Cataloging (library science)

For other uses, see Catalog (disambiguation).
For cataloging in archival science, see Archival processing.

A handwritten subject card from the National Library of Medicine's old card catalog recalls the pre-computer days when information had to be created, classified, and sorted by hand. HMD Prints & Photos, PP059772.7.
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In library and information science, cataloging (US) or cataloguing (UK) is the process of creating metadata representing information resources, such as books, sound recordings, moving images, etc. Cataloging provides information such as author's names, titles, and subject terms that describe resources, typically through the creation of bibliographic records.[1] The records serve as surrogates for the stored information resources. Since the 1970s these metadata are in machine-readable form and are indexed by information retrieval tools, such as bibliographic databases or search engines. While typically the cataloging process results in the production of library catalogs, it also produces other types of discovery tools for documents and collections.

Bibliographic control provides the philosophical basis of cataloging, defining the rules that sufficiently describe information resources, and enable users to find and select the most appropriate resource. A cataloger is an individual responsible for the processes of description, subject analysis, classification, and authority control of library materials. Catalogers serve as the "foundation of all library service, as they are the ones who organize information in such a way as to make it easily accessible".[2]

  1. ^ Read, Jane M. (2003). Cataloguing without tears: managing knowledge in the information society. Chandos information professional series (1. publ ed.). Oxford: Chandos. ISBN 978-1-84334-043-0.
  2. ^ Bair, Sheila (13 September 2005). "Toward a Code of Ethics for Cataloging". Technical Services Quarterly. 23 (1): 13–26. doi:10.1300/J124v23n01_02. S2CID 62641197.