IMC 451:

ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION

TOPIC 3:
Bibliographic Control :
Definition, Purpose, History & Development
Bibliographic Control (BC)

It refers to the operation by which recorded information is

organized or arranged according to established standards
and thereby made readily identifiable and retrievable.

The most common tools used in bibliographic control are

files or lists called bibliographic files or, if automated,
bibliographic databases. Individual units of such files or
databases are called bibliographic records.
 Bibliographic Control (BC)

3 main activities of BC:

Descriptive and
Classification
subject cataloging
Indexing and abstracting
 Bibliographic Control (BC)

Definition:

The creation, development, organization,

management and exploitation of records and
information prepared to:
• Describe items held in libraries or on
databases
• Facilitate user access to information
(Harrod’s Librarians’ Glossary)
 Bibliographic Control (BC)

Definition:

A system for recording and describing library

materials in a catalogue or database, thereby
facilitating access to those materials in library
or documentation center; it contributes to
cultural and economic development by helping
to make information available.
(Winston Roberts and Ross Bourne, IFLA)
 Bibliographic Control (BC)

Definition:
• The operation or process by which recorded information is
organized or arranged and thereby made readily
retrievable.
(Lois Mai Chan’s, Cataloging and Classification:
An Introduction)

• The term covers a range of bibliographic activities,

including complete records of bibliographic items as
published, standardization of bibliographic description and
provision of physical access through consortia, networks, or
other cooperative endeavors”
 Bibliographic Control

Facilitating access to documents or materials

Purpose:
Guidance in searching information

Vital element for effective reference & information services

Recording and expanding knowledge

Stimulating R & D

Avoiding duplication in R & D

Encouraging cooperation, exchange and sharing of information

between institutions and nations
 DEVELOPMENT OF
THE ORGANIZATION OF RECORDED
INFORMATION IN WESTERN
CIVILIZATION
 Antiquity
The citizens in the city of
Nineveh developed a library
that provided a collection that
Their tablets included colophons, a set of data
had a systematic means of
at the end of a ‘document’ that traced kinds of
order and authenticity.
bibliographic data, such as number of the
tablet in a series, its, title, and the name of the
scribe. 650BC
Sixty-two titles are
recorded on this tablet of
which 24 are titles of
1500BC
currently known literary
The Hittites recorded
works.
bibliographic information of

2000BC written works onto tablets.

Sumerian tablet, one of the oldest lists of

books, found at Nippur (most ancient of
Sumerian cities, located in modern Nuffar in
Afak, Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq).
 Antiquity

Greek civilization has contributed to the information of

the “main entry” concept, a western civilization
manifestation. Early Far Eastern societies and even today
designate a work’s title as its main entry.
 Middle Age
• There is evidence of very
broad subject
arrangements.
• The categories were
usually two: Biblical and
Humanistic.
1300
The Registrum
800- Librorum Angliae, a
union list of holdings of
8 th 1200 English monastery
libraries.

Century
Catalogs of library
holdings during this
period were largely
inventories of relatively
small collections.
In Europe, there were church and monastery
libraries. The demand for knowledge was not
of great interest to the common man and
woman.

1450 ca
The printing press was invented
– creating an explosion in
publishing and duplicate copies
of works. The vocation of
bibliographer became a by-
product of the existence of the
printing press.
European Renaissance
1595
St. Martins Priory at Dover, the
first list designated as a catalog.
Part 1. Call number – located
the exact location, where a
volume could be found.
Part 2. Arranged by call number.
Contain the contents of each
volume, with paging and
opening words.
Part 3. Alphabetical listing by
author and title and entries of
each volume found within a
published work, called an
analytical entry.
1596
Andrew Maunsell, an English
bookseller, compiled his Catalog
of English Printed Books that
was prefaced with rules of
entry.
Maunsell introduced the entry
of personal names listed under
surnames rather than
forenames.
Promote the early
developments of bibliographic
control.
 From Inventories to Codifying Devices
The French government instructed to
catalog the libraries’ collections that had
been confiscated throughout France (the
first national catalog). Libraries made card
catalogs – the first instance of a card
catalogs. The reverse sides of the card
were used as the source for recording the
1831
Anthony Panizzi, a
information. 1792 lawyer and political
refugee from Italy and an

