cataloge

A catalog or catalogue is a systematic list of items, often with brief descriptions, prices, or metadata, arranged for reference, inventory, or sales. The British form is catalogue, the American form catalog; to catalog means to assemble such a list. The word derives from Greek via Latin and French routes, reflecting its long history in libraries and trade.

In libraries, a catalog is a bibliographic record set that enables discovery and access to holdings. It may be physical or digital, and modern catalogs are searchable databases with metadata and linking to full records. In commerce, product catalogs present items with specifications and prices to guide purchasing.

Other contexts include museums, archives, and service catalogs in IT and business, which inventories collections or available services. Cataloging involves metadata standards, classification schemes, and cataloging rules (for example, library rules such as AACR2 and RDA, and authority files) to ensure consistent description and retrieval. Digital catalogs often use MARC, Dublin Core, or schema.org, and support facets and search filters.

Overall, catalogs facilitate organization, discovery, and access across disciplines and industries.