The development of description in cataloguing prior to ISBD

Purpose - The purpose of this article is to compare Anglo-American cataloguing codes and practices for description over the past 150 years and assess the contribution that they made to International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD).Design methodology approach - The major international codes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aslib proceedings 2006-01, Vol.58 (1/2), p.34-48
Main Author: Bowman, J.H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AACR
AACR2
Bibliographic description
Bibliographies
British
Cataloguing
Codes
Design standards
Errors
Information management
Information professionals
Information sources
Librarians
Libraries
Library associations
Museums
Names
Repetition
Resource Description & Access-RDA
Textbooks
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Summary:Purpose - The purpose of this article is to compare Anglo-American cataloguing codes and practices for description over the past 150 years and assess the contribution that they made to International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD).Design methodology approach - The major international codes, and those of major British libraries, are examined point by point, using as a basis the main areas of description as outlined in AACR2. Cataloguing textbooks are also referred to when appropriate.Findings - The article finds that general order of elements has been remarkably constant throughout the period, most variation being seen in the physical description area. Primacy of the title page as a source of information is long established. Publisher's name was often of minor importance, and in public libraries physical description was greatly reduced. It is clear from wording that codes often adopted rules from one another, and evidently some libraries made a great attempt to adopt the latest thinking. Solutions to some problems evolved gradually over a long period. Even some apparently minor aspects of punctuation have a long pedigree. ISBD clearly drew on a long-established consensus as far as possible.Practical implications - In revising AACR2 it is important to be able to see how we have reached where we are now, and in particular to avoid repetition of past mistakes. In an increasingly international publishing environment it is vital to solve the problem of multiple places of publication.Originality value - This subject has never been tackled in this way before, and the findings are timely for the ongoing revision of AACR2.
ISSN:0001-253X
2050-3806
1758-3748
DOI:10.1108/00012530610648662