Page 14 - DLIS408_INFORMATION_TECHNOLOGY-APPLICATIONSL SCIENCES

Unit 1: Library Automation

The card catalogue at Yale University’s Sterling Memorial Library is hardly used, but adds to the Notes
austere atmosphere.
Figure 1.2: Another view of the SML card 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
consists of information entity (e.g., books, computer files, graphics, realia, cartographic materials,
etc.) which is considered as 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.

Notes The card catalogue was a familiar sight to library users for generations, but it has
been effectively replaced by the online public access catalogue (OPAC). Some still
refer to the online catalogue as a “card catalogue”.

Some libraries with OPAC access still have card catalogues on site, but these are now strictly a
secondary resource and are seldom updated. Many of the libraries that have retained their physical
card catalogue post a sign advising the last year that the card catalogue was updated. Some
libraries have eliminated their card catalogue in favour of the OPAC for the purpose of saving
space for other use, such as additional shelving.
Charles Ammi Cutter made the first explicit statement regarding the objectives of a bibliographic
system in his Rules for a Printed Dictionary Catalogue in 1876. According to Cutter, those objectives
are:
1. To enable a person to find a book of which either (Identifying objective)
the author
the title
the subject
the category
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)

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 9