Organizing Library Collections

Theory and Practice

Gretchen L. Hoffman

Libraries organize their collections to help library users find what they need. Organizing library collections may seem like a straightforward and streamlined process, but it can be quite complex, and there is a large body of theory and practice that shape and support this work. Learning about the organization of library collections can be challenging. Libraries have a long history of organizing their collections, there are many principles, models, standards, and tools used to organize collections, and theory and practice are changing constantly.

Written for beginning library science students, Organizing Library Collections: Theory and Practice introduces the theory and practice of organizing library collections in a clear, straightforward, and understandable way. It explains why and how libraries organize their collections, and how theory and practice work together to help library users. It introduces basic cataloging and metadata theory, describes and evaluates the major cataloging and metadata standards and tools used to organize library collections, and explains, in general, how all libraries organize their collections in practice. Yet, this book not only introduces theory and practice in general, it introduces students to a wide range of topics involved in organizing library collections. This book explores how academic, public, school, and special libraries typically organize their collections and why. It also discusses standardization and explains how cataloging and metadata standards and policies are developed. Ethical issues also are explored and ethical decision-making is addressed. In addition, several discussion questions and class activities reinforce concepts introduced in each chapter. Students should walk away from this book understanding why and how libraries organize their collections.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 394 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-5381-0850-5 • Hardback • August 2019 • $153.00 • (£119.00)

978-1-5381-0851-2 • Paperback • August 2019 • $65.00 • (£50.00)

978-1-5381-0852-9 • eBook • August 2019 • $61.50 • (£47.00)

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / Cataloging & Classification

Courses: Library & Information Services; Organization of Information (Cataloging & Classification)

Organizing Library Collections

Theory and Practice

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Libraries organize their collections to help library users find what they need. Organizing library collections may seem like a straightforward and streamlined process, but it can be quite complex, and there is a large body of theory and practice that shape and support this work. Learning about the organization of library collections can be challenging. Libraries have a long history of organizing their collections, there are many principles, models, standards, and tools used to organize collections, and theory and practice are changing constantly.

Written for beginning library science students, Organizing Library Collections: Theory and Practice introduces the theory and practice of organizing library collections in a clear, straightforward, and understandable way. It explains why and how libraries organize their collections, and how theory and practice work together to help library users. It introduces basic cataloging and metadata theory, describes and evaluates the major cataloging and metadata standards and tools used to organize library collections, and explains, in general, how all libraries organize their collections in practice. Yet, this book not only introduces theory and practice in general, it introduces students to a wide range of topics involved in organizing library collections. This book explores how academic, public, school, and special libraries typically organize their collections and why. It also discusses standardization and explains how cataloging and metadata standards and policies are developed. Ethical issues also are explored and ethical decision-making is addressed. In addition, several discussion questions and class activities reinforce concepts introduced in each chapter. Students should walk away from this book understanding why and how libraries organize their collections.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 394 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-5381-0850-5 • Hardback • August 2019 • $153.00 • (£119.00)

978-1-5381-0851-2 • Paperback • August 2019 • $65.00 • (£50.00)

978-1-5381-0852-9 • eBook • August 2019 • $61.50 • (£47.00)

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / Cataloging & Classification

Courses: Library & Information Services; Organization of Information (Cataloging & Classification)

Author

Gretchen Hoffman is an Associate Professor in the School of Library and Information Studies at Texas Woman’s University. She has been teaching there since 2007. Her teaching and research agenda centers on the organization of information, specifically library cataloging. Courses she teaches include Cataloging and Classification, Advanced Cataloging and Classification, Collection Development, and Information Organization.

Before moving to Texas Woman’s University, Hoffman was a professional cataloger at the University of Kansas, specializing in complex and difficult cataloging, music cataloging (scores and audio recordings), and cataloging German-language monographs. Prior to that, she worked as a professional serials cataloger at Portland State University, specializing in federal government documents.

