LIBRARY

SKILLS
IMC 406
CHAPTER 3 : THE CATALOG
Organization and arrangement of library
materials
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
: CHAPTER 3

Upon completion of this chapter, students should be able to:

1. Understand basic concepts of search strategy
2. Explain the steps in planning search strategy
ORGANIZATION AND ARRANGEMENT
OF LIBRARY MATERIALS
LIBRARY CATALOG

A systematic listing of the books and materials in a

library with descriptive information about each one :
author, title, edition, publisher, date, physical
appearance, subject matter, special features, and
location.
- an index to the library materials
- the reader’s chief means of discovering and
locating material in the library.
- function : to make the total resources of the
library fully and easily accessible to
the users
FORMS OF LIBRARY CATALOG

The library catalog may be :

- a book catalog
- a computer output microform (COM) catalog
- a card catalog
- an online catalog accessed by computer or
- a CD-ROM (compact disk read-only memory)

Book Catalog
- catalog in form of printed books discarded because, as libraries
grew in size, the printed catalog was soon out of date since cards
for new materials could not be interfiled alphabetically
- the entries are simply photographic reproductions of printed or
typed catalog cards displayed in page format
- advantage: easy to use, large number of entries can be seen
at a glance, duplicate copies can easily be made, etc.
- disadvantage: difficulties in keeping it up to date, and need to
consult more than one volume
COM Catalog
- produced directly from machine-readable records
- microform – microfilm or microfiche

CARD Catalog
- made up of 3- by 5-inch cards
- filed alphabetically in trays or drawers
- may be a single alphabetical arrangement, or it may be
divided into author, subject and title catalog
author catalog
-includes only the author or main entry cards
title catalog
- made up of title entries only
subject catalog
- made up exclusively of subject entries
dictionary catalog
- has all entries- author, title, subject, and their
entries– filed in one alphabet
Subject card ENDANGERED SPECIES
Ackerman, Diane A823.3
M849
The rarest of the rare : vanishing animals timeless

The rarest of the rare

Ackerman, Diane
Title card
A823.3
The rarest of the rare : vanishing animals timeless
M849

Ackerman, Diane
Author cardThe rarest of the rare : vanishing animals, timeless A823.3
M849
worlds / Diane Ackerman. – 2nd ed.- New York : Random House,
1999.

xxii, 184 p.; ill.: 25cm

Includes index
ISBN 0-67-940346-9

1. Endangered species 2. Rare animals

I. Title
AUTHOR ENTRY
- the basic cataloging record and is called ‘main entry’
- in general, it gives the following information:
1. Author’s full name, inverted (some cards give the dates of the author
birth and death, if applicable)
2. Title and subtitle of the work
3. Edition, if it is not the first
4. Co- author, illustrator, translator
5. Imprint, which includes place of publication, publisher, and date of
publication
6. Collation, which includes number of pages or volumes, illustrative
material, and size in centimeters
7. Series to which the work belongs, if it is one of the series
8. Subjects which are treated fully
9. Full name and usually the birth and death dates of the coauthors,
translator, editor, or illustrator
TITLE ENTRY

- Made for a publication which has a distinctive title.

- Title is typed at the top of the card in black, above

The author’s name

- if title is used as the main entry, the work will not have a title entry in the
catalog

SUBJECT ENTRY
- subject card is made for every subject which is discussed fully
- differs from all other types of entries in that the subject is
typed at the top of the card in red letters, or in black capital
letters.
- subject headings describe the contents of a work and
therefore indicate to the reader its usefulness for a particular
purpose
- tools must be used to check for the subject headings used,
e.g. the Library of Congress Subject Headings or the The
Medical Subject Headings
ONLINE CATALOG
- called OPAC (online public access catalog) may be online to a database containing all the cataloging information of a particular library only
- may also provide access to the collections of other libraries, e.g. network of the libraries in a state or region such as all the college and university libraries
- not standardized at the present time
- differ in steps employed in accessing information, in the search options available (author, title, subject, keyword, boolean operators)
- example in ILMU perdana, there are:
- search type : left string, pattern and boolean
- selection – author/ name, title, subject, place of publication, publisher, series, year of publication and call number.
- These are called as access point to the record.
Information on computer is arranged in fields

