Cataloguing is a way of describing materials to make them easy to identify and locate. A catalogue describing all the materials in a resource centre is like a key to the collection. It helps users to identify useful materials and know where to find them. Users can look at a catalogue to find out whether the resource centre has a particular publication, or materials by a particular author, or materials on a particular subject.
A catalogue contains the following information about each material:
- author
- title and sub-title
- edition
- series
- place of publication
- publisher
- date of publication
- number of pages and format
- illustrations
- subject (keywords)
- accession number
- classification number
A catalogue can take various forms, such as a card catalogue (card index) or computer database(see Section 6.8). The easiest system is a card catalogue. Card catalogues are a series of cards, about 12.5cm by 7.5cm (5in by 3in) kept in a box. Card is used because it is stronger than paper, and is easy to write or type on. Card catalogues are inexpensive, easy to set up, easy to understand, and easy to keep up-to-date.
5.4.1 Deciding what to catalogue
If the resource centre has only a small collection (fewer than 500 materials), materials need not be catalogued. It will be easy for users to find what they need by looking on the shelves, provided that materials are classified by subject, and materials on the same subjects are grouped together (see Section 5.1: Classifying materials). However, it may be useful to catalogue audiovisual materials, as they cannot be browsed like books. A short summary of the contents in a catalogue helps users to know whether an audiovisual material will be useful for a particular purpose.
It can also be useful to catalogue articles in periodicals, or individual chapters of books, that are of particular interest to users. Alternatively, photocopies could be taken of the contents page of the periodical issue, or of the title page and contents page of a book, in both cases marking the article or chapter of interest. The photocopies could be filed in a filing cabinet grouped by subject, or put in pamphlet boxes in the appropriate subject section on the shelves. It is also useful to keep an alphabetical list of periodical titles, to help users know what is available.
Even in a larger resource centre, not all materials need to be catalogued. Some materials are only of short-term interest, or quickly go out of date. These can be shelved or filed in a similar way to articles in periodicals. General reference materials may only need to be listed alphabetically, for example on a sheet of paper displayed near the materials.
5.4.2 How to catalogue materials
Catalogues of some larger libraries contain a lot of details. However, fewer details are enough for a resource centre that is more concerned with making materials available to users than spending a long time cataloguing and classifying.
Remember the tip:KIS - Keep It Simple.
For each material, details of the author, title, publication details, length, illustrations, notes, keywords, accession number and classification number need to be typed or written on three (or more) separate cards – an author card, title card and subject card(s). Each card will contain the same information, but with a different heading.
The author card has a heading showing the author. If there is more than one author, extra author cards are prepared for up to three authors.
Start by finding all the information you need about each material. Then decide how many cards you need. Type or write all the necessary information on each card, and then add the relevant author, title or subject heading at the top. To arrange the information on the card, see Section 5.4.3: Examples of catalogue cards.
For books and other print materials, find the information you need by looking at both sides of the title page. The title page is at the front of the book, but is not always the first page. It contains information about the book. The other side of the title page usually contains details of the publisher, and publication date.
For audiovisual materials, look at the video title frames, the video or audio cassette, the information printed on the cassette boxes, and any accompanying material.
1. Author information
a)Look for the author (or editor or compiler).
b)Write the family name first, then the first name, separated by a comma.
Example: NGECHU, Mary
c)If the material has two or three authors, list all the authors’ names. Separate the names with a space, semi-colon and another space.
Example: LANKASTER, Ted ; CAMPBELL, Ian D ; RADER, Alison
Make extra cards with headings for the second and third names.
d)If the material has more than three authors, use the first name only, followed by the words ‘et al’ (which mean ‘and others’ in Latin).
Example: AGYEPONG, Irene Akua et al.
e)If the material has an editor or compiler instead of an author, treat the editor or compiler as the author, but add ‘Ed.’ or ‘Comp.’ in brackets.
Example: DHINGRA, Seema (Ed.)
f)If the author is an organisation, write the name in full.
Example: World Health Organization
2. Title information
a)Look at the title page and back of the title page. The title here might not be exactly the same as the title on the front cover. Sometimes the title on the front cover is abbreviated, and the sub-title is not shown. Write out the title in full. If there is a sub-title, write this out, separated by a colon with a space before and after. The spaces help to emphasise that the following text is a sub-title. A colon without a space can be easily missed, or could be seen as part of the text.
Example:
The malaria manual : guidelines for rapid assessment of social, economic and cultural aspects of malaria
b)If the material is not a printed publication, note its format in square brackets after the title.
