CLD Online Tutorial Introduction

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Section 1: Introduction What is a collection? What is a collection-level description? Why create a collection-level description?

What is a collection? A collection is an aggregation of physical and/or electronic items. e.g. library collections; museum collections; archives; library, museum and archival catalogues; digital archives; Internet directories; Internet subject gateways; collections of text; images; sounds; datasets; software etc. A collection may be made up of any number of items from one to many. What is a collection-level description? A 'collection-level description' provides information about the collection as a whole rather than about individual items within a collection. A range of information is provided, including a brief text 'description' or summary, material formats, subject matter, collecting policy, location and access arrangements, amongst other details. Note that a collection may also, but not always, have a catalogue or other finding aid providing item level descriptions for individual items in the collection. Why create a collection-level description? Collection-level descriptions may be created for a range of reasons. These can be separated into collection management and resource discovery Collection Management To enable the collection provider to manage collections Control/audit/review holdings internally Identify collections at risk Aassess priorities for item-level cataloguing To enable collection managers to manage their collections in collaboration with other providers Identify, record and share information on strengths and weaknesses To suggest areas where collaboration is possible Resource Discovery To disclose information about collections To provide an overview of otherwise un-catalogued items To enable users to select collections to search on the basis of summary description To support controlled searching of multiple collections To widen access to collections

Content by: Shirley Keane of UKOLN.
Page last revised on: 17-Oct-2005
Email comments to: web-support@ukoln.ac.uk