cataloguing

Cataloguing is the process of organizing information about items in a collection to support discovery and access. It involves creating metadata that describes attributes such as authorship, title, date, format, subjects, and relationships to other items. Cataloguing is used in libraries, archives, museums, and digital repositories.

In libraries, cataloguing follows established rules to produce bibliographic descriptions and access points for users. The aim is to enable users to locate resources and to connect related items. Cataloguing typically distinguishes bibliographic description (the record of the item) from authority control (standardized forms of names, subjects, and titles).

Standards and rules have evolved from early formats to modern interoperable systems. Bibliographic description has transitioned from AACR2 to Resource Description and Access (RDA). Records are encoded in machine-readable formats such as MARC21 or MARCXML. Since presentation matters, ISBD provides a standard for display. Controlled vocabularies and authority files, including Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and other vocabularies, guide indexing. Classification schemes such as Dewey Decimal, Library of Congress Classification, and Universal Decimal Classification organize items by topics.

In archives, cataloguing is often described as archival description and finding aids, emphasizing provenance, the arrangement of records, levels of description, and series structure. In museums, cataloguing aligns with object records and collections management processes, documenting provenance, conservation status, and display or access rights.

Digital catalogues may rely on metadata schemas such as Dublin Core, schema.org, and METS, and use standards like PREMIS for preservation metadata, to ensure interoperability and discoverability across platforms.