Examples: [Braille] [Audio cassette] [CD-ROM] [Video]
c)If the material is a second or third edition, write this in abbreviated form after the title, separated by a full stop, space, dash and another space. This punctuation helps the information to be easily identified.
Example: On being in charge. – 2nd Ed.
3. Series information
If the item is part of a series, write the series in brackets after the title.
Example:
The malaria manual : guidelines for rapid assessment of social, economic and cultural aspects of malaria (Methods of Social Research on Tropical Diseases No. 2)
4. Publication details
a)Publication details include the place of publication, publisher's name and date of publication. These are usually found at the bottom of the title page or on the back of the title page. Separate the place and publisher with a space, a colon and another space, and separate the publisher and date of publication with a comma.
Example:London : Macmillan, 1994
b) Place of publicationUsually only the town needs to be written, but write the country as well if it would not be obvious to your users. If several towns are listed, write the first one only. If no place has been given, write in square brackets: [place unknown].
c) PublisherThe publisher's name follows the place of publication. Write the publisher's name in the shortest form. If the publisher is the same as the author or editor, use an abbreviation. Separate the place of publication and the publisher with a space, a colon and another space.
Example: Geneva : WHO, 1996
If there is no publisher, write in square brackets: [publisher unknown].
d)Date of publication This follows the publisher's name. It is usually sufficient to give the year. For project papers and reports, include the month as well, if given.
If no date is given, but is known, write the date in square brackets.
Example:[1999]
Otherwise, try to estimate the date from information given in the publication, and use a question mark.
Example:[1998?]
5. Number of pages/format/length
a)Write down the number of pages followed by 'p.'
Example: 145 p.
If there are no page numbers, estimate the number, and put this in square brackets.
Example: [150 p.]
b)To catalogue Braille materials, write down the number of pages or leaves (if only one side of the page can be read), depending on the type of Braille used in the publication.
Example:34 leaves
c)To catalogue audiovisual materials, write down the format, and then the length in brackets. If the length is not shown, time the tape when playing. It is not necessary to watch or listen to the whole tape, only to note the time when it starts and ends.
Example: Audio cassette (35 min.)
If audiovisual materials are accompanied by an information sheet, a trainer's guide, or a booklet, this should be mentioned in the catalogue. Separate this from the format and length information with a space, plus sign and another space.
Example: Audio cassette (35 min.) + booklet (23 p.)
6. Illustrations
It is often helpful for users to know whether a material contains illustrations, before they start looking for the material on the shelves. If print materials contain any illustrations that are important for understanding the material, this should be mentioned in the catalogue. You can do this by adding the abbreviation ‘ill.’ after the number of pages or length, separated by a space, semi-colon and another space.
Example:23 p. : ill.
7. Notes
Put any notes needed to explain the content of the material.
Example: Tape and booklet to accompany the Healthy Woman Counselling Guide radio programme
8. Keywords
Write the keywords, separated by a forward slash. Use enough keywords to describe the content of the material.
Example: malaria / health education / radio
9. Accession number
Write the accession number at the bottom right-hand corner.
10. Classification number
Write the classification number at the top right-hand corner.
5.4.3 Examples of catalogue cards
Author catalogue
Authors can include both individuals and institutions, and for the purposes of cataloguing, they can also include editors, compilers, video producers, performers and others with some intellectual or artistic responsibility for the material.
Author catalogues list materials according to the family name or last name of the author, if the author is an individual.
Title catalogues
Title catalogues list materials according to the title of the material.
The title heading is in capital letters to identify it as a heading. Only include as much of the title as will fit on one line. Do not include sub-titles.
5.4.4 Filing catalogue cards
Catalogue cards need to be filed in a way that makes them easy to use. There are three different ways of filing catalogue cards. They can be filed as three separate catalogues in three separate boxes (Author, Title and Subject), or as two catalogues (Author/Title and Subject), or as a single ‘dictionary catalogue’ in which they are all filed together in alphabetical order, such as:
MacDonald, James (author)
McKenzie, R (author)
Malaria (subject)
Malaria Manual (title)
Measles (subject)
Ngechu, Mary (author)
Standard rules need to be followed when filing cards
- English: Ignore A, An and The at the beginning of a title.
- French: Ignore La, L', Le, Les, Un and Une at the beginning of a title.
- Portuguese: Ignore A, O, Um and Uma at the beginning of a title.
- For books by the same author, file cards alphabetically by title.
- For books with more than one edition, file cards for the most recent edition first.
- For books on the same subject, file cards alphabetically by author, and then by title as above.
