CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Modern cataloguing codes are actually sets of rules formulated according to certain principles for the creation and organisation of catalogue records. It is claimed that current cataloguing codes have been based on traditional principles developed over the past two centuries according to the limited technology of the time and that they are not geared to take full advantage of the electronic environment. At the time that cataloguing principles (mainly the principles internationally agreed upon at the International Conference on Cataloguing Principles, 1961, Paris) were adopted there was no perception of either the sophisticated electronic catalogue or the evolving online environment.

1 REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE

Little research has been done on the relevance (i.e. validity and adequacy) of existing cataloguing principles to the online environment. However, the literature shows a great deal of interest in this issue. It is often stated that the online catalogue provides new features and capabilities, such as enhanced content, sophisticated structure and more powerful search/retrieval/display facilities, that demand a new look at current cataloguing paradigms. While a number of writers claim that the current cataloguing principles are still valid, others support the idea that a new set of rules is needed. In this respect, the literature of descriptive cataloguing is controversial and, as will be discussed in chapters 2, 5 and 6, this controversy is evident in relation to some of the basic cataloguing principles.

One of the first to address the potential impact of electronic information systems upon the problems of cataloguing and the need for compatible cataloguing rules was C.D. Gull. In his working paper presented at the International Conference on Cataloguing Principles (ICCP) held in Paris in October 1961, Gull discussed the possible effects of an electronic environment on cataloguing rules and suggested that the issue should be taken into consideration in the design of relevant cataloguing rules (Gull, 1963). However, his ideas do not appear to have influenced the outcomes of that conference.

It should be mentioned that, in their discussions of the inconsistencies and implications of cataloguing principles and rules in relation to the online environment, most writers refer to the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, which conform to the Paris Principles. As a standard and widely used set of rules, AACR2 has been much discussed by many cataloguing experts. It has been criticised on the grounds that it is based on manual systems and that a number of its rules are irrelevant in a developed online catalogue. Gorman (1978) points out that AACR2 could not fully take into consideration the effects of library automation because these had yet to be completely assessed and understood. Shinebourne (1979) is one of the first persons to criticise AACR2 severely for disregarding the possible influence of automation on cataloguing rules. Ayres (1980) discusses the incompatibility of the code to automated systems from the users' point of view and suggests the need for further research on the ways that users find, or fail to find, bibliographic information from the online catalogue. Fasana (1980: 100) states that: "We are implementing a cataloging code that is inadequate to the needs of computerization."

Hagler points out that a key to understanding the implications of AACR2 in the online environment is that "... the second edition of AACR would have to be formulated in the context of the automated catalogue, but when it was being written between 1974 and 1977, what constituted an 'automated catalogue' was still far from clear" (Hagler, 1985: 12). He later (1989) discusses the need for rules relevant to bibliographic displays and formats in the online catalogue.

Maxwell (1989) criticises the code for being based on manual systems and for not contributing to the online catalogue. She believes that the code does not fulfil the requirements of bibliographic records in the online environment (Maxwell, 1989: 189). Rowley (1989: 8) states that the code is based on the concepts of card, microfiche and printed catalogues and points out that any revisions of the code should be in terms of the OPAC-oriented environment. Boll (1990: 6) agrees with Rowley and Maxwell and states that "Computers have now introduced a totally new environment, totally new potentials that, for the first time since 1908, really demand a new code."

Ayres (1990) states that the full use of the potential of automation requires a new look at cataloguing codes. He concludes that the rules which were essential in the card catalogue are no longer effective in an online environment. In an historical approach to the development of the Anglo-American cataloguing codes, Brunt (1992) challenges the compatibility of AACR2R to the new environment and suggests ways to change the current design of the code. Bourne (1993) believes that AACR2R cannot satisfy the information needs of online catalogue users. According to Jeffreys (1993: 57), "The advent of the computerised catalogue, more particularly the online public access catalogue (OPAC), has radically changed both the physical appearance and the internal structure of library catalogues." He concludes that the online catalogue has yet to make any significant impact on the code and that cataloguing rules still have to catch up with users' needs and modern technology. Taking an object-oriented approach to cataloguing, Heaney (1995) questions the validity of AACR2R in the new environment and states that cataloguing rules have not evolved in parallel with developments in technology. Taking the abstract 'work' as the basis for description and access, he proposes a fundamental shift away from the AACR2R philosophy of description of, plus access to, physical items (Ibid: 152).

