Page 258 - DLIS002_KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING THEORY

Unit 14: Canons and Principles for Library Catalogue

Explain the Forms of Catalogue Notes
Describe the Canons
Discuss the Principles

Explain the International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD)
Introduction

A catalogue is a list of things exhibited, articles for sale, school courses offered, etc., usually with
descriptive comments and often illustration. S.R. Ranganathan, the father of Library science has
developed the canons for classification which are helpful for both the classificationists and
classifiers. The provision of ISBD developed and published by the International Federation of
Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and covering most media and bibliographic
conditions have been incorporated in Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules of 1988.

14.1 Purpose of a Library Catalogue

A library catalogue (or library catalogue) is a register of all bibliographic items found in a
library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations. A bibliographic
item can be any information entity (e.g., books, computer files, graphics, realia, cartographic
materials, etc.) that is considered library material (e.g., a single novel in an anthology), or a
group of library materials (e.g., a trilogy), or linked from the catalogue (e.g., a webpage) as far
as it is relevant to the catalogue and to the users (patrons) of the library.
The purpose of Library Catalogue is as follows:
1. To enable a person to find a book of which either (Identifying objective)

The author
The title

The subject
The category is known.
2. To show what the library has (Collocating objective)
By a given author
On a given subject

In a given kind of literature
3. To assist in the choice of a book (Evaluating objective)
As to its edition (bibliographically)

As to its character (literary or topical)
These objectives can still be recognized in more modern definitions formulated throughout the
20th century. 1960/61 Cutter’s objectives were revised by Lubetzky and the Conference on
Cataloguing Principles (CCP) in Paris. The latest attempt to describe a library catalogue’s goals
and functions was made in 1998 with Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR)
which defines four user tasks: find, identify, select, and obtain.
A catalogue also serves as an inventory or bookkeeping of what’s in the library. If an item
(a book) is not found in the catalogue, the user doesn’t have to search the shelves but can
continue her search at another library. Library thieves, who may be staff or regular visitors of

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