Cataloging Not-So-Bookish Collections

Cataloging of the weird: further examples for the 3-D perplexed

Freeborn, Robert B

I came across this interesting (though maybe a little dated) article about cataloguing items in collections that are more items and less books. It made me wonder about the future of collections and how we might orient our libraries to be more open to things and not just books and links. 

In my library we have a collection of paintings that are available for 6 month borrows, and many patrons use them as art in their homes. It's a quirky niche but t works for us. On the library side, these are catalogued by their name and artist only, so when a patron wants the painting of the waterfall we have to sift through the line items one by one or get the ladder and pull it down to look at the back. This article suggests better ways to handle our not-so-book collections. 

Abstract:
Thanks to the Internet, audiovisual (AV) cataloging has finally come of age. The dramatic explosion of Internet-based resources over the past few years, coupled with the limitations associated with the current generation of search engines, has brought about the realization by information professionals that Web-based materials are in dire need of better organization and description. Asserts that current practices in AV cataloging represent a kind of 'intermediate step' toward organizing access to these electronic resources, i.e., 'cataloging the Internet.' Expresses some concerns about the new importance placed on AV cataloging, noting that one must wonder what will become of those retrospective collections of older formats still waiting for the cataloger's attention, particularly of those items covered by Chapter 10 of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd edition: three-dimensional artifacts and realia. Like their two-dimensional cousins, three-dimensional (3-D) materials such as games, kits, realia, etc. provide valuable information to library users, but many catalogers have difficulty with them. Gives a series of examples intended to help allay librarians' concerns over cataloging 3-D AV materials. Stresses the number of personal decisions and possible mistakes that one might make in the process of cataloging such items, but points out that it is more important to catalog the items and make them available to users than it is to worry about a cataloging error.


APA:
Freeborn, R. B. (1999). Cataloging of the weird: further examples for the 3-D perplexed. MC Journal: The Journal Of Academic Media Librarianship, 6(2),

LINK:
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=9dae87a0-192f-461c-a2d5-a52c4fed2fea%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4206&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=ISTA3601394&db=lih