Descriptive Cataloging

Book/Article Reviews

Choose one book (or 3-4 articles or documents) from the list below to review.

Read the entire item(s). Write a review of approximately 5-6 pages in length. Reviews should evaluate books/documents as a contribution to the literature of library and information science, characterizing the content of the book and critically appraising it.

In addition, create a handout of the most important points in the work to be distributed to your fellow students (similar to a study guide for the work or the notes you would use, if you were asked to present the major points of the book). This may be 3-5 pages. It may be done as bullet points, but it must indicate what you want to say about those bullets.

An essential feature of a good review is the reviewer's ability to write concisely, so that a comprehensive evaluation of the document can be obtained from a brief reading. The point of a scholarly review is not just to summarize the content, but to evaluate critically the author's purpose, thesis, contentions, and methods. You will want to make references to specific portions of the text to illustrate your evaluation.

A review is not just an abstract. To characterize the content, a synthesis or a description of its highlights is preferable to a chapter-by-chapter or section-by-section summary. This is especially important, and also a difficult task, if you are reviewing a compilation. Careful attention to this part of the review usually will help you focus on evaluating the book. A review is an opinion piece, not a book report. State your opinions clearly--be fair and specific with both praise and criticism. Understand the author’s purpose in writing the book and evaluate the success in meeting stated objectives. Are the objectives worthwhile? How does the book compare to others of similar content and purpose? What is unique or especially valuable about the book? Is the book controversial? Where does this work fit into the history of descriptive cataloging? What came before it and after it?

Please include:

1. The title and author of the document(s) you are reviewing
2. The author’s objective(s) or intent
3. The author’s main arguments and/or point of view
4. Your evaluation of the author’s work
5. Your conclusions about the item(s)
6. A handout for your fellow students

Books:

Anderson, Dorothy. Universal Bibliographic Control: A Long Term Policy-a Plan for Action. Munich: Verlag Dokumentation, 1974. Z672 .A7

Bibliographic Organization: Papers Presented before the Fifteenth Annual Conference of the Graduate Library School, July 24-29, 1950. Edited by Jesse H. Shera and Margaret E. Egan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951. Z1001 .C538

Catalog Rules, Author and Title Entries. Compiled by Committees of the American Library Association and the [British] Library Assocaition. American ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 1908. Z695 .A52 1908

Cutter, Charles A. Rules for a Dictionary Catalog. 4th ed. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1904. Z695 .C98 1904

The Future of Cataloging: Insights from the Lubetzky Symposium, April 18, 1998, University of California, Los Angeles. Ed. by Tschera Harkness Connell and Robert L. Maxwell. Chicago: American Library Association, 2000. Z694 .A15F86 2000

Hagler, Ronald. The bibliographic record and information technology. Chicago : American Library Association, 1997. Z699 .H264 1997

International Conference on Cataloguing Principles (1961 : Paris, France). Report, ed. by A.H. Chaplin and Dorothy Anderson. London: IFLA International Office for UBC, 1981. Z672 .I53 1961

Lubetzky, Seymour. Cataloging Rules and Principles: A Critique of the A.L.A Rules for Entry and a Proposed Design for Their Revision. Washington: Processing Dept., Library of Congress, 1953. Z695 .L87

Norris, Dorothy May. A history of cataloguing and cataloguing methods, 1100-1850, with an introductory survey of ancient times. London, Grafton & Co., 1939; Detroit, Republished by Gale Research Company, 1969. Z695 .N84 1969

Smiraglia, Richard P. The Nature of "A Work": Implications for the Organization of Knowledge. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2001. Z666.5 .S47 2001

Svenonius, Elaine. The Intellectual Foundation of Information Organization. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 2000. Z666.5.S92 2000

Verona, Eva. Corporate Headings, Their Use in Library Catalogues and National Bibliographies: Comparative and Critical Study. London: IFLA Committee on Cataloguing, 1975. Z695.8 .V48

Wilson, Patrick. Two Kinds of Power: An Essay on Bibliographical Control. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968. Z1001 .W45

 

Compilations containing the articles below:

The Conceptual Foundations of Descriptive Cataloging, edited by Elaine Svenonius. San Diego: Academic Press, 1989. Z694 .A15C66 1989

Finding common ground : creating the library of the future without diminishing the library of the past. New York : Neal-Schuman Publishers, c1998. Z678.9.A1 F56 1998

Foundations of Cataloging: A Sourcebook. Edited by Michael Carpenter and Elaine Svenonius. Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1985. Z693 .F68 1985

International Conference on AACR 2 (1979 : Florida State University). The making of a code: the issues underlying AACR 2: papers given at the International Conference on AACR 2, held March 11-14, 1979 in Tallahassee, Florida. Chicago: American Library Association, 1980. Z694.A15 I567 1979

The Principles and Future of AACR: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 23-25, 1997. Jean Weihs, Editor. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association, 1998. Z694.15 .A5I55 1997

 

Articles:

Carpenter, Michael. "Main Entry." in The Conceptual Foundations of Descriptive Cataloging, edited by Elaine Svenonius (San Diego: Academic Press, 1989), p. 73-95.

Delsey, Tom. "Modeling the Logic of AACR." in The Principles and Future of AACR: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 23-25, 1997. Jean Weihs, Editor. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association, 1998, pp. 1-16.

Gorman, Michael, and Pat Oddy. "The Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, Second Edition: Their History and Principles." in The Principles and Future of AACR: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 23-25, 1997. Jean Weihs, Editor. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association, 1998, pp. 158-165.

