A comparative analysis of the distinct evolution of cataloging and information technology towards the creation of the next generation library system

Abstract

Technology plays an important role in the evolution of cataloging systems and its use is fundamental in disseminating information to the public. Libraries must find innovative ways of meeting their patrons’ informational needs in order to remain relevant. The challenge is that cataloging rules and formats and library systems are out of synchronization and slow to evolve to meet these informational needs. Catalogers from around the world struggle to find ways to create bibliographic records and access points to accommodate new electronic formats while information systems struggle to search and display the information that cataloging rules and formats seek to convey to patrons. Future cataloging systems are slowly evolving in synchronizing these two entities in order to create a global cataloging environment. They are slowly bridging the language barrier by properly displaying diacritics and special characters. They are making progress on creating a discovery layer that retrieves accurate holdings information for an entire library collection. They are also utilizing new cataloging formats that seek to replace MARC21 and are expandable to accommodate all formats. This evolution is creating an international partnership that will help maintain the relevance of libraries around the world. To write this paper, the author collects filed data as well as secondary source data through a comparative analysis of the progression of cataloging rules and formats and library systems. The first part of the paper will review the history of cataloging rules and formats and library systems to establish a progression timeline. The second part of the paper will focus on the current state of both and how it is impacting the ability to disseminate information to patrons. The third part of the paper will look to the requirements of the future of cataloging systems. This study concludes that cataloging and information technology will ultimately merge into the next generation library system in order to help libraries remain relevant.