Author : Cutlip, Glen W

Title : Learning and information : skills for
the secondary classroom and library media program / Glen
W. Cutlip; edited by Paula Kay Montgomery.
Imprint : Englewood, Colo. : Libraries
Unlimited, 1999.
Call number : 025.5
Physical features : xvii, 134p. ; ill. : 28 cm
Series : Teaching Library Media Research
and Information Skills Series
Other authors : Montgomery, Paula Kay
Subjects : Library orientation of high school students
High school libraries
Media programs (Education)
ISBN : 0972875806
CD-ROM CATALOGS

- A plastic disk 4.72 inches in diameter (or larger) on which data are encoded by using a laser to burn
pits into the surface.
- When accessed at a terminal, the pits are read by a laser and reproduced on a computer screen.
- A disk has a storage capacity of 600,000 catalog cards
- Offers various search options ; author, title, subject, word, word in title, browsing, and boolean
operators, depending on the system use
ACCESS POINTS
Title Title of the material
Name/Author Personal name or corporate name of the
author
Subject Subject heading
Publication Place of publication or name of
publisher
Series Series statement
Call Number Library of Congress Classification
(LCC) or
Dewey Decimal classification (DDC)
Call Number
ISBN/ISSN International Standard Book Number or
International Standard Serial Number

ANY Any field

CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS

 The chief purpose of the a classification system in a library is to

provide a basis for organizing books and materials so that they
can be found quickly and easily by those persons who use the
library; it is also a means of bringing materials on the same
subject together so that they can be used easily and
conveniently.

 Two major classification systems are:

- Library of Congress Classification System
- Dewey Decimal Classification System
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (LCCS)
 The Library of Congress was founded in 1800. The earliest
classification of books in the library.

 The LC system is used in most academic libraries. Books on similar

subjects are grouped together under 20 primary classes, which are
represented by letters of the alphabet.

 The LC system combines letters of the alphabet and Arabic

numerals. (Mix – Notation).

 Example, PN 6109.9 ( Collection of poetry by women authors)

TK 7800 (electronics)
LCCS
Music M
General Works A Fine Arts N
Philosophy, Psychology, Language & Literature P
Religion B
Science Q
Archaeology, Genealogy,
Biography C Medicine R
History: General and Old Agriculture S
World D Technology T
History : Americas E-F
Military Science
Geography, Anthropology G U
Social Sciences H
Naval Science V
Political Sciences J
Law K Bibliography, Library Science Z
Education L
DEWEY DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION
SYSTEM (DDC)
 In the Dewey Decimal Classification System , Arabic numerals are used
decimally to signify the various classes of subjects.

 Dewey divided all knowledge , as represented by books and other materials,

into nine classes, which is numbered 100-900.

 Example 621.38 (electronics and communication engineering) 510

(Mathematics).

 Call numbers in DDC use numbers and decimals. This is called pure notation.

 Most school libraries and public libraries are organized using DDC.

 The primary classes are represented by numbers.

DDC

000-099 Generalities 500-599 Pure Science

100-199 Philosophy & related Areas 600-699 Technology (Applied Sc.)
200-299 Religion 700-799 The Arts
300-399 The Social Science 800-899 Language and Rhetoric
400-499 Language 900-999 General Geography, History
etc
 ADVANTAGES OF USING
CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES
 Shelving of books is more consistent. Its classmark will act
as a specific ‘address’
 Retrieval of books is more straightforward. Library users
can look for clear labels on each book instead of the book’s
author and title which might be difficult to read along the
spine
 Browsing the book is made easier. Books on similar
subjects are brought together making it easy for the reader
to browse along shelves to see the complete stock of non-
issued books
 DISADVANTAGES OF USING
CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES
 Not all subjects may be catered for in the scheme. The
schemes may not be able to keep up with the publication of
books in new fields of knowledge
 Classmarks can be off-putting to users. Users can be
confused by what classmarks, represent, often there is no
recognisable link between the subject and the book
 A book given the wrong classmark and shelved out of its
subject area could be lost forever and of no use to library
user
THE END.