BOOK REVIEWS
Amy K. Weiss, Column Editor
Cataloging with AACR2 & MARC21:
For Books, Electronic Resources, Sound Recordings, Videorecordings, and Serials
by Deborah A. Fritz
This is the second edition, 2006 cumulation of Cataloging with AACR2 & MARC21. It is a handbook that would be very useful to the beginning cataloger or to the cataloger cataloging an unfamiliar type of material. Even experienced catalogers would find it useful.
The author, Deborah Fritz, owns a company called The MARC of Quality, which provides workshops on cataloging with AACR2 and MARC 21. This handbook grew out of the documentation she had written for the workshops she has been giving for more than eight years.
This is the first complete revision of this handbook since it was first published in 1998. Besides incorporating changes to AACR2, new LCRIs, and CONSER and MARC 21 updates, the chapters have been rewritten. It is a loose-leaf publication for which the author intends to provide update pages every one to two years--until RDA is released.
This handbook covers five common material types (monographs, serials, sound recordings, videos, and electronic resources). It does not include all the rules in AACR2 nor all the MARC tags. It does try to join cataloging standards and coding standards together in one reference handbook. Many other cataloging handbooks focus on just the cataloging rules. This handbook covers input standards for full level records according to the LC standards, full level records according to the OCLC standards, and minimal records according to the OCLC standards. It does not cover rules for assigning subject headings and call numbers.
The first chapter is an introduction. Chapter 2 discusses how to search for, choose, and edit records when copy cataloging; cloning records for different editions; and creating original catalog records. Chapter 3 is arranged in MARC tag order and gives quick instructions for each tag, AACR2 cataloging rules, rule interpretations and rules from other sources such as CONSER, hints from the author, which is something not found in most cataloging handbooks, specific rules for cataloging the different material types covered by this handbook, and tables of instructions for each subfield. There is a column in the table for each tag for the reader to record what his system’s label is for that tag. The 006, 007, and 008 fields are also given in template form. The handbook also has examples of how different indicators for some tags would change a typical OPAC display.
The author includes Library of Congress cataloging policy for such things as recording dates of publication, and she also includes quotes from cataloging experts such as Richard Smiraglia (an expert on cataloging sound recordings), on topics such as the "p" date for recorded sound.
Chapters 4 through 8 give “cheat sheets” for each of the different types of material covered. Each of these chapters includes discussion on the chief source of information for that type of material, general cataloging steps, the pros and cons of using each field to search for copy cataloging records, quick match criteria for each field for choosing a record, a cheat sheet for editing/cloning/creating records, and a dates flowchart each type of material.
The chapter on electronic resources includes a list of specific cataloging tools for that format and a section on deciding whether the item being cataloged is a monographic electronic resource, a serial electronic resource, a monographic electronic resource with sound or video as the most significant aspect, etc. This chapter includes specific instructions on how to catalog each type of electronic resource. The chapters for sound recordings, videos, and serials also each include a list of cataloging tools specifically for that format. The chapter on videos also includes a video viewing notes worksheet. The chapter on serials has a section on how the cataloger can determine whether something is a monograph, a continuing resource, a serial, or an integrating resource.
This handbook includes appendices on initial articles, order and punctuation of title elements in the 245 field, end-of-field punctuation and a detailed index.
This handbook is sufficiently current to include the recent decisions by Library of Congress on when to add death dates to name authority records and on discontinuing production of series authority records. However, there is no mention of Catalogers Desktop or Class Web in the list of cataloging tools.
Cataloging with AACR2 & MARC21 would be very useful for anyone using MARC tagging to catalog any of the five types of material this handbook covers.
Published in 2006 by American Library Association, Chicago, Illinois. (various pagings) ISBN-13 978-0-8389-0935-5 ($68.; ALA member--$61.20)
Reviewed by:
Katherine Rankin
Bibliographic and Metadata Services Department
University Libraries
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
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Last updated: October 14, 2007
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