College and Research Libraries


504 I College & Research Libraries • September 1981 

ISBN 0-85365-593-6. Available in U.S. 
from Oryx Press. 
In this very slim volume of proceedings, 

the Library Association's Cataloguing and 
Indexing Group attempts to cover a very 
broad topic, namely the principles and appli-
cations of the second edition of the Anglo-
American Cataloguing Rules. The group's 
Aprill979 seminar at the University of Not-
tingham featured eight papers; in addition to 
opening and closing presentations, papers 
were read on the use of the new rules for 
cataloguing monographs, music, audiovisual 
materials, maps, and serials. There was also a 
report on the status of cataloguing codes in 
Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland 
presented by Karen Lunde Christensen of the 
Bibliotekscentralen in Copenhagen. These 
published proceedings have been augmented 
by an appendix that contains two more pa-
pers derived from a 1978 Library Association 
meeting, outlining the major ways in which 
AACR2 differs from AACR. 

Both opening and closing remarks labor 
hard to defend the cataloger and assert the 
importance of his or her role in contemporary 
library practice. As for AACR2, the opening 
paper (by Norman Roberts at the University 
of Sheffield) is quite positive and optimistic, 
praising the new code for its clear principles 
and international outlook and downplaying 
its economic side effects. The quality of the 
papers dealing with specific material types is 
generally good, but presumably because of 
the newness of the code at the time these pa-
pers were written, they only skim the surface 
of the issues to be examined. While the paper 
on the Nordic countries' response to AACR2 
provides interesting information, its inclu-
sion in this volume does not help it maintain a 
sense of focus. The decision to add the two 
1978 papers further detracts from the pub-
lished work's focus, and the information con-
tained in these two papers was widely avail-
able elsewhere by 1980, this book's 
publication date. 

The value of Seminar on AACR2 doubtless 
lies in its ability to serve as a record of the 
initial reaction to the revised code in the 
United Kingdom. It is also a very readable 
book, and the style of the speakers is warm 
and sometimes pleasantly informal. For 
those who are trying to build collections re-
flecting the history of cataloging or com para-

tive librarianship, this is likely to be a sensible 
item to acquire. It will not, however, be of 
much practical use to the 1981 cataloger who 
already has a number of more up-to-date and 
thorough discussions of AACR2 on which to 
rely.-Karin A. Trainer, New York Univer-
sity. 

Downing, Mildred Harlow. Introduction to 
Cataloging and Classification with 58 Ex-
hibits. 5th ed. Revised and enlarged in ac-
cordance with AACR2 and the 19th edi-
tion of the Dewey Decimal Classification. 
Jefferson, N.C . : McFarland & Co., 1981. 
320p. $14.95. LC 80-20299. ISBN 0-
89950-017-X. 

Slocum, Robert B. Sample Cataloguing 
Forms: Illustrations of Solutions to Problems 
of Description (with Particular Reference to 
Chapters 1-13 of the Anglo-American Cata-
loguing Rules, Second Edition). 3d ed. Me-
tuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1980. 12lp. 
$11.00. LC 80-21507. ISBN 0-8108-1364-
5. 
Mildred Harlow Downing's Introduction 

to Cataloging and Classification "is in-
tended, as were previous editions, for stu-
dents beginning the study of cataloging and 
classification" (p.iii). That any introductory 
survey of cataloging and classification should 
make generalizations is understandable; that 
this work contains many misleading state-
ments is not. 

The most serious of these appears on pages 
43-45 where the use of standardized punctu-
ation as prescribed by the ISBD standards is 
discussed under the section on the ISBN. 
Question four (p.47), "How does ISBN punc-
tuation clarify the content of the descriptive 
catalog record?" confirms the author's confu-
sion on these points. Some of the other errors 
include: the ISBDs are referred to as manual 
(p. 6); the Statement of Responsibility Area in 
AACR2 is discussed as the "Statement of Au-
thorship Area" (p.l6); a definition of a peri-
odical is given as the definition of a serial 
(p.37); an example of a traced subject series 
(p.39) appears in the exhibits as an example 
of an untraced publisher's series (p.l93); the 
beginning cataloger is advised not to make a 
title-added entry when a subject heading and 
the title are the same (p.53), but there is no 
indication that this applies only to a dictio-
nary card catalog; and two invalid Library of 



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506 I College & Research Libraries· September 1981 

Congress subject headings are given: AR-
CHITECTURE IN ALBANIA and AL-
BANIA-ARCHITECTURE (p.55). 

