Fundamentals of Cataloging

"The catalog is the one medium through which the resources in your library are made available to all classes and ages of people, at all times and on all subjects and even to the librarian who is popularly used for a catalog." (Esther Crawford, librarian, 1900).

Although times have changed with automation and electronic resources, the spirit with which early libraries strove to provide access to materials still rings true in American public libraries. Today librarians like you are concerned with organizing and providing access to print and non-print resources in a wide array of formats and in shared environments. Central to this organization is the library catalog. This course is designed with the needs of librarians working in smaller public libraries in mind. It is an introduction to the principles of organization of information, with an emphasis on the practices librarians should expect to encounter.

Topics:

• A brief history of cataloging
• The role of technology in a shared catalog environment
• Reading and understanding catalog records
• Managing an automated catalog
• OCLC: WorldCat and Connexion
• MARC format
• Library of Congress and Dewey Decimal Classification schemes
• Subject cataloging, with an emphasis on Library of Congress subject headings
• Authority control
• The impact of electronic resources on library cataloging
• Anglo-American Catalog Rules (AACR) and Resource Description and Access (RDA)
• Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR)
• Emerging metadata schemes
• The changing nature of the public library catalog

Expectations:

There are weekly readings and exercises, and a final project. Some participation in class discussions, using the online course discussion board, is required.

Your instructor:

Debra Shapiro is an instructor at the UW-Madison School of Library and Information Studies. She teaches distance and on-site courses and workshops on cataloging, metadata, and Web site design and usability. If you have additional questions about the course, please e-mail her at dsshapiro@wisc.edu.

Login information for the course is e-mailed to students a few days before the course begins.

Certification:

This course satisfies a requirement for certification in Wisconsin and Indiana. Check with your state library agency to find out if it satisfies a requirement in your state.

To register:

• ONLINE registration - Fill out a form on the Web, pay by credit card, or have your institution billed
• Print out a registration form and return by fax or mail - instructions on form
• Call the Pyle Center Registration Office: (608) 262-2451