The theme of papers presented at "AACR2000: Toward the Future of the Descriptive Cataloging Rules", the 1995 preconference sponsored by ALCTS (Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, a division of the American Library Association), dealt with some fundamental issues concerning the adaptation of cataloguing rules to online catalogues (ALA. ALCTS, 1995). For example, from a serials cataloguing perspective, Crystal Graham (1995) criticises AACR2 for being written for use in a card environment and for not addressing the problems posed by the online catalog's handling and display of serial entries. She also criticises the code for lack of attention to bibliographic relationships at a time when online technology offers new ways to express such relationships, which are very important to the catalogue user.

Little has been written on the relevance of cataloguing codes other than AACR to the online environment. A non Anglo-American cataloguing code which has recently become a subject for revision in relation to the impact of the online catalogue is the German cataloguing code, RAK (Regeln für die alphabetische Katalogisierung). Several recent articles show that the code is being revised to make it relevant to the online environment (Münnich and Zillmann, 1994; Münnich, 1995). Some of the possible changes to RAK which challenge the Anglo-American tradition will be discussed in Chapter 2, section 2.9.1. Reference is also made to the Nippon Cataloging Rules (NCR), which have been in use in Japanese libraries since 1943. Although the 1977 edition of NCR adopted the concept of the no-main-entry principle, the code is not designed for an online environment. This concept in NCR has attracted the attention of a number of writers who believe that it can be adopted by other cataloguing codes as a step towards better compatibility to an online environment (Takawashi, Shihoto, and Oshiro, 1989; Shoham and Lazinger, 1991).

In conclusion, it should be mentioned that, despite the relative abundance of the literature on the inconsistencies and implications of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules in the online environment, together with a considerable emphasis on the need for a relevant set of cataloguing rules, the literature has been for the most part descriptive rather than research-based in nature. This may be why Svenonius, and the other contributors to the Conference on the Conceptual Foundations of Descriptive Cataloging, University of California, Los Angeles, 1987 (Svenonius, 1989), repeatedly call for further conceptual as well as empirical research on different aspects of bibliographic control, including descriptive cataloguing. Svenonius (1990: 43) later states that "Conceptual research is needed, particularly to address comprehensive questions such as the design of an optimal set of rules for organizing information in the online environment."

3 THE NEED FOR AND THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The need for research on the relevance of cataloguing codes to the online environment has often been expressed in the literature. Many writers decry the lack of both conceptual and empirical research (Hill, 1988; Lambrecht, 1991; Svenonius, 1981, 1990). In its list of research topics requiring study the Policy and Research Committee of the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services of the American Library Association (ALA. ALCTS, 1992) identifies the concept of the relevance of cataloguing codes to the online environment as a major topic for research.

The aim of this thesis is to provide a re-assessment of current cataloguing principles in the light of the features and capabilities of the online environment. This research will explore the possible impacts of computerised catalogues and the online environment on major concepts and principles underlying the design of cataloguing codes; and it will attempt to see to what extent there are relationships between conceptual and technological considerations in descriptive cataloguing and how they might influence each other.

In conducting this research the researcher has attempted to achieve the following purposes:

1. To address the basic differences between the online catalogue and the manual catalogue and to highlight those features and capabilities of the online catalogue which might influence principles for the creation of bibliographic records and the construction of catalogues.

2. To investigate and analyse the impact of the online environment on cataloguing concepts and principles and to study factors affecting the design of cataloguing codes for the creation, manipulation and organisation of bibliographic records in an online environment.

3. To study the impact of other bibliographic components of the online environment, such as the book trade, bibliographic databases and abstracting and indexing (A&I) services, on cataloguing principles and to see if such communities can use a single set of principles.

The study aims to examine the possibilities of, and to justify the need for, alternative principles and rules in certain typical or important cases, and to examine the implications of these proposed changes and omissions in these principles.

