Page 192 - DLIS002_KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING THEORY

Unit 9: Physical Forms and Types of Library Catalogues

The types of physical form of a library catalogue are: book catalogues, card catalogues, Notes
microform catalogue and online catalogue.

The card catalogue is the library most often found in the worldwide.
A sheaf form of catalogue is one in which slips of paper are put into a loose-leaf binder and
bound by some mechanical device into a volume.
Library catalogue in the card form became the most popular physical form as it overcomes
the inconvenience in handling the small leaves and subsides many of the disadvantages in
other physical forms.

Centralized cataloguing initiated the publishing of bibliographic entries of documents on
the reverse side of the title page, which is referred to as Cataloguing-in-Publication (CIP).
Visible index catalogue consists of strips mounted on a frame or cards held flat, hinged
with a certain depth of visible edge.
With the increasing use of computers and network communications, many standards have
been developed to suit the changing cataloguing practices, which have been universally
acknowledged and adopted.

The catalogue comprised of the title-a-line category, where books were named in the
assenting order.
Closely related to the physical forms is the inner foul’ a library catalogue, which determines
the qualitative functions of the catalogue.
Basically all these different types of physical forms of library catalogues were developed
to suit the functions of specific library and the convenience of the user.
These include conventional forms like bound register, printed books, sheaf or loose-leaf
form, and card form.
Modern form like visible index, microform, and machine-readable forms along with their
advantages and disadvantages are discussed in detail.
The usage of computer and telecommunication technology has changed the entire
cataloguing process as well as the physical production of catalogues.

The efficiency and speed in dissemination of information from modern machine-readable
catalogue is much more than the traditional form of catalogues.

The different features of the various physical forms of library catalogue are given separately
for doing the comparative study.

9.8 Keywords

Author Catalogue: In an author catalogue, the entries of documents are under authors' name
and are arranged alphabetically.
Bound Register/Ledger Form: In this form, the entries of documents in a library are written by
hand in a bound register or ledger; pages are set apart for different alphabets. Entry arrangement
is alphabetical in nature.
Card Form: Library catalogue in the card form became the most popular physical form as it
overcomes the inconvenience in handling the small leaves and subsides many of the
disadvantages in other physical forms.

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