Richard Sapon-WhiteFebruary 18, 2013

What is description and access? Historical review: Panizzi, Cutter, Paris

Principles AACR2 The Case for a New Code FRBR and FRAD International Statement of Cataloging

Principles

Human need for information storage and retrieval

Must provide for information storage◦ Inventory: what is stored, where is it stored

Must provide for retrieval◦ Access points: how to find what has been stored

2 Viewpoints: The Collector & The User

91 Rules for Standardizing the Cataloging of Books (1841)◦ Basis of all future catalog rules, ISBD, Dublin Core◦ How to record authors’ names, anonymous works, etc.

“[A]n adequate catalog, concerned about the actual needs of a reader, must be designed to tell one not only whether the particular book he or she seeks is in the library but also what other editions of the work and what other works of the author the library has. That was the object of Panizzi’s rules.”—Seymour Lubetzky (1898 – 2003)

Why are Panizzi’s rules significant?The user’s needs come firstEstablished the concept of the “work”Standardization of cataloging

Also note that the rules were:developed by committeesubject to intense debate, scrutiny, and justificationapproved by government bodiesused at a major libraryreceived international attentionprovided a better catalog than any that had come before

(Denton, William. “FRBR and the History of Cataloging,” in Understanding FRBR: What It Is and How It Will Affect Our Retrieval. Ed. Arlene G. Taylor. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2007)

A founder of the American Library Association

Created Library Journal Created his Expansive

Classification system, forerunner of LCCS

Known for “Cutter numbers” to complete call numbers

Rules for a Dictionary Catalog, 4th ed., 1904

Objects1. To enable a person to find a book of which either

(A) the author(B) the title is known.(C) the subject

2. To show what a library has(D) by a given author(E) on a given subject(F) in a given kind of literature.

3. To assist in the choice of a book(G) as to its edition (bibliographically).(H) as to its character (literary or topical).

Provide access to works by an author◦ Which name to choose?◦ How to record the name?◦ What if there is more than one author?◦ What if the name is in another script?

What if the name is in multiple scripts? What if there are multiple names in multiple scripts

and they are in a different sequence in each script? Provide access to works by title…

Statement of Principles12 Principles in allPrinciple #2 is nearly identical to Cutter’sDenton identifies its strengths as:an axiomatic approach, focus on user needs, the concept of a “work,” andstandardization and internationalization