4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is hoped that the findings will help identify the areas in which current cataloguing principles could undergo a thorough re-examination at an international level, particularly when the nature, structure and content of library catalogues are in a state of evolution, shifting from individual library catalogues to global, networked catalogues. In addition, a better understanding of the present implications and inconsistencies of current cataloguing rules, which make for critical access problems in the online catalogue, will be achieved. It is hoped that the results of the study will help with the future revisions/changes of a number of concepts, principles and rules and also assist with further development of cataloguing principles for the online environment.

5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In conducting this research the following questions are addressed:

1. How, and in what aspects, do online catalogues differ from manual catalogues? Are the differences so important that they may influence the way in which bibliographic records are created, manipulated, searched and displayed? How might the capabilities and/or limitations of online catalogues influence the effectiveness/functionality of catalogue records?

2. What critical access/retrieval problems are caused by current cataloguing principles and rules in an online environment? What access/retrieval problems in cataloguing principles and rules make them less effective in locating bibliographic information in that environment?

3. How might the capabilities and/or limitations of online catalogues influence the effectiveness of catalogue entries? In terms of searching, retrieval and display of bibliographic data (input, storage and output), do the features and capabilities of the online catalogue have any impact on traditional cataloguing principles and rules? For example, what might be the impact of the search/retrieval capabilities of the online catalogue on principles for the choice and form of access points?

4. How might conventions in current cataloguing codes clash with other bibliographical conventions to which the same end-users are now exposed? What are the possible effects of other components of the online environment such as the book trade, bibliographic databases and A&I services on cataloguing principles?

6 METHODOLOGY

This research consists of an historical study and an analytical study. From an historical perspective, the concepts and principles underlying the development of cataloguing codes over the last one hundred and fifty years will be explored. The main focus of this exploration will be on the demonstration of major concepts affecting the design and development of cataloguing codes. This involves a study of Anglo-American cataloguing codes, the Paris Principles adopted at the International Conference on Cataloguing Principles (ICCP) and, to some extent, two non Anglo-American codes, i.e., the German cataloguing rules (Regeln für die alphabetische Katalogisierung (RAK)) and the Japanese cataloguing rules (Nippon Cataloguing Rules (NCR)), to identify basic concepts underlying the design of cataloguing codes. Consideration will be given both to the historical rationale and the future importance of cataloguing principles in the creation and organisation of catalogue records. From another point of view, the historical study will deal with the possible influence of both physical form and the arrangement of the catalogue on the design of cataloguing codes. This will be followed by a comparison of the features and capabilities of online catalogues with those of manual catalogues to provide background for the analytical part of the study.

The analytical study will focus on the concepts and ideas underlying the principles for the construction of bibliographic records and catalogues in relation to the capabilities and requirements of an online environment. In this context, concepts and ideas will be reduced to individual elements, to study and evaluate the interrelationships between them and the factors which are involved in these processes. Major focus will be the basic concepts of cataloguing principles; the logic of their application and the relationship of these principles to the logic of the online catalogue; as well as an examination of the types of principles and rules that are likely to change when moving from a manual catalogue to an online catalogue.

A major source of information for this investigation is the published and unpublished literature. Attempts have been made to cover comprehensively the primary and secondary writings on the subject as well as results of contacts established with experts in the field. The arguments in the analytical part of the study will be accompanied by related discussions in the literature, concerning different aspects of the issue of cataloguing principles and rules in relation to both manual and online environments. Similarly, the findings of major catalogue use studies will be taken into account. In terms of gathering sufficient material for discussion, the researcher has attempted to include and cite the ideas of many people, in particular those who are vitally involved in the implementation of cataloguing rules in an online environment. As a subscriber to the AUTOCAT list, the researcher has had the advantage of having access to communications from cataloguers who work in an online environment and whose postings reflect the problems of implementing cataloguing rules in this environment. A number of citations from the AUTOCAT, USMARC and PACS-L lists have been included in this thesis where they are necessary and relevant. A number of documents studied for this research were identified and acquired through different services and resources on the Internet, such as E-mail archives, ftp (file transfer protocol) sites and cataloguing Web pages.

