Cataloging With AACR2R and USMARC:
For Books,
Computer Files,
Serials, Sound Recordings, Videorecordings
by Deborah A. Fritz
A Review
This book is not a book with detailed explanations of how to catalog
different types of material complete with examples. It is not a
compilation of all of AACR2 or all the rule interpretations or the entire
MARC format, and it does not cover every type of material a library might
catalog. It is a manual to keep beside one s computer to use in searching
for bibliographic records, checking to see if they match the material in
hand, editing records, making new records for different editions, and
inputting or iginal records for the types of material most commonly
cataloged by libraries. The author has worked in cataloging since 1985 and
has taught cataloging workshops since 1989. This book is an outgrowth of
the handout for those workshops.
This book includes an introduction which discusses cataloging tools and
the relationship between cataloging rules and MARC formats and this
manual, a section on general cataloging steps, a separate section with
more detailed information for each format, a section describing the most
commonly used MARC tags, a chapter on choice of main and added entries,
and three appendices and an index.
The appendices consist of a MARC indicator table, an end of field
punctuation table, and a sources of information table.
This is a very long book--580 pages, and it is published in loose-leaf
format so it can be kept up to date by periodic issuing of new and
replacement pages. This is a reprint edition with a publication date of
May 1999. It incorporates the changes include d in Update #1, January 1998
and Update #2, May 1999. It is good that this book is designed for
updating as cataloging rules change all the time.
This is a very useful handbook for someone trying to learn to catalog a
particular type of material or someone who is cataloging a type of
material he or she does not often catalog. I have been cataloging
audio-visual material for even longer than the aut hor has, and I learned
several things from this book. My only criticism is that the lines forming
the grid in some of the tables are so faint that it makes it hard to read
the table as it is makes the cells run together. I would recommend this
book for al l cataloging departments.
Published in 1998 by: American Library Association, Chicago (ix, 580 p.).
ISBN 0-8389-0728-8. $60.00 (ALA members $54.00).
Reviewed by Katherine L. Rankin
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Last updated: April 8, 2003
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