Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules

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Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR) were an international library cataloging standard. First published in 1967 and edited by C. Sumner Spalding,^[1] a second edition (AACR2) edited by Michael Gorman and Paul W. Winkler was issued in 1978, with subsequent revisions (AACR2R) appearing in 1988 and 1998; all updates ceased in 2005.

Published jointly by the American Library Association, the Canadian Library Association, and the UK Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, the rules were designed for the construction of library catalogs and similar bibliographic tools. The rules cover the physical description of library resources, as well as the provision of name and title access points. ^[2]

AACR2 was issued in several print versions, including a concise edition and an online version. Various translations were also available. Principles of AACR included cataloguing based on the item 'in hand' rather than inferring information from external sources and the concept of the 'chief source of information' which is preferred where conflicts exist.