Page 73 - DLIS103_LIBRARY_CLASSIFICATION_AND_CATALOGUING_THEORY

Library Classification and Cataloguing Theory

Notes and to provide an understanding of how these codes have developed in accordance with forms of
the catalogue. An understanding of the historical development of modern cataloguing codes and
the evolutionary growth of catalogues are both essential to an understanding of the relevance of
cataloguing codes to the new electronic environment.

Developments in the Nineteenth Century

The nineteenth century has been characterized as the formative era of modern catalogues and
cataloguing codes. It was a time that revealed a keen interest in catalogues and the involvement of
individual libraries and librarians in the compilation of cataloguing codes. The transformation of
library cataloguing to its present form occurred in the nineteenth century, when it was argued that
simple author access was not enough and that a different, more sophisticated, and more elaborate
approach was needed.
Although the printed book catalogue was widely in use throughout the nineteenth century, the
slip catalogue which was primarily created for the preparation of the printed book catalogue, was
gradually found to be more flexible and more suitable. Book catalogues, which were found to be
inflexible and in need of constant updating and reprinting, grew less popular in a short space of
time. In addition, the limited number of access points per entry was a major disadvantage of book
catalogues. By the end of the nineteenth century the printed card catalogue, although not in a
standard form, became the alternative to the printed book catalogue and its use became widespread
in the twentieth century throughout the United States as well as in many other countries .
The two most common catalogue forms in the nineteenth century were the classified catalogue
and the alphabetical catalogue. The classed or classified catalogue, which was a type of subject
catalogue depending on a systematic classification, was used in many British, French and American
libraries.

Notes In classified catalogue, entries were arranged in a systematic order to group together
books with subject proximity.
Authors and titles made up accompanying alphabetical indexes. Although the classified catalogue
continued its development during the nineteenth century, the difficulties of maintaining it limited
its application to a relatively small number of libraries. On the other hand, a major reason for the
development of the alphabetical catalogue lies in the fact that alphabetical order has long been
common knowledge and best suited for finding items in the catalogue. Most cataloguing codes
developed by individuals or national agencies in modern times have been formulated for
alphabetical catalogues rather than classified catalogues.
The nineteenth century was a time when the objectives of the catalogue became more clearly
defined. As library catalogues had to be developed in accordance with the users' needs, a first step
was to clarify the functions of the catalogue. Thus an essential principle on which rules for entries
had to be based was the formulation of objectives for the catalogue.
The concept of one full record per book (i.e., one 'main entry' for the publication described) which
was dominant in classified and alphabetical catalogues evolved into multiple entries in the
dictionary catalogue. Although the dictionary catalogue had been first introduced by Andrew
Maunsell in 1595 in the form of a simple list including authors, added entries (e.g., for translators),
and subjects in a single alphabetical sequence, it had its flourishing in the nineteenth century,
particularly through the works of Charles Ammi Cutter.
Since the middle of the 19th century, a number of catalogue codes had developed. Each code was
prepared to improve the preceding code. Some of the important catalogue codes are:
1. The British Museum code

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