Tools of the trade: cataloguing trade literature

Abstract

Trade literature can be used as primary source material for the study of subjects ranging from business history to the history of advertising. Historical collections of trade literature exist in museum, academic and special libraries in the UK and in the United States. Collections of current trade literature are also being developed as important resources for users by an increasing number of academic libraries supporting design- or construction-related courses. Many such collections however remain uncatalogued, or only appear in in-house manual catalogues and are therefore largely inaccessible. This ephemeral material appears in a wide variety of formats and media, and can present particular difficulties in terms of organisation and documentation. The ARLIS/UK & Ireland Cataloguing and Classification Committee is currently working on guidelines to help libraries address these problems and encourage the online cataloguing of trade literature collections.