Table of Contents

Part I: Theory of Organizing Library Collections

1: Purpose and History of Organizing Library Collections

Library Collections

How Library Collections are Organized: Theory

How Library Collections are Organized: Practice

Factors That Influence Organization in Libraries

Limits to Organizing Library Collections

History of Organizing Library Collections

2: Metadata and Encoding: Fundamental to Organizing Library Collections

Metadata

Types of Metadata

Purpose of Metadata

Metadata Standards

Metadata Created in Libraries

Encoding Standards and Markup Languages

Encoding Standards in Libraries: MARC

Encoding Standards in Libraries: Digital Collections

3: Describing and Providing Access to Library Collections

Descriptive Metadata and its Purpose

Descriptive Metadata in Libraries: Descriptive Cataloging

Resource Description and Access (RDA)

Other Content Standards

Metadata Schemas Used in Libraries

4: Providing Subject Access to Library Collections

Subject Analysis

Controlled Vocabularies

Uncontrolled Vocabularies

Controlled Vocabularies Used in Libraries

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Children’s Subject Headings

Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms (LCGFT)

Sears List of Subject Headings

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Faceted Application of Subject Terminology (FAST)

Other Controlled Vocabularies

5: Classifying Library Collections

Classification

Library Classification

Library Classification: Construction Issues

Library Classification: Application Issues

Arranging Library Collections

Classification Schemes Used in Libraries

Dewey Decimal Classification

Library of Congress Classification

National Library of Medicine Classification

Superintendent of Documents Classification

Other Library Classification Schemes

Alternative Library Classification

Part II: Practice of Organizing Library Collections

6: Organizing Library Collections: Standards and Policy Development

Standardization

The System of Standards

Standards and Policy Development at the International Level

Standards and Policy Development at the National Level

Standards and Policy Development at the State and Regional Level

Cataloging Policy Development at the Local Level

7: How Libraries Organize Their Collections

Cataloging Practice

Monographs, Serials, and Electronic Resources

Organizing Books

Organizing Serials

Organizing Media and Other Formats

Government Publications

Metadata Practice

Issues in Cataloging and Metadata Practice

8: Organizing Collections in Academic, Public, School, and Special Libraries

Similarities and Differences Among Libraries

Academic Libraries

Public Libraries

School Libraries

Special Libraries

9: Ethical Issues in Organizing Library Collections

Neutrality and Power

Ethics and Values Statements

The Role of the User

Less Customization

Bias and Marginalization in Subject Standards

Ethical Obligations of Catalogers and Metadata Specialists

10: Current Developments in Organizing Library Collections

Linked Open Data

Linked Data in Libraries

Identity Management

Electronic Resources

Metadata Work

Discovery Products

Reviews

Dr. Hoffman has written a clear and understandable guide that demystifies the topic. In Organizing Library Collections, the author has succeeded in creating a text that navigates through the history and tradition of library cataloging while focusing on current practice and future trends. The book is highly recommended for adoption as a cource text in a cataloging and classification course.

— Technical Services Quarterly

The writing is crisp and, for the most part, knowledgeable. This would be an excellent introduction to the entire area of organization for anyone newly appointed to a library board who might not have any professional training. It is also an excellent, but very sophisticated, introduction to organization of collections for a library/ information studies school student.

— Technicalities

Dr. Hoffman has written a much-needed primer for understanding the basics and importance of cataloging in libraries. Students new to librarianship and practitioners looking to refresh their cataloging knowledge would benefit from reading Dr. Hoffman's straightforward, richly illustrated narrative. The end-of-chapter discussion questions and class activity suggestions make this the perfect text for information organization courses and interactive study for practitioners.
— Karen Snow, PhD, professor and PhD program director, School of Information Studies, Dominican University

As a teacher of both organization of information and cataloging in a library school program, I can confirm what she acknowledges: that this is a topic that students come to in library school with little or no knowledge of and the overwhelming number of acronyms used in this branch of LIS. So I am happy to see that the book is very straightforward in its language; it assumes no prior knowledge and explains concepts in layman's terms.
— Sarah W. Sutton, Ph.D., associate professor, School of Library & Information Management, Emporia State University

Replete with theoretical and practical knowledge for both the beginning and the professional cataloger, this book covers methods, issues, and challenges faced today in organizing library collections. As technologies advance with the semantic web and linked data, catalogers are expected to usefully organize traditional materials and digital content in ways patrons may efficiently find, identify, select, and obtain resources. This text provides current information on the rules and standards catalogers follow to create metadata, subject access, and categories for successful library collections.
— Marie Keen Shaw, program coordinator, Library Technology Certificate, Three Rivers Community College, Norwich, CT

Organizing Library Collections

Theory and Practice

Gretchen L. Hoffman

Organizing Library Collections

Theory and Practice

ALSO AVAILABLE