CATALOGING PRINCIPLES
IFL A’s Statement of International Cataloguing Principles (2017)
Principles
2.1. Convenience of the user.
Convenience means that all efforts should be made to keep all
data comp rehensib le and suit able for the users. The w ord “user” embraces anyone who
searches the cat alogue and uses the bib liographic an d/or au thority data. Decisions taken in
the
making of descriptions and controlled forms of n ames for access should be made wit h the user
in mind.
2.2. Common usage.
Vocabu lary used in descrip tions and access points should be in
accordan ce with t hat of t he majorit y of users.
2.3. Rep resentat ion.
A descript ion shou ld represent a resou rce as it appears . Cont rolled forms
of names of person s, corporat e bodies and families should be based on the way an en tit y
describes itself. Cont rolled forms of work titles should be based on the form appearing on the
first manifestation of the original exp ression. If this is not feasib le, the form commonly u sed in
referenc e sources should be used.
2.4. Accuracy.
Bibliographic and auth ority data sh ould be an accurat e portrayal of t he entity
described.
2.5. Sufficienc y and n ecessit y.
Those data elements that are required to: facilitate access for all
types of users, inclu din g th ose with sp ecific n eeds; fulfil the objectives and functions of the
catalogu e; and describe or id ent ify en tities, should be in clud ed.
2.6. Significance.
Data elemen ts should be relevan t to the descript ion, noteworthy, and allow
for dist inc tions among ent ities .
2.7. Econ omy.
When alternative ways exist t o achieve a goal, preferen ce shou ld be given to the
way that best furt hers overall expediency and practicalit y (i.e., the least cost or the simplest
approach).
2.8. Consistency an d standard ization.
Descript ions and c onstruction of ac cess points sh ould
be stan dardized as far as possible to en able con sistency .
2.9. Integration.
The description s for all types of resources an d controlled forms of names of
all types of entities should be based on a common set of ru les to the extent possible .
2.10. Interoperability. All efforts should be made to ensure the sharing and reuse of
bibliographic and authorit y d ata within an d outside the library commun ity . For the exchange
of data and d iscovery tools, the use of vocabularies facilit ating au tomatic tran slation an d
disambigu ation is highly recommend ed.
2.11. Openness.
Rest rictions on data should be minimal in order to foster transparen cy and
conform to Open Access prin ciples, as declared also in the IFLA Stat emen t on Open Access.5
Any restriction on data access should be fully stated.
2.12. Accessibility.
The access to bibliographic an d au thority data, as well as searching device
functionalities, should comply w ith internation al stan dards for accessibility as recommended
in
the IFLA Code of Ethics for Lib rarians and other Information Workers.
2.13. Rat ionality.
The rules in a catalogu ing code should be defensible an d not arbitrary. If, in
specific situations, it is n ot possible to resp ect all the principles, then defensible, practic al
solu tion s should be foun d an d the rationale should be explain ed.
Resources Description and Access (2017, original version)
Principles
0.4.3.1 Differentiation
The data describing a resource should differentiate that resource from other resources.
The data describing an entity associated with a resource should differentiate that entity
from other entities, and from other identities used by the same entity.
0.4.3.2 Sufficiency
The data describing a resource should be sufficient to meet the needs of the user w ith
respect to selection of an appropriate resource.
0.4.3.3 Relationships
The data describing a resource should indicate significant relationships between the resource
described and other resources.
The data describing an entity associated with a resource should reflect all significant bibliographic
relationships between that entity and other such entities.
0.4.3.4 Representation
The data describing a resource should reflect the resource’s representation of itself.
The name or form of name chosen as the preferred name for an agent shoul d be:
a) the name or form of name most commonly found in resources associated with that agent
or
b) a well-accepted name or form of name in a language and script preferred by the agency creating the data.
Other names and other forms of the name should be recorded as variant names:
names found in resources associated with the agent
names found in reference sources
names that the user might be expected to use when conducting a search.
The titl e or form of title chosen as a preferred title for w ork should be :
a) the titl e most frequently found in resources embodying the work in its original l anguage
or
b) the titl e as found in reference sources
or
c) the titl e most frequently found in resources embodying the work.
Other titles and other forms of the title should be recorded as variant titl es:
titles found in resources embodying the work
titles found in reference sources
titles that the user might be expected to use when conducting a search.
0.4.3.5 Accuracy
The data describing a resource should provide supplementary i nformati on to correct or clari fy ambiguous,
unintell igible, or misleading representations made on sources of information forming part of the resource
itself.
0.4.3.6 Attribution
The data recording relationshi ps betw een a resource and an agent associated with that resource should
reflect attri butions of responsibi lity, whether these attributions are accurate or not. Attributions of
responsibility can be found ei ther in the resource itself or in reference sources.
0.4.3.7 Common Usag e or Practice
Data that are not transcribed from the resource i tself should reflect common usage in the language
and script chosen for recording the data. The agency creating the data may prefer one or more languages and
scripts. When there is more than one part in the name of a person or family, the part chosen as the first
element of the preferred name should reflect the usage or practice i n the country and language most closely
associated w ith that person or famil y.
0.4.3.8 Uniformity
The appendi ces on capital ization, abbreviations, order of elements, punctuation, etc., should serve to promote
uniformity in the presentation of data describing a resource or an entity associated with a resource .
 CATALOG OBJECTIVES
Cutter’s “Objects” Recast for Contemporary Information Entity Access Control Searching IFLA’s Objectives with Svenonius’ modification (from page 20 of Svenonius, E. (2000). The
Cutter’s Objects (1904) (from Miksa, F. (2002). “The Control of Information Entities for Access”. Unpublished.) Intellectual Foundations of Information Organization. Cambridge, Mass. : MIT.)
1. To enabl e a person to find a book of which either 1. To enabl e a person to conduct a KNOWN-ITEM search when:
(a) the author a name of any kind -to locate entities in a file or database as the result of a search using attributes or relationships of
(b) the titl e is known a title of any kind the entities:
(c) the subject a title, subject, or other keyword
a standard number of some k ind is/are known 1a. To find a singular entity—that is, a
2. To show what a l ibrary has a control number of some k ind document (finding objective)
(d) by a given author a classificatory call number of some kind, etc.
(e) on a given subject or some combination of these characteristics 1b. To locate sets of entities representing
(f) in a given kind of literature All documents belonging to the same w ork
2. To enabl e a person to conduct a CATEGORY search when: All documents belonging to the same edition
3. To assist in the choice of a book the name of a person All documents by a given author
(g) as to its edition (bibliographicall y) the name of a subject All documents on a given subject
(h) as to its character (literary or topical) a keyword of any k ind All documents defined by “other” criteria;
the name of a genre or sub-genre consti tutes a desirable category
the name of a physical format -to identify an entity (that is, to confirm that the entity described in a record corresponds to the
the name of a physical medium entity sought or to distinguish between two or more entities with similar characteristics);
the name of a feature of publication, etc.
or some combination of these attributes -to select an entity that is appropriate to the user’s needs (that is, to choose an enti ty that meets the
user’s requirements with respect to content, physical format, and so on or to reject an entity as
being inappropriate to the user’s needs);

