© Haworth Press, Inc.
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Cataloging & Classification Quarterly |
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Volume 33, no. 2, 2001 |
EDITORIAL
Catalogs
in a Small World
We
hear increasingly about the internationalization of librarianship in general and
cataloging in particular. This
issue of Cataloging & Classification Quarterly features an interview with
Monika Münnich, an active member of IFLA who has worked diligently to achieve
the harmonization of AACR2 and the German cataloging rules RAK (Regeln für die
alphabetische Katalogisierung.) The
interview covers the current cataloging situation in Germany as well as
international initiatives in the area of bibliographic control.
Catalogs,
whether online, card, book, or other format, are made to be used.
The articles in this issue encompass descriptive cataloging, subject
cataloging or, more broadly, subject access, and catalog use patterns with a
focus on videos. The first article
discusses the application of XML to bibliographic description.
The following two articles explore different aspects of subject access.
First, two authors describe a research study comparing subject cataloging
of monographs with keywords. The
next article reports a study of subject access vocabularies in a multi-type
library consortium. The final
article in the current issue examines faculty and graduation student search
patterns and their perceptions of videos in the online catalog.
Catalog News completes the column.
As
editor of CCQ I have commented several times on the globalization of catalogs
and the information they contain. The
events of September 11, 2001 only reinforced the international nature of
knowledge and its carriers. Now
there are initiatives in the area of international cataloging rules.
Certainly the move in Germany toward AACR2 is a significant step in that
direction.
CCQ's
authors span the globe. All
continents (except Antarctica) have contributed authors to the journal.
In one sense the Internet by bringing worldwide access to most online
catalogs has accelerated the trend toward common rules for description.
Although much remains to be done, it seems likely that the first decade
of the twenty-first century will see at least a first draft of rules that can be
termed international by intent. The
catalogs of today and in the future are indeed catalogs in a small world.
Subject
access is another major issue in considering the internationalization of
cataloging. Keywords and thesauri based subject headings both have
significant weaknesses as well as strengths in an international environment.
Many catalogs in different parts of the world deal with this issue.
Research is underway on what is effective. Systems design, cataloging, classification, and user
education are all factors in multilingual catalogs.
Online catalogs even though local to a particular community may serve
users around the world via the Internet. Is
an eventual solution one where a base record exists in terms of description but
that is then added to for subject access in multiple languages?
How are some online catalogs dealing with the issue of multilingual users
and/or multilingual cataloging records? There
have been articles published in CCQ and other journals on this topic but more
would be useful. Case studies of
the effectiveness of particular online catalogs and the relevant cataloging
policies would be of interest to many readers.
Consider writing on this or other topics for Cataloging &
Classification Quarterly or another appropriate journal.
Don't worry if you haven't written before.
In the words of Ed Koch, "I'm not an author, but before I became a
mayor, I wasn't a mayor either." [1]
Everyone has to write his or her first article sometime.
Sharing expertise and experience through publication is one of the most
professional things we can do.
--
Ruth C. Carter
[1]. Edward Koch [former mayor of New York City] quoted in Publisher's Weekly, January 25, 1985, in Gorton Carruth and Eugene H. Ehrlich, The Harper Book of American Quotations. New York: Harper & Row, 1988, p. 626.