Page 166 - DLIS002_KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING THEORY

Unit 8: Library Cataloguing

12. The ……………………register is used to find out every bit of information on an item, Notes
which is not available in any other record.

8.7 Bibliography and Publisher’s Catalogue

Bibliographies do not contain call numbers of books and names of libraries possessing those
books. In order to consult the book, a reader has to consult a library catalogue which tells the
reader, whether the required book is available in the library along with the call number of the
document. This call number directs the reader to the hook on library shelves.
A library catalogue, however, records, describes and indexes the bibliographical resources of a
particular library. Nonetheless, the printed catalogues of some of the biggest national libraries
of the world such as the Library of Congress, the British Library, the National Library, Calcutta,
serve as excellent bibliographical tools for literature search, reference and cataloguing work.
The volume, variety and the quantity of materials built up in these national libraries of eminence
and the scholarly and meticulous way the catalogue entries are prepared and presented, invest
these catalogues with unquestionable authority as reference tools.
So, while a library catalogue is a key to a library’s collection, a bibliography is merely a list of
documents, comprehensive or selective in its scope and coverage, etc. and hence does not serve
the functions of a library catalogue.
Very often, the terms ‘catalogue’ and ‘index’ are used synonymously. In other words, they are
taken to mean one and the same thing but they are not. A catalogue, more particularly, a library
catalogue is a record describing the documents acquired by a library, whereas an index provides
access to any of bibliographical entries of the catalogue through author, subject or title index.
In the context of a library catalogue, the generally accepted difference between a catalogue entry
and index entry is that the former includes some descriptive specification of a document, whereas
an index entry merely locates an author or a subject or title.

Did u know? An accession register is distinct from a library catalogue. Although it also
carries all bibliographical data of documents, yet it cannot serve the functions of a library
catalogue.
The shelf list is an inventory record of a library which records bibliographical data of items
arranged exactly the way the items are arranged on the shelves of a library in various rooms,
halls or floors. Each item is represented by a card giving call number, author’s name, title,
edition, volume number, copy number, accession number and such other details as deemed
necessary for a particular library. The call number represents the class number, the book number
and the location symbol. The reader can easily obtain the needed book from the shelf by this
number. However, this order of arrangement just reflects the order of arrangement of items on
the shelves. A shelf list, thus, primarily, serves as an inventory and controls the movement of
the collection. It is the most important tool for checking the stock of a library. A shelf list
resembles a library catalogue in many ways. It may also serve as a classified catalogue when
such a catalogue does not exist in a library. But its function is different from that of a library
catalogue. It does not provide approaches by author, title or subject.

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:
13. Bibliographies do not contain call numbers of books and names of libraries possessing
those books.

14. An accession register is not distinct from a library catalogue.

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