The treatment of nonbook materials 
(chapter 14) muddies the issue of intellectual 
responsibility in these kinds of materials, and 
then states typical patterns as if they were 
rules. An example of this appears in the dis-
cussion of "statement of responsibility" 
(p.166-67). First is the suggestion that the 
main entry and the statement of responsibil-
ity are always the same; second that it is nec-
essary to use lengthy statements of responsi-
bility to identify "authorship." In fact, while 
the main entry and the statement of responsi-
bility in bibliographic records may fre-
quently be the same, the author is confused 
by the wording in AACR2 that describes 
what kinds of statements should be given in 
the statement of responsibility in the case of 
nonbook materials as opposed to the princi-
ples used to ascribe primary responsibility 
(i.e., determine a main entry). Suggestions 
for various kinds of added entries are gener-
ally good, but the use of the term "corporate 
author" and the suggestion that an added en-
try should be made for the creator of the orig-
inal when cataloging a microform are puz-
zling. 

The appendix of exhibits is no less problem-
atic. AACR2 and pre-AACR2 treatment is 
confused; the exhibits contain curious prac-
tice and some outright errors. Among the 
more obvious are: peculiar spacing for the 
series statement (p.184, example2); incorrect 
tracing of a series (p.195, example 23); miss-
ing relators (p.201, example 36); incorrect 
capitalization (p.203, example 40); nonstan-
dard dates in headings (p.240ff., examples 
41-48); and a punctuation error in a uniform 
title (p.217, example 58). 

The comparatively adequate introduction 
to classification in LC and Dewey is over-
shadowed by these errors and others and by a 
barely adequate treatment of automation. 
This book cannot be recommended. 

Robert B. Slocum's Sample Cataloguing 
Forms emphasizes bibliographic description. 
It is a compendium of cataloging records cho-
sen by the author as illustrations of difficult 
cataloging problems. Examples appear un-
der alphabetically arranged captions, which 
run from "Abridgement of Text" to "Year of 
Publication" (in the first section on books, 

pamphlets, and printed sheets). Useful cross-
references to captions appear throughout. 
The system of captions is supplemented by an 
index. In addition, each used caption con-
tains references to specific rules in AACR2 
that relate to the examples. The pertinent 
part of the example is underlined. 

This third edition of work has been revised 
to reflect AACR2 in a number of ways. First, 
the organization parallels that of part one of 
AACR2. Second, the descriptions and main 
entries have been formulated using AACR2, 
as interpreted and applied by Slocum. It is 
important to realize that timely publication 
of this work required Slocum to create these 
examples prior to the implementation of 
AACR2 in most American libraries. As a 
result this book must be used with some care. 
Nevertheless this is the kind of work that is 
exceedingly useful to practitioners of catalog-
ing. The display of "complete" descriptions 
allows the cataloger to see specific problems 
solved in a broader context. Some solutions 
such as the interpolation of information 
about a pseudonym or the use of expanded 
collations extend provisions of AACR2. Criti-
cal evaluation of examples and judicious ap-
plication of solutions is necessary. 

This work will be valuable to catalogers in 
academic libraries who deal with a wide va-
riety of materials and are frequently con-
fronted by these problems. The treatment of 
material outside the print medium is espe-
cially useful to those who only occasionally 
catalog these kinds of materials. 

These two titles are among the dozens of 
titles revised or published as a result of the 
publication of AACR2 and Dewey 19. Ca-
veat emptor.-Nancy R. John, University of 
Illinois at Chicago Circle. 

Maruskin, Albert F. OCLC: Its Governance, 
Function, Financing, and Technology. 
Books in Library and Information Science 
Series, V.32. New York: Marcel Dekker, 
1980. 160p. $22.75. LC 80-23417. ISBN 
0-824 7-1179-3. 
I have empathy with the author who at-

tempts to research and analyze an entity like 
OCLC, which is both a recent phenomenon 
and a moving target. OCLC changes not 
from decade to decade or year to year but 
month to month. We must realize, however, 
that the author has to "stop time" or he would