Cataloguing Practice

Programme Features

A practical course, for people with cataloguing experience, on using AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules 2nd ed., 2002) and the MARC21 (MAchine Readable Catalogue) Manual.

• Introduction
  • The essential principles and purposes of cataloguing
• The tools available
  • AACR2
  • MARC (MARC21 and its predecessors)
  • MARC21 manual
• The tools in use: the document surrogate
  • AACR2 descriptions
  • MARC21 coding
• The tools in use: fast and specific access to the document surrogate
  • AACR2 access points
  • MARC21 coding
• The catalogue as a whole
  • Physical formats
  • Guides
• The automated product
  • OPACs as the output user interface
  • Adding further data to increase user access through the OPAC
• Practical exercises including
  • Making simple and complex records for different types of material
  • Building an authority file
  • Developing Local Practice Notes
  • Accessing and using records in online OPACs via the Internet

If you have experience of cataloguing or database compilation but need guidance or practice using AACR2 and MARC (including MARC21), or want to refresh knowledge gained some time ago, this course will give you the skills needed, including some practice in using online public access catalogues (OPACs) and thinking about their design criteria. Participants are invited to bring typical material from their collections to form a group of items that can be considered in the practical sessions. This course is not aimed at complete beginners; they would benefit by taking Aslib's companion course "Basic Cataloguing and Indexing" prior to this course.

• make catalogue records for a wide variety of different information forms encountered in your workplace, at an appropriate level for your users
• provide suitable access points for these records
• add further access possibilities for an automated catalogue
• develop Local Practice Notes appropriate to your collection and users
• build an authority file
• organise your collection appropriately for users' needs
• make appropriate recommendations on choice of OPAC software

Companion Courses:
Constructing a Thesaurus
Classification Practice

Time: 09.45 - 17.00