Page 101 - DLIS103_LIBRARY_CLASSIFICATION_AND_CATALOGUING_THEORY

Library Classification and Cataloguing Theory

Notes 1. If there are two or two more authors, or short stories or collection of poems, how to give
the main entry in such cases is the problem.
2. If the book is published under the name of a corporate body-again the problem of making
main entry arises.
In this part descriptors are categorized on the basis of subject relationship into broad fields are all
the factors to be considered for updating the thesaurus.

14.4 Union Catalogue Types

Union Catalogue is of two types: (1) General the aurous and (2) Specific Subject the aurous. The
General the aurous include all the subjects and more terms where as specific the aurous deals with
specific subject (e.g., Mechanical energy) only.
The union catalogue may be classified by area covered such as local, regional and national. The
types of union catalogue may also be based on materials included, such as books, periodicals etc.
Functions

1. To serve as a tool for location of a given document
2. To help in inter-library loan
3. To serve as a book selection tool
4. To help to achieve coordination in acquisition
5. To serve as a useful source for obtaining bibliographic information
6. To reveal the total document resources of libraries in a region, thereby indicating the
Strength or weakness of the holdings.

Steps involved in Compiling a Union Catalogue

Before compiling a union catalogue, the following must be decided:
1. The libraries to be included
2. The materials (form, period, subject, languages, region) to be covered
3. Types of entries and description of each entry
4. Arrangement
5. Physical form
6. Method of compilation and revision
7. It is necessary to decide whether the union catalogue is going to be local, regional or
national in scope. The local union catalogue is capable of showing the total holdings of
local libraries within reach. A national or regional catalogue covers a large region having
many libraries.
Forms of materials, period, subjects and languages to be covered have to be decided.
Usually union catalogue of serial holdings are advantageous due to:
1. low cost of compilation
2. easy maintenance
3. less size
4. Saves money
The rules for headings and description must be decided by the cooperating libraries so that this
leads to uniformity in rendering. For books, the author and title entry may be prepared. The
author entry is the main entry and title entry is the added entry. The main entry should contain the
holdings section indicating the name of the libraries having the document.
For periodical publications, the entry is provided under the class number and in addition, there
can be an entry under the sponsoring body. It is always better to keep union catalogue in the card
format. The cards can be arranged in an order.

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