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Library Automation

Notes Integration of the Catalogue
Integration has been considered as an important feature of the recent online catalogue in the
sense that different parts of the library automated system are integrated through the use and
manipulation of the same record as the basis for different library operations. In such integration,
a single master bibliographic record is tagged and can be manipulated for different library
operations, such as acquisitions, cataloguing and circulation. A consequence of integration of
the online catalogue, as pointed out by Buckland (1992: 34), is that bibliographic information in
different parts of a library system, as well as other useful information, can be accessible to users
and to other libraries. Such a concept indicates the importance of uniformity and standardisation
of bibliographic records in the online environment.
Another interpretation of integration in the online environment is related to various methods
of access to bibliographic information (Hagler, 1989: 205). In such integration, different files and
databases can be accessible via the same terminal. This concept has opened up a new era in
bibliographic services and is considered as a significant factor in the enhancement of the catalogue.
There are increasing attempts to build information systems with integrated access to different
types of information services. The trend toward the integration of book trade bibliographic
databases and A&I services with the online public access catalogue is an approach which makes
the library catalogue a window to the whole bibliographic apparatus, a concept not feasible in
the manual catalogue.

Authority Control

Authority control ensures the consistent use of names, series and subjects. No bibliographic
record can be entered into the system until all assigned headings under which it can be searched
are verifiable against the approved authority file (Hagler, 1985: 15). In a manual system, it is a
time-consuming and costly operation and requires the services of skilled staff. There are many
advantages to authority control in an online catalogue: in terms of maintaining cataloguing
operations, it is particularly advantageous when major revisions to name and subject headings
have to be done. In terms of searching, the actual search that the user does is via an authority
control file. What the user inputs to the system is automatically switched through the index
(authority file) to the correct form. In the online environment, the authority records are usually
linked with bibliographic records.
There are a number of reasons for the resurgent interest in authority control in the online
environment. The various difficulties that users have had with searching names and, as Potter
(1986: 128) points out, the inconsistencies and errors in the records used to build the databases
for online catalogues have led to new attention being given to the concept of authority control.
For example, the ability to search personal names in either direct order or through initials has
led to the enhancement of the scope and structure of authority files. Another major difference in
the process of authority control between a manual system and an automated system is that
correction or change of any heading in the card catalogue is a time consuming operation,
whereas this task in some automated systems is to a great extent facilitated through a ‘global
change’ which automatically generates a correction or change in all relevant records.

Filing Rules and Problems

In any library catalogue, access points are usually filed according to alphanumeric order, which
is a conventional arrangement applicable to most information systems accessed by human
beings (Hagler, 1991: 263). However, filing is different in the manual catalogue and the automated
catalogue.
The arrangement of access points has always been of particular interest to librarians and there
have been a number of specific filing rules published to date. The ALA Filing Rules, The Library

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