catalogue

A catalogue, or catalog, is a systematically arranged collection of items, typically accompanied by descriptive information that enables retrieval and reference. The term comes from the French catalogue and the Latin catalogus, with British English favoring catalogue and American English often catalog. Both spellings are widely used.

Catalogues appear in many domains. In libraries, a catalogue is a searchable record set describing items such as books, maps, and manuscripts, enabling discovery through a library's catalog or an online public access catalog (OPAC). In commerce, product catalogues list items for sale, with specifications, prices, and ordering details. In data management, data catalogs describe datasets and data assets, supporting data governance, discovery, and reuse. Museums and archives maintain collection catalogs or catalogues raisonné that document objects and their provenance.

Cataloging is the process of creating catalog records. It involves descriptive metadata, access points, and classification. Standards such as MARC, Dublin Core, and library rules like AACR2 or RDA guide how items are described and indexed. Catalogs may be physical listings or digital databases, and many modern catalogs provide advanced search features, faceted navigation, and linked data.

Historically, catalogs began as simple inventories and bibliographies. The invention of printing and standardized bibliographic descriptions enabled broader libraries to share records. Today, digital catalogs enable global access to collections and datasets, with ongoing efforts to unify metadata schemas and improve interoperability.