Hagler, Ronald. "Access Points for Works." in The Principles and Future of AACR: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 23-25, 1997. Jean Weihs, Editor. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association, 1998, pp. 214-228.

Hirons, Jean and Crystal Graham. "Issues Related to Seriality." in The Principles and Future of AACR: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 23-25, 1997. Jean Weihs, Editor. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association, 1998, pp. 180-212.

Howarth, Lynne C. "Content versus Carrier."(in The Principles and Future of AACR: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 23-25, 1997. Jean Weihs, Editor. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association, 1998, pp. 148-156.

Huthwaite, Ann. "AACR2 and Its Place in the Digital World: Near-Term Solutions and Long-Term Direction." Paper written for the Bicentennial Conference on Bibliographic Control for the New Millennium, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., November 15-17, 2000. Available: http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/bibcontrol/huthwaite_paper.html

Lubetzky, Seymour. "The Fundamentals of Bibliographic Cataloging and AACR2." in International Conference on AACR2, 1979: Tallahassee, Fla. The Making of a Code. pp. 16-25.

O'Neill, Edward T., and Diane Visine-Goetz. "Bibliographic Relationships: Implications for the Function of the Catalog" in The Conceptual Foundations of Descriptive Cataloging, edited by Elaine Svenonius (San Diego: Academic Press, 1989), p. 167-179.

Osborn, Andrew D. "The Crisis in Cataloging" in Foundations of Cataloging: A Sourcebook, ed. by Michael Carpenter and Elaine Svenonius (Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1985), p. 90-103.

Panizzi, Anthony. "Mr. Panizzi to the Right Hon. the Earl of Ellesmere-British Museum, January 29, 1848" in Foundations of Cataloging: A Sourcebook, ed. by Michael Carpenter and Elaine Svenonius (Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1985), p.15-47.

Panizzi, Anthony. "Rules for the Compilation of the Catalogue, British Museum" in Foundations of Cataloging: A Sourcebook, ed. by Michael Carpenter and Elaine Svenonius (Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1985), p. 1-14.

Pettee, Julia. "The Development of Authorship Entry and the Formulation of Authorship Rules as Found in the Anglo-American Code." in Foundations of Cataloging: A Sourcebook, ed. by Michael Carpenter and Elaine Svenonius (Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1985), p. 72-89.

Ridley, Mick. "Beyond MARC." in The Principles and Future of AACR: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 23-25, 1997. Jean Weihs, Editor. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association, 1998, pp. 229-239.

Schmierer, Helen F. "The Impact of Technology on Cataloging Rules" in The Conceptual Foundations of Descriptive Cataloging, edited by Elaine Svenonius (San Diego: Academic Press, 1989), p. 101-116.

Smalley, Joseph. "The French Cataloging Code of 1791: A Translation." Library Quarterly 61, no. 1 (Jan. 1991): 1-14.

Smiraglia, Richard P. "Bibliographic Control Theory and Nonbook Materials," in Policy and Practice in Bibliographic Control of Nonbook Media, ed. by Sheila S. Intner and Richard P. Smiraglia (Chicago: American Library Association, 1987), p. 15-24.

Strout, Ruth French. "The Development of the Catalog and Cataloging Codes." Library Quarterly 26 (October 1956): 254-275.

Taylor, Arlene G. "Authority Control and System Design," in Policy and Practice in Bibliographic Control of Nonbook Media, ed. by Sheila S. Intner and Richard P. Smiraglia (Chicago: American Library Association, 1987), p. 64-81. Z688.N6 P65 1987

Taylor, Arlene G. "Research and Theoretical Considerations in Authority Control." Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 9, no. 3 (1989): 29-56.

Thomas, Sarah. "The Catalog as Portal to the Internet." Paper written for the Bicentennial Conference on Bibliographic Control for the New Millennium, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., November 15-17, 2000. Available: http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/bibcontrol/thomas_paper.html

Tillett, Barbara B. "Bibliographic Relationships: An Empirical Study of the LC Machine-Readable Records." Library Resources & Technical Services 36, no. 2 (1992): 162-188.

Tillett, Barbara B. "A Taxonomy of Bibliographic Relationships." Library Resources & Technical Services 35, no. 2 (1991): 150-158.

Verona, Eva. "Literary Unit versus Bibliographic Unit." in Foundations of Cataloging: A Sourcebook, ed. by Michael Carpenter and Elaine Svenonius (Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1985), p.152-175.

Wajenberg, Arnold S. "A Cataloger's View of Authorship" in The Conceptual Foundations of Descriptive Cataloging, edited by Elaine Svenonius (San Diego: Academic Press, 1989), p. 21-27.

Wilson, Patrick. "The Second Objective" in The Conceptual Foundations of Descriptive Cataloging, edited by Elaine Svenonius (San Diego: Academic Press, 1989), p. 5-16.

Wool, Gregory J. "Bibliographical Metadata; or, We Need A Client-Server Cataloging Code!" in Finding Common Ground (New York : Neal-Schuman Publishers, c1998).

Yee, Martha M. "Attempts to Deal with the 'Crisis in Cataloging' at the Library of Congress in the 1940s." Library Quarterly 57 (January 1987): 1-31.

Yee, Martha M. "System Design and Cataloging Meet the User: User Interfaces to Online Public Access Catalogs." Journal of the American Society for Information Science 41, no. 2 (1991): 78-98.

Yee, Martha M. "Two Genre and Form Lists for Moving Image and Broadcast Materials: A Comparison." Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 31, nos. 3/4 (2001): 237-295.

Yee, Martha, M. "What is a Work?" in The Principles and Future of AACR: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 23-25, 1997. Jean Weihs, Editor. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association, 1998, pp. 62-104.