Page 3 - Cataloging and Classification for Library Technicians, 2nd Edition

More pre-pub li ca tion
REVIEWS, COMMENTARIES, EVALUATIONS . . .
aving taught with the pre vi-
“H ous 1995 edi tion of Dr. Kao’s “T eachers of cat aloging are re-
nowned for the demands they
text, I was pleased to see the new edi - make upon their stu dents. Dr. Mary
tion come for ward. The ma terials are Kao’s book dem onstrates that she, a
presented in a clear and se quential long-time pro fes sor of cat a log ing, is
fashion that lays the groundwork and even more de manding of her self. Her
pro vides con text for the cat a log ing pro- book in cludes ev erything a stu dent
cess within a li brary. Li brary ser vices could want. Kao introduces her topic in
and the man agement of col lections the con text of li brary or ga ni za tion, the
have changed dra matically with the role of tech nical as sistants, and the
advent of the dig ital era, and many func tions of cat a log ing and clas si fi ca -
libraries are in a pe riod of ex tended
tran si tion pro vid ing ac cess to both tion. She defines relevant terms near
phys i cal and vir tual re sources. The the be ginning of ev ery chap ter and
new edi tion of this text addresses these gives de tailed ci tations to the resources
changes di rectly in a new chap ter de - upon which catalogers rely. In ad dition
voted to computerized cataloging. to the latest edi tions of old standards
The dual strength of this text book is like AACR2R, LC, DDC, Sears, and
its at tention to the standards and orga- Cutter, she furnishes the URLs of Web
ni za tional con cepts that tran scend the sites that complement and up date the
technology of the day while bringing print clas sics. Her review questions test
for ward rel e vant ex am ples and ex er- whether or not the student has grasped
cises that dem on strate prac ti cal ap pli - both concept and prac tice.
cations for li brary tech nicians. The new Or ga nized to pro mote learn ing
chap ter de voted to cat a log ing on com- through its treatment of all is sues re -
puters is in troduced only af ter sec tions lated to cat a log ing and clas si fi ca tion,
out lin ing de scrip tive cat a log ing, sub- and gen erous in the ex amples pro-
ject anal y sis, and clas si fi ca tion have vided, Cat a loging and Clas si fi ca tion for
been pre sented. Ex am ple re cords are Li brary Tech ni cians will sat isfy the
well cho sen to dem onstrate the breadth needs of both stu dents and ev eryday
of phys i cal ma te ri als that li brary tech- prac ti tio ners.”
nicians will be called on to cat alog as
well as Internet resources. Vincent Juliano, MSLS, MA
The fi nal chap ter on is sues and Di rec tor,
trends un derscores the dy namic na - Waterford Pub lic Li brary,
ture of li braries in gen eral, and cat a- Con nect i cut
loging in par ticular, and should lead
to lively discussion among students
as to the pros and cons of is sues such
as outsourcing.
I recommend Dr. Kao’s new edi -
tion as the principal text in a Library
Tech ni cal As so ci ate pro gram and as a
ref er ence tool for li brary tech ni cians imilar to the first edition, Mary
in a work ing cat a log de part ment.” “S Kao’s Cat a loging and Clas si fi ca -
tion for Li brary Tech ni cians, Sec ond Edi -
Sharon Quinn Fitz gerald, MSLS
Head of Se rials tion, is a good reference and training
and Li brary Web Man ager, tool for cat a log ing li brary tech ni cians,
Fogler Li brary, with ex ten sive ex pla na tion of tools used
Uni ver sity of Maine, in cat a log ing: de scrip tive cat a log ing,
Orono subject headings (LC and Sears), and