Overview of principles and practice in document description.

The description of a document, often referred to as descriptive cataloguing, is a crucial phase of the cataloguing process concerned with the identification and description of books and other materials. This process adheres to established normative principles and standards to ensure uniformity, comprehensive access, and effective international exchange of bibliographic information.

Here is an overview of the principles and practice involved in document description:

I. Principles and Norms of Document Description

The practices of document description are guided by normative principles and specific objectives established by cataloguing codes and international standards:

A. Objectives of Description (Cutter's Principles)

The description of a document must respond to the core objectives of the catalogue:

1. To enable a person to find a book of which the author, title, or subject is known.
2. To show what the library has by a given author, on a given subject, or in a given kind of literature or form of material.
3. To assist the user in the choice of a book as to its edition, content, or physical form.

B. Principles Guiding Descriptive Cataloguing

The principles of descriptive cataloguing are concerned with how these objectives are achieved, emphasizing accuracy, brevity, and standardization:

• Identification and Scope: To distinguish an item from all others and describe its scope, content, and bibliographic relation to others.
• Source of Information: Rules, such as those in the Anglo-American tradition, prescribe taking details primarily from the title page (the chief source of information) of the item catalogued.
• Brevity and Extent: The description shall be no more extensive than necessary.
• Standardization and Conformity: Practices must adhere to standards like the International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD) to ensure uniformity and facilitate the conversion of records to machine-readable form.
• Convenience of the Public: The convenience of the public is always prioritized over the ease of the cataloguer.

II. Standardized Practice: ISBD and AACR

The current practice of descriptive cataloguing is heavily standardized, largely due to the development of the International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD), which forms the descriptive foundation for codes like the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR).

A. International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD)

ISBD specifies the required elements, their order, and the punctuation for bibliographic description.

Purpose of ISBD: The primary purpose of the ISBDs is to provide stipulations for compatible descriptive cataloguing worldwide to aid the international exchange of bibliographic records. This is achieved by specifying the elements, prescribing their presentation order, and demarcating them with defined punctuation.

Eight Areas of Description: ISBD identified the following eight mandatory areas for the description of a document:

1. Title and statement of responsibility area (Title, sub-title, author/corporate author name).
2. Edition area (Edition number of the document).
3. Material (or type of publication) specific details area (e.g., scale for maps, numerical/alphabetical designation for serials).
4. Publication, distribution, etc., area (Place of publication, publisher's name, date of publication—collectively known as Imprint).
5. Physical description area (Number of volumes, pagination, illustrations, size—collectively known as Collation).
6. Series area (Title and numbering of the series).
7. Note area (Additional useful information not covered elsewhere).
8. Standard number and terms of availability area (ISBN, ISSN, price, etc.).

B. Levels of Description (AACR2)

AACR2 prescribes three levels of description to offer libraries flexibility based on their policy and collection nature (small, medium, or large):

• First Level: Provides the minimum information necessary to identify a document (e.g., Title proper/first statement of responsibility, Edition statement, Extent of item, Standard number).
• Second Level: Provides all the data considered necessary for documents in medium to large libraries.
• Third Level: Provides information covering every descriptive element detailed in the code.

III. Components of a Catalogue Entry

The descriptive information provided by the ISBD areas forms the Body of the Entry (the first paragraph). However, the full entry (often represented by the unit card principle) includes several other functional parts:

1. Call Number: The symbolic notation (Class Number + Book Number + Collection Number) used to identify and locate the document and secure its logical order in the collection.
2. Heading: The main access point for the document, usually the author or title.
3. Body of the Entry/Description: The descriptive elements, typically following the ISBD areas.
4. Tracing: A separate paragraph in a dictionary catalogue that lists the additional entries (subject headings, added entries for collaborators, title, and series) provided for the document.
5. Accession Number: A unique number assigned to the physical copy, sometimes included as a part of the main entry.

Descriptive Cataloguing in CCC (Ranganathan)

Ranganathan's Classified Catalogue Code (CCC) approach to descriptive cataloguing differs from the Anglo-American model, viewing exhaustive description as necessary primarily for bibliography, not for a service library utilizing open access.

• CCC omits sections like collation (physical description/number of pages) and imprint (place, publisher, date) from the main entry, arguing they are not essential for users in open access environments.
• The main entry in the classified part begins with the Call Number in the Leading Section, followed by the Heading (authorship or substitute element), Title Section, Note Section, Accession Number, and Tracing Section.