is ridiculed by trivializing a serious subject or dignifying a trivial one, usually in the form of a stage performance. The purpose is to amuse and entertain, rather than to inform. Compare with parody.

 

 

File Transfer Protocol, the TCP/IP protocol that allows data files to be copied directly from one computer to another over the Internet regardless of platform, without having to attach them as in e-mail. A computer that functions as a file server, storing files available to other computers, is called an FTP site or FTP server. If no username or password is required for access, such a computer is an anonymous FTP site--its files may be downloaded by anyone with access to the Internet. Although still widely available, anonymous FTP has been supplanted by the World Wide Web as the most popular mode of disseminating information in digital format.

 

 

14. General Material Designation

     

An optional term added in square brackets to the bibliographic description of a nonbook item following the title proper to indicate type of material (example: [videorecording]). Separate lists of general material designations are provided in AACR2 for British and North American libraries. In some categories, the British list is more general (object includes diorama, game, microscope slide, model, and realia). The Library of Congress does not include the GMD in catalog records for manuscripts, maps, music, and textual works. Compare with material type. See also: specific material designation.

 

15. ISBD, ISBN, ISSN

     

A set of standards adopted in 1971 by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), governing the bibliographic description of items collected by libraries. The general standard ISBD(G) serves as a guide for describing all types of library materials. Standards have also been developed for specific formats: ISBD(CM) for cartographic materials, ISBD(PM) for printed music, ISBD(S) for serials, etc. ISBDs have been integrated into several catalog codes around the world, including AACR2.

 

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

 

A unique 10-digit standard number assigned to identify a specific edition of a book or other monographic publication issued by a given publisher, under a system recommended for international use by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1969. In the ISBN system, media such as audiorecordings, videorecordings, microfiche, and computer software are considered monographic publications, but serials, music sound recordings, and printed music are excluded because other identification systems have been developed to cover them. The ISBN is usually printed on the verso of the title page and on the back of the dust jacket of a book published in hardcover, or at the foot of the back cover in paperback editions. In AACR2, the ISBN is entered in the standard number and terms of availability area of the bibliographic description.

 

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

 

An intergovernmental network established under the auspices of UNESCO to develop and maintain an international registry of serial publications containing the information necessary for identification and bibliographic control, including the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) and key title. The ISSN center for the United States is the National Serials Data Program (NSDP) administered by the Library of Congress. Click here to connect to the Web site maintained by the ISSN International Centre in Paris, France.

 

 

16. Library of Congress Classification and Library of Congress Control Number

     

 A system of classifying books and other library materials developed and maintained over the last 200 years by the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. In LCC, human knowledge is divided into 20 broad categories indicated by single letters of the roman alphabet, with major subdivisions indicated by a second letter, and narrower subdivisions by decimal numbers and further alphabetic notation.

 

When the Library of Congress began printing catalog cards in 1898 and distributing them in 1901, a unique Library of Congress Card Number was assigned to each item for identification and control. With the development of machine-readable cataloging in the late 1960s, LCCN became the Library of Congress Control Number. It is used in bibliographic records and also in authority and classification records. The LCCN is assigned to a publication after the deposit copy is received by the U.S. Copyright Office or in advance of the publication date if a publisher requests cataloging-in-publication. See also: accession number.

 

 

17. MARC and USMARC

     

Machine-Readable Cataloging (MARC)

 

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.

 

There are several versions of MARC in use in the world, the most predominant being MARC 21, created in 1999 as a result of the harmonization of U.S. and Canadian MARC formats; UKMARC, used primarily in the United Kingdom; and UNIMARC, widely used in Europe. The MARC 21 family of standards now includes formats for authority records, holdings records, classificationschedules, and community information, in addition to formats for the bibliographic record.

 

Widespread use of the MARC standard has helped libraries acquire predictable and reliable cataloging data, make use of commercially available library automationsystems, share bibliographic resources, avoid duplication of effort, and ensure that bibliographic data will be compatible when one automation system is replaced by another.

 

The MARC record has three components:

 

Record structure - an implementation of national and international standards, such as the Information Interchange Format ANSI Z39.2 and Format for Information Exchange ISO 2709

 

Content designation - codes and conventions that explicitly identify and characterize the data elements within a record to facilitate the manipulation of data, defined in the MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data and other MARC 21 formats maintained by the Library of Congress

 

Data Content - defined by external standards such as AACR2, Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), etc.

 

The MARC record is divided into fields, each containing one or more related elements of bibliographic description. A field is identified by a three-digit tag designating the nature of its content. Tags are organized as follows in hundreds, indicating a group of tags, with XX in the range of 00-99:

 

0XX fields - Control information, numbers, codes

 

1XX fields - Main entry

 

2XX fields - Titles, edition, imprint

 

3XX fields - Physical description, etc.

 

4XX fields - Series statements (as shown in item)

 

5XX fields - Notes

 

6XX fields - Subject added entries

 

7XX fields - Added entries other than subject or series

 

8XX fields - Series added entries (other authoritative forms)

 

Click here to see an example of a MARC record and here to connect to the MARC Standards homepage maintained by the Network Development and MARC Standards Office of the Library of Congress. See also: Avram, Henriette D.; MARCese; MARCIVE; MARCXML; and USMARC.

 

A set of standards for the representation and communication of bibliographic data and related information in machine-readable format, originally developed and maintained for use in the United States and superseded in 1999 by MARC 21 with the harmonization of U.S. and Canadian MARC formats. USMARC governed three aspects of bibliographic description: (1) record structure, (2) content designation, and (3) the actual data content of the record. The Library of Congress is advised on the maintenance and development of MARC standards by the U.S. MARC Advisory Committee, representing various user communities in North America. See also: UKMARC and Universal Machine-Readable Cataloging (UNIMARC).

 

 

18. OCLC

     

Online Computer Library Center (OCLC)

 

The largest bibliographic utility in the world, providing cataloging and acquisitions services, serials and circulation control, interlibrary loan support, and access to online databases. OCLC began as the Ohio College Library Center in 1967, changed its name in 1981 to reflect wider membership, and has since become a major source of cooperative cataloging data for libraries around the world. OCLC maintains WorldCat, the largest online bibliographic database in the world, containing over 50 million MARC records. Click here to connect to the OCLC homepage. See also: Auto-Graphics, Inc.

 

 

19. Retrospective Conversion

     

The process of converting existing 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 authoritative database of machine-readable records. Once a match is made, the cataloger downloads as much of the machine-readable record as the library needs, usually for a modest fee. In the United States, OCLC provides most of the MARC records used in retrospective conversion. Abbreviated recon. Compare with recataloging.

 

 

20. Sears' List of Subject Headings

     

A subject heading from a list created by Minnie E. Sears, first published in 1923 for use in school libraries and small public libraries. Although it is based on Library of Congress subject headings, the Sears List of Subject Headings published by H.W. Wilson is narrower in scope and its headings are more general. Small libraries supplement it with LC headings as needed. Click here to read reviews of the latest edition of the Sears List of Subject Headings.

 

21. Precataloged Records