Cataloguing- Lesson 5

In looking over the bibliographic record of the Mother Goose book I find that it is quite concise and the information that is given seems to represent the book.  I like how the summary section lists some titles of stories that are included in the collection.  All the details and information given will help students and teachers do their search.  I have noticed that most searches that students do are either title search or keyword search.  Older students and teachers seem to also use author search.  When searching for a book I like to know that I can rely on multiple access points to help me find what I’m looking for.  This bibliographic record covers all the important information needed.  Personally, I always try to put as many key words as possible in the subject area.  I find that students and teachers rely heavily on keyword searches therefore the subject area needs to be complete and precise. 

My cataloguing system is quite simple and doesn’t include all the areas the AACR2R recommends.  Some of the areas that are not included are the ISBN, the physical description and the bibliography access point.  With my little experience I thought that maybe this other information such as the physical description wasn’t necessary.  However after doing the cataloguing activity I see that the more information provided the better.  The students may not use all the access points but the teachers or the teacher librarian may appreciate the many details when choosing a book. 

Our school is looking into having a new cataloguing program and I’m a little overwhelmed in choosing the best program.  The one thing that I will be looking at is a program that offers a complete list of the areas in descriptive cataloguing.  It’s important to have a complete bibliographic record and I think that having the AACR2R is essential in ensuring proper organization in the library.

The Connors articles was a little confusing but the main idea I got was that now with the way computers search for results it doesn’t matter the order of the access points nor is it important to have a main access point.  All the access points can be accessed at the same time.  I’m a firm believer in simplicity.  A simple, organized and clear way of cataloguing is what we should all strive for.  This does not mean that important information will be lost.  It just means that libraries need to keep up with the times and simplify things as they embrace changing technology.