Cataloging - Cataloging Rules

Cataloging Rules

Cataloging rules have been defined to allow for consistent cataloging of various library materials across several persons of a cataloging team and across time. Users can use them to clarify how to find an entry and how to interpret the data in an entry. Cataloging rules prescribe which information about a bibliographic item is included in the entry and how this information is presented for the user; It may also aid to sort the entries in printing (parts of) the catalog.

The larger a collection, the more elaborate cataloging rules are needed. Users cannot and do not want to examine hundreds of catalog entries or even dozens of library items to find the one item they need.

Currently, most cataloging rules are similar to, or even based on, the International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD), a set of rules produced by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) to describe a wide range of library materials. These rules organize the bibliographic description of an item in the following areas: title and statement of responsibility (author or editor), edition, material specific details (for example, the scale of a map), publication and distribution, physical description (for example, number of pages), series, notes, and standard number (ISBN). The most commonly used set of cataloging rules in the English-speaking world are the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd edition (AACR2). AACR2 provides rules for descriptive cataloging only and does not touch upon subject cataloging. AACR2 has been translated into many languages, for use around the world. In the German-speaking world there is also the Regeln für die alphabetische Katalogisierung (RAK).

Library items that are written in a foreign script are, in some cases, transliterated to the script of the catalog.