Acquisitions Department

BIBLIOGRAPHIC SEARCHING PROCEDURES

Standards

1. Punctuation:
   International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD);  see the department's Information Manual.
2. Filing:  A.L.A. Rules for Filing Catalog Cards.
3. Classification:
1. Library of Congress:
1. Library of Congress classification schedule: notation system uses letters and numbers (single letter for discipline, double letters for subclasses, integral numbers in ordinary sequence for divisions and subdivisions, decimal numbers for further expansion of class numbers, cutter numbers used decimally for topics or authors);
2. Cutter table: combines first letter of author's last name with a number (or numbers) used decimally to alphabetize names or subjects within a class; corporate authors and prominent literary authors have their own "official cutter numbers."
2. Dewey Decimal:
1. Dewey Decimal classification system (Library Science).
2. Cutter-Sanborn table
4. Cataloging:
1. Current:
1. Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd ed. (AACR2), 1978-
2. Bibliographic Formats and Standards, OCLC, latest ed.
3. Library of Congress Subject Headings, latest ed.
4. Library of Congress interpretations and decisions relating to the application of AACR2 printed in the quarterly issues of Cataloging Service.
2. Former:
   Because much of the library's collection was cataloged prior to 1978, the searcher must be generally familiar with the rules of entry in the earlier cataloging codes.
1. Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, lst ed. (AACR1), 1949-1978.
2. A.L.A. Catalog Rules, 1908-1949.
3. Access points or entries:
   Material being cataloged for the library collection may require several access points (entries or headings) to ensure that the user will be able to locate the material. From all the options one access point is selected as the main entry heading, while others are identified as added entry headings. The choice of access points is standardized by the cataloging rules, an understanding of which is basic to the bibliographic skill of a searcher.
4. Name conflicts:
   One of the goals of the cataloging rules for entry is to bring uniformity to personal and corporate names. Because the AACR2 rules for names differ so greatly from earlier rules, and because the present online catalog does not have the capability of making global changes in name entries, it is necessary for the Catalog Department to keep a record of all name conflicts between the pre-1978 usage and the present AACR2 usage. The Acquisitions Department has agreed to alert the Catalog Department to these conflicts. When OCLC cataloging copy is printed and the main entry on the printout differs from the corrected main entry on the request card, a penciled asterisk is placed beside the main entry (100 field) as a signal to the Catalog Department to note the name conflict.
5. Periodicals:
   The U of M Libraries defines a periodical as a title which is published more frequently than once a year; the periodicals are not classified but are cataloged and entered on the online catalog. All are listed in the official "Periodicals Holdings File" on the second floor or on the lists of either current or "dead" periodicals.

Send questions/comments/suggestions to Foster Bunday Acquisitions Department | The University of Memphis | University Libraries 126 Ned R. McWherter Library | Memphis, TN 38152-3250 Phone: (901) 678-2203 | Fax: (901) 678-8218