A. L. A. RULES - ADVANCE EDITION CONDENSED RULES FOR AN AUTHOR AND TITLE CATALOG PREPARED BY THE COOPERATION COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, 1883 REVISED BY THE ADVISORY CATALOG COMMITTEE, 1902 ISSUED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WASHINGTON LIBRARY DIVISION AUGUST, 1902 2 INTRODUCTION. The condensed rules for an author and title catalog, of which a revision is here presented, were prepared by a committee' of the American Library Association appointed September 5, 1877. The full text of the rules was first submitted at the Buffalo conference in 1883, printed in full in the proceedings of that year (Library journal, 8: 251-254), and reprinted in Cutter's Rules for a dictionary catalog. The importance of some uniformity in cataloging practice has therefore from the beginning been fully recognized by the Association. The compilation and issue of the A. L. A. rules have not, however, prevented considerable divergence in the practice even of libraries which have been organized subsequent to 1883. One of the first questions to be considered by the Publishing Board of the American Library Association when cooperative cataloging had come prominently to the front and had finally resulted, at the Montreal meeting of June, 1900, in definite action by the Association, was the means of introducing more uniformity into the size and style of type, the catalog cards, and the rules governing entries. As soon as the agreement had been consummated between the Publishing Board and the Library of Congress whereby the Library was to supply printed cards for current books, beginning, if possible, with January 1, 1901, the appointment of the present Catalog Committee was decided upon. The work so far accomplished by this committee can be summarized briefly as follows: Immediately after its appointment, about the middle of December, 1900, it was instructed to inquire into the type and style of entry in use at the Library of Congress, to recommend such modifications as might seem necessary, and, further, to consider the catalog rules in force-mainly the points on which American libraries had failed to reach an agreement. In order that the issue of printed cards from the Library of Congress might begin with the calendar year 1901, the committee agreed that for the time being the type and style of entry in use at the Library of Congress should be accepted, with a few slight modifications. No meeting of the committee could be held before March, 1901. The points to be then first considered were those affecting typog 1 C. A. Cutter, A. R. Spofford, S. S. Green, J. N. Dyer, L. E. Jones. 2 C. A. Cutter, S. H. Scudder, C. B. Tillinghast, committee. 292308 2 raphy and form of entry, and the following recommendations were agreed upon and submitted: (a) The entire heading to be printed in 12-point heavy-faced type, exceptions being made for titles, explanatory phrases, etc. (b) The author's name or heading to. be printed on a line by itself. (c) Title to be printed in 12-point. (d) The imprint to be in Roman type. (e) Series note to be printed at the end of the collation. (f) For collation, notes, and contents, the largest type that the 32-size card will permit is to be used, and if the 8-point type is the largest, to use that. (g) The position of the collation and series note to be on a separate line immediately after the date and preceding the other notes. (h) Notes to be placed before contents. The term "collation" is here used to cover that part of the description which follows the imprint date-viz, vols., pages, illustrations, maps, plates, etc., and size. It was decided that the A. L. A. rules printed as Appendix I to Cutter's Rules for a dictionary catalog, edition of 1891, should be made the basis for further consideration, particularly those sections which had been included in "disputed points" submitted by the Cooperative Committee of the A. L. A. at Montreal in 1900. The result of these deliberations was embodied in the report to the Publishing Board presented at the annual meeting of the Association at Waukesha in July, 1901. The Publishing Board, in accepting the report, gave further instructions to continue the work and to cover the whole ground of the catalog rules. It was also agreed that the Library of Congress might print the rules when they should be sufficiently advanced to warrant it. The difficulty of securing a full attendance of the committee has necessarily delayed the work of revision. But there is an increasing demand by the libraries subscribing for the printed cards issued by the Library of Congress for a statement which shall embody the main points in the rules and indicate where the Library of Congress differs from them in its practice. Under these circumstances it has been deemed best to issue, as a temporary expedient, an advance edition. While answering to some extent the immediate needs of the libraries interested, it is hoped that it may also serve as a basis for the further consideration of those rules on which there is still disagreement, and especially to facilitate suggestions and criticism on the part of librarians who take an interest in the advancement of cooperative cataloging and the drawing together of the main systems of rules now followed by American libraries. |
