Page 71 - DLIS405_INFORMATION_STORAGE_AND_RETRIEVAL

Information Storage and Retrieval

Notes Most online catalogues offer a search facility for any word of the title; the goal of the grammatical
word order (provide an entry on the word that most users would look for) is reached even better.
Many online catalogues allow links between several variants of an author name. So, authors can be
found both under the original and the standardised name (if entered properly by the cataloguer).
The elimination of paper cards has made the information more accessible to many people with
disabilities, such as the visually impaired, wheelchair users, and those who suffer from mold allergies.

Current and Emerging Trends in Cataloguing

We live in a fast paced digital age. The growing popularity of the Web influences all aspects of our
life, has changed the way we live, work, study and even think. As a result the role of library and
information professionals is subject to radical changes. Catalogue is the core of every library, a basic
tool of retrieval in any document collection. A library without a catalogue cannot fulfill its functions
efficiently. The practice of collecting written knowledge in some sort of repository in a certain order is
old as civilization itself. It does not lose its importance nowadays when we strive to retrieve some
relevant information in the chaos of the net.
Attention to the profession of a cataloguer, which I love, and which is more often, taking into
consideration my colleagues, attract people demonstrating such qualities as dedication, creativity,
persistency, and enthusiasm. Cataloguers played a key role in organization of recorded knowledge
of the human civilization thus making records searchable and retrievable. I am telling these well
known facts in view of a modern trend to acquire a wrong attitude to a role of cataloguing profession.
One can come across with reports of the so-called “restructuring” and closure of cataloguing
departments. There is a tendency to reduce and eliminate the professionals who catalogue which
results in databases full of errors, low quality records, duplicating of records and inconsistencies,
and eventually to the “de-professionalisation” of cataloguing. It is important that collections are
being developed and maintained by professionals who understand the structure of the information.
Another trend arises, the tendency is that the present generation of cataloguers is retiring or is close
to join those “young at heart”, which means the loss of professional memory. We need specialists
with broad understanding of the principles of cataloguing and bibliographic control. The library
users depend of the dedicated and quality work of cataloguers which can save time and frustration
while searching for the desired information.
The growth of information technology and computerization add to the need for that quality. In this
situation we turn to the library schools, and to our greatest disappointment, find out that cataloguing
is not even a core subject in many of them. The concern over the cataloguing training is international.
I have come across over a very interesting online survey conducted by Cynthia Boeke (the assistant
curator for The American Society for Cell Biology’s Image & Video Library).

“What do you think is the most important issue facing catalogue profession right
now, and why it is so important?”

Many participants showed their concern that not enough students are attracted to the subject of
cataloguing, as well as the decreasing amount and quality of cataloguing training in library schools
nowadays.

Career in Cataloguing

“The lack of professional librarians who want to pursuer a career in cataloguing is the most important
issue right now. Why? Without cataloguers, access to the bibliographic resources owned by libraries
won’t happen.” Cynthia Whitecre, Manager, Metadata Quality Dept.,OCLC.

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