Page 163 - DLIS002_KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING THEORY

Knowledge Organization: Classification and Cataloguing Theory

Notes 6. In order to help readers who know the exact titles of books, a library catalogue should
record titles as distinctive.
7. To aid identification of the materials in the library, a catalogue should provide description
of each book by giving authors’ full name, title, edition, imprint and collation; should also
include notes when necessary.
8. In order to facilitate speedy location of a work, the catalogue should also mention the Call
number by which the books may be requisitioned, located, and obtained.
From the above enumerated functions of a library catalogue, it is noticed that besides tracing a
particular publication or book, a library catalogue serves to answer the following questions:
Is this particular “book” (publication) available in the library?
Which editions of this particular book are available in the library?
Which book by a particular author is available in the library?

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
7. The catalogue should also arrange the subject entries in such a way that like topics fall
together and related topics………………...
8. In order to help readers who know the exact titles of books, a library catalogue should
record titles as………………….

8.5 Library Catalogue as a Reference Tool

The catalogue can be your most effective reference tool. No matter how many resources you
examine every day, you just can’t know all of them! The catalogue is an organized list of the
library’s collection and helps you find resources in different ways. It’s both a good beginning to
your strategy and a resource in itself. It is useful in several ways.

Use the catalogue to find books which will have sections on your topic, even though the
book is not catalogued under that topic.

Example: When a patron asks for information on German Shepherds, and the catalogue
shows nothing under that specific breed of dog, you would then look up “dogs” and check the
general books on the subject for chapters on German Shepherds.
Sometimes it takes very creative use of the catalogue to find a book which will help on
more obscure topics.

Example: Something on old egg beaters might be found in books on kitchen implements,
general antiques, metal tools, folk designs, or histories of technology, among others. It is good
practice to check first under the most specific heading you can think of. If you don’t find what
you need, broaden your search.

Use entries for other books on the same subject to help you find the correct subject headings
to use.

Example: If you don’t know the subject heading, you may do a keyword search. If the
term you used isn’t in a subject heading but appears in the title of a book, from that catalogue
record you can get the correct subject headings to use.

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