Konrad Gesner 1791 assistant Librarian at the

British Museum advocated
published: Frederic Rostgaard of cataloging and subject
1) An author published a discourse on analysis. Panizzi authored
bibliography.
Included was a 1595- cataloging in which subject
arrangement subdivided
a cataloging code known
as the “91 rules”. Panizzi
preface that offered
cross-references and 1596 chronologically and by size of
volume.
was a “modern” theories
of cataloging.
variations of names. - Also promoted a
2) A subject index. supplementary author index.
From Inventories to Codifying Devices – Middle Age
Charles C. Jewett marked the
introduction of the American
influence to cataloging and
arrangement. Jewett build on
Panizzi’s earlier efforts. Jewett is
credited with developing rules for
entry as they relate corporate
authors.
Charles Cutter published
1850
Printed Dictionary Catalogue.
Cutter’s efforts emphasis on
establishing rules on filing
entries. Cutter was also the first
to establish rules for subject
headings.
1876
Melvil Dewey, issued
anonymously the first edition of his
classification, Dewey Decimal
Classification. Dewey divided all
knowledge into ten main classes,
with each of those divided again
into ten division, and each of those
divided into ten sections. Dewey is
a landmark in the area of
classification. Now in its 22nd
addition (DDC22).
20th Centuries - The Development of Cataloging Rules

In the twentieth century, the emphasis on description was rooted in

codes.
1908 The British and the Americans collaborated on a code
in 1908. This collaboration was significant, because it
serves as the first international cataloging code to be
established.
1931 Americans and Italians collaborated to publish the
Vatican Code. It was quickly accepted by catalogers in
many countries as the best and most complete code in
existence, but because it was written in Italian, most
Americans could not apply it.
1941 The British and the Americans cooperated on publishing
a second edition to the volume that was written in 1908.
This code was written in two parts: one for entry and
heading, and one for description.

1942 The Library of Congress (LC) Rules for Descriptive

Cataloging, served as a substitute to the second part of the
British and the American effort.
1949 The revisions, A.A.A Cataloging rules for Author and Title
Entries, were written after great criticism by Andrew
Osborn in an article that he authored entitled “The Crisis in
Cataloging”.

1967 The Americans and the British collaborated to establish

the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules. Because there was
disagreement on a few points, this work was published in
two separate versions: North American and British.
The presidents of the colleges and universities in the
state of Ohio founded the Ohio College Library Center (OCLC)
to develop a computerized system in which the libraries of Ohio
academic institutions could share resources and reduce
costs.
1978 The AACR2 was published to accommodate the
developments established by the ISBD, to address
non book materials, to take into account machine
processing of bibliographic records, and to reconcile the
British and American texts.
1988/1998 A revised edition of the AACR2 was published.
2002- 2005 A significant revision of AACR2
2009 Updates of AACR2 have ceased, as efforts are now
focused on the creation of a new description
cataloging content standard, RDA : Resources Description
and Access.
 The Development of Subject Access

 Philosopher - Plato, Aristotle, Bacon and Plato among the

famous philosopher.

 1885 – The A.L.A List of Subject Heading.

 1905 – 2nd Revised Edition of ALA Subject Heading.

 1914 – 1st edition of Subject Headings Used in the Dictionary

Catalogues of the Library of Congress (LC) was published.
 The Development of Subject Access

 1923 – Sears List of Subject Headings (Sears) was published. It

was prepared by Minnie Earl Sears. Suitable for small libraries.

 1975 – The title of LC’s was changed to Library of Congress

Subject Heading (LCSH).

 1998-2007 – a new edition of LCSH was published every year.

 2009 – LCSH is updated weekly in its online version.

 The Development of Classification
 1814 – Library of Congress (LC) introduced 18 broad categories
in the Bacon-d’ Alembert system.

 1876 – Melvil Dewey issued the first edition of classification

(Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC)). He divided knowledge
into 10 main classes with each of those divided into 10
divisions and each of those divided into 10 sections.

 1895 – Universal Decimal Classification was developed by two

Belgian Laywers; Paul Otlet and Expanded DDC by the addition
of detailed subdivisions and the use of symbols to indicate
complex subjects.
 The Development of Classification
 20th century – Faceted classification was introduced. All
aspects of interdisciplinary subject was arranged in the same
classification notation. (Also known as Analytico synthetic)

 Early 1930 – S.R. Raganathan used the term facet in his Colon
Classification.

DDC LCC

378.4 QF22.D25
F685d S65
1997
Examples of call numbers
Thank You…