CAT-ASSESS

Creating Your Library Catalogue Profile

Using Cat-Assess, the quality of a catalogue is evaluated against the library's own standard, which may not conform to an external standard such as third-level description in AACR2. So before using the tool, the standards and cataloguing policy of the library need to be identified and recorded. This record of standards and policy both past and present forms the catalogue profile. In recording these details remember that the library's standard may have changed one or more times in the past.

To construct a profile for your library:

1. List all the forms in which your catalogue has been held (e.g. card, microfiche, automated systems)
2. For each system note the standard(s) to which catalogue records were/are created and any specific problems or restrictions relating to that system.
3. Identify whether all sections of stock were/are catalogued to the same level and standards.
4. The above details will allow you to decide on the applicability of errors for your library.
   For example, the worksheet lists 'physical description' as a field for checking. A library using short entry catalogue records may decide that policy is that 'physical description' is not entered into any records. The worksheet profile could be amended to omit that line (any statement of results should indicate that this was done) or the line could be left in the worksheet and coded 3 in each case to indicate that assessing this field was not applicable.

Profile example

Web page content by Bibliographic Management Group of UKOLN.
Last updated on: 14-Feb-2002