Descriptive cataloguing standards


Descriptive cataloguing standards

Bibliographic description

The standard for descriptive cataloguing in Libraries Australia will be the Anglo American Cataloguing Rules (latest edition and revisions) and the Library of Congress Rule Interpretations.

Standard for name, title & series headings

Libraries Australia will follow the form of heading established in the Library of Congress Name Authorities (LCNA). LCNA will take precedence over name, title and series headings which have already been verified as authorities in ABN or Libraries Australia, and these headings may be retrospectively changed to conform with LCNA.

An exception will be made for Australian name, title and series headings, because authority records for Australian names, titles and series will usually be established earlier and more accurately by Australian libraries. Therefore, authorities for Australian names, titles and series, which conform to AACR and the Library of Congress rule interpretations, should not be changed retrospectively simply to conform with LCNA.

In order to improve the quality of Australian name, title and series headings in LCNA, the National Library of Australia will offer to the Library of Congress a file of Australian name authorities. To enable headings from the Australian Extension to LCSH to be identified within Libraries Australia, they should be coded according to the Libraries Australia Subject Cataloguing Standards

Romanisation

Romanisation should follow the Library of Congress standards. Alternative romanisation of titles may continue to be provided in field 246. For Pinyin romanisation of Chinese, Libraries Australia will continue to use the same standard as the National CJK Service.

Descriptive cataloguing advice

In addition to following AACR and the LC rule interpretations, Libraries Australia will recommend additional working tools which are used by the Library of Congress to supplement the advice in AACR and LC rule interpretations, and other working tools which are broadly compatible with these standards. Where a conflict exists, AACR and LC rule interpretations will take precedence.

High level record standard

The Libraries Australia Client Manual defines a high level record as 'completed to AACR2 cataloguing level 3'. The Expert Advisory Group has recommended additional requirements as follows:

  1. LC or Dewey classification number, based on the latest edition and applied to the fullest extent of the schedules, following preferred practice rather than options, and using alphabetic prefixes for Australian literature where applicable.
  2. Library of Congress subject headings, applied in accordance with the Library of Congress Subject Cataloging Manual: Subject Headings.
  3. USMARC coding, including standard numbers where available, and including values in the Leader and coded data fields 006, 007, 008.
  4. Access points using preferred form in the Libraries Australia authority file or LCSH or LCNA. Cataloguers are encouraged to perform authority control on the headings used in high level records.