Page 151 - Cataloging and Classification for Library Technicians, 2nd Edition

Issues and Trends 137

pears that the cat aloging pro cesses are be coming ob solete and that
the cat aloger may no lon ger be needed. On the contrary, the prac tice
of cat a log ing will be come more im por tant be cause the or ga ni za tional
aspect of the ever-increasing body of knowl edge and in formation is
the es sential ba sis of cat aloging. A wealth of in formation stored in
the com puter may be rendered use less un less it is or ganized well
enough to be re trieved quickly and eas ily. The pro cedures and prac -
tices may change, but the chal lenge for the cat aloger re mains more,
not less, im por tant in our in for ma tion-ori ented so ci ety.
Some phe nomena, which al ready are de veloping or are pre dicted to
happen, will ap pear on the scene in the cat aloging world, in cluding the
following:

1. Libraries will be automated and will catalog online. Even the
smallest libraries will be able to eliminate some parts of cataloging
and processing chores, if only with a stand-alone computer system.
2. Libraries in the United States will have online public access
catalogs and discard their card catalogs.
3. Libraries will join some kind of cooperative system, such as a
regional, national, or international network, to facilitate cata-
loging and other related functions.
4. Print and nonprint materials will be cataloged with equal care,
applying the same rules, and will be intershelved.
5. The role differences between copy catalogers and original cat-
alogers will become blurred. Catalogers will start out doing
copy cataloging and, if copy records cannot be found, will
proceed with original cataloging.
6. With an automated system, key word search will become the
most popular way of searching for information. More access
points and less description of the materials will become the rule.
The Dublin Core agreement is an example. AACR2R rules will
be modified.
7. Small libraries will still use the CD-ROM database to catalog.
Larger libraries or libraries with ample budgets will catalog on-
line.
8. The Internet will be the union catalog of the world. More
libraries will use the Internet as a source for copy cataloging.