In addition to a number of small search and retrieval experiments with local and remote online catalogues, an experiment was carried out, using hypertext, to construct a prototype catalogue of "super records" and to demonstrate the possible influence of new technologies on cataloguing principles.

It should be pointed out that, due to the nature of this research, several issues have been repeated in more than one chapter but always from different perspectives. Because discussions in different chapters are based on a number of basic cataloguing concepts, some repetition or rephrasing of those concepts is unavoidable in sketching the context of topics raised in other chapters. The interconnection between chapters 5 and 6 is particularly close as much of the discussions deal both with cataloguing principles and with bibliographic records created according to those principles.

7 LIMITATIONS PLACED ON COVERAGE

The concept of the relevance of cataloguing codes to the online environment involves many different aspects. This study deals mainly with the possible influence of current technological developments, such as various search/retrieval/display capabilities of online catalogues, on cataloguing principles and rules. It also takes into consideration the potential influence of the networked environment on cataloguing concepts.

Almost all major and widely-used cataloguing codes are today based on the same set of principles, i.e., the Paris Principles. Taking one of the most internationally used codes, i.e., the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, is an appropriate approach by which to explore the relevance of cataloguing principles and rules to the online environment. The literature about other cataloguing codes which might be useful to this study was in languages other than English and there was little or nothing about them in English; thus, only the German and the Japanese codes have been dealt with.

The main thrust of this research is on the examination of cataloguing principles and rules for the handling of print materials. The issue of new forms of materials, such as electronic files and the cataloguing of Internet resources, is outside the scope of this study and would require another piece of research. It is simplistic to believe that print and other forms of linear communication will be utterly abolished by electronic technology. Books will not disappear with the advent of electronic texts, at least in the foreseeable future. Books and printed matter are still the most widely used carriers of knowledge and information. Despite early prediction, it seems likely that electronic documents will not become either the predominant form of communication or a major part of library materials in the foreseeable future (Gorman, 1994: 41; Crawford and Gorman, 1995). Gorman (1994: 41) states that: "Experience is showing us already that electronic publications are supplementing, not replacing, print publications in most instances." We are still in a transitional period from the Automated Library (paper and other tangible documents controlled by electronic records) to the Electronic Library (electronic documents controlled by electronic means) as put forward by Buckland (1992), who suggests that this transitional period will last for a long time.

This research does not deal with standards as technical specifications for communication within an automated information processing environment or between online systems. Issues such as ISBD, MARC, the Z39.50 standard and A&I services will be discussed only to the extent that they are relevant to this research.

Also specifically excluded are the economic and political/institutional factors behind the design and introduction of cataloguing codes, as this research will mainly be a conceptual study of cataloguing principles.

8 THE ORGANISATION OF CHAPTERS

Through an historical approach to the development of catalogues and cataloguing codes, Chapter 2 serves as background for the discussions in the other chapters and will review some of the major concepts and principles in modern descriptive cataloguing codes of the last two centuries. Chapter 3 addresses some of the major characteristics and capabilities of online catalogues which might influence cataloguing principles and rules. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 will investigate a basic question: whether the conceptual foundations of cataloguing codes might be influenced by the capabilities of online catalogues. In this context, Chapter 4 deals with a conceptual analysis of the bibliographic universe, i.e., bibliographic entities, their attributes and relationships that should be described in bibliographic records. Chapter 5 follows this thread and analyses the bibliographic record in terms of the data elements which are used to describe and provide access to bibliographic entities and construct catalogues. A conceptual analysis of cataloguing principles in the light of the features and capabilities of online catalogues forms the content of Chapter 6, in an attempt to see how far the current cataloguing principles will remain valid in the new environment. Chapter 7 will identify some of the current and future issues underlying the development of cataloguing principles for the online environment. It will also propose solutions to some of the searching, retrieval and display problems that result from the treatment and/or inadequacy of current cataloguing principles in the online environment. Chapter 8 will provide an overall conclusion and will propose relevant approaches concerning the further development of cataloguing principles for the online environment.


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