-to acquire or obtain access to the entity described (that is, to acquire an entity through purchase,
loan, and so on or to access an entity electronically through an online connection to a remote
computer;

IFLA’s Statem ent of International Cataloguing Resources Description and Access (RDA) -to navigate a bibliographic database (that is, to find works rel ated to a given work by
Principles (2016) (2017) general ization, association, and aggregation; to find attributes related by equivalence, association,
Objectives and Functions Objectives and hierarchy.
The catalogue should be an effectiv e and efficient -Responsiveness to user needs
instrument that enables a user: so that users can find, identify, sel ect,
obtain, and understand
6.1. to find bibliographic resources in a coll ection -Cost efficiency
as the result of a search using attributes the data should meet functional
or relationships of the resources: requirements for the support of
to find a single resource or sets of resources representing: user tasks in a cost-efficient manner.
all resources real izing the same work -Flexibility
all resources embodying the same expression The data should function
all resources exemplifying the same manifestation independentl y of the format,
all resources associated with a given person, family, or corporate body medium, or system used to
all resources on a given thema store or communicate the data.
all resources defined by other criteria (language, pl ace of publ ication, publication They shoul d be amenable to use
date, content form, media type, carrier type, etc.), usuall y as a secondary limiting of a in a variety of environments
search result -Continuity
The data should be amenable to
6.2. to identify a bibliographic resource or agent integration into existing databases
(that i s, to confirm that the described entity (particularly those developed using
corresponds to the entity sought or to distinguish AACR and related standards).
between two or more entities with
similar characteristics);

6.3. to select a bibliographic resource that is appropriate

to the user’s needs (that is, to choose a resource that
meets the user’s requirements with respect to
medium, content, carrier, etc., or to reject a resource
as being inappropriate to the user’s needs);

6.4. to acquire or obtain access to an item described

(that i s, to provide information that will enabl e
the user to acquire an item through purchase, loan, etc.,
or to access an item electronically through an online
connection to a remote source); or to access, acquire,
or obtain authority data or bibliographic data;

6.5. to navigate and explore within a catalogue, through

the logical arrangement of bibl iographic and authority data
and the clear presentation of relationships among entities
beyond the catalogue, to other catalogues and in non-library contexts.