June 22, 1998 Library and ALA Agree, AACR2 To Be Incorporated into Cataloger's Desktop

Press Contact: Guy Lamolinara (202) 707-9217

The Cataloging Distribution Service (CDS) of the Library of Congress and the American Library Association (ALA) have signed an agreement to incorporate the Anglo- American Cataloguing Rules (AACR2), Second Edition (1998 Revision) into Cataloger's Desktop, CDS's one-disc CD-ROM cataloging tool. AACR2 is scheduled to first appear in Cataloger's Desktop in the last quarter of 1998.

"With AACR2 and the Library of Congress Rule Interpretations (LCRIs) available on a single CD-ROM, catalogers will now be able to rely on a single electronic source to get the definitive word on United States cataloging practice," said CDS Chief Peter R. Young. "For the first time, catalogers will be able to look up a rule in AACR2 and then, with the click of a mouse, see how the Library of Congress interprets that rule by consulting links to LCRIs. This will help ensure that catalogers don't miss references to critical policy refinements."

AACR2 joins 29 other publications included in Cataloger's Desktop. Library cataloging policy specialists will develop extensive hypertext links between AACR2 and many of the cataloging publications already included in Cataloger's Desktop, such as the USMARC formats.

Winston Tabb, Associate Librarian for Library Services and the Library's representative on the Committee of Principles for AACR, said the signing of this contract was "a major cooperative event between the Library of Congress and the American Library Association. With this agreement, the cataloging expertise offered by the nation's library is being brought together in one product by ALA and CDS for the first time."

Donald E. Chatham, associate executive director for publishing services at the American Library Association, said that in creating the AACR2 electronic file, "ALA has made an essential cataloging tool available in electronic form. The Second Edition (1998 Revision) brings AACR2 fully up to date for the first time in 10 years. It will include all amendments through 1997."

The quarterly update schedule of Cataloger's Desktop keeps all of the links from AACR2 synchronized with the LCRIs and other critical cataloging tools. AACR2 is jointly published by the American Library Association, the Library Association (Great Britain) and the Canadian Library Association. For immediate information about Cataloger's Desktop go to the CDS Web site at https://www.loc.gov/cds/ or contact Library of Congress, Customer Support Unit, Cataloging Distribution Service, 101 Independence Avenue S.E., Washington, DC 20540-4912, telephone (800) 255-3666 toll free in U.S. or (202) 707-6100 elsewhere, fax (202) 707-1334.

###

PR 98-095
1998-06-22
ISSN 0731-3527