International standardization of cataloguing and bibliographical records; the work of the IFLA Committee on Cataloguing

Abstract

The IFLA Committee on Cataloguing has been concerned since 1954 with reaching international standards for cataloguing and bibliographical records. The International Conference on cataloguing Principles in 1961, which dealt with the choice and form of entry word, drew up a Statement of Principles which has since been accepted as the basis for 17 national cataloguing codes. The International Meeting of Cataloguing Experts in I969 carried on the work of the ICCP by re-examining the Statement of Principles, then went on to consider the possibility of establishing similar standards for the descriptive content of the catalogue entry. Its delegates also looked at the new impetus given to the demands for uniformity by the introduction of the machine in library techniques. The sense of urgency in achieving these aims in its turn led to the establishment of the permanent secretariat of the Committe to act as co-ordinating centre, to promote cataloguing projects and to disseminate information. In the year since its establishment the committee has produced two publications and the first issues of a new journal about cataloguing activities. The long term objective of the Committee is to assist in the creation of an international system for the exchange of bibliographical information through the establishment of international standards in cataloguing codes and practices.