Ably edited by Robert Holley, this collection is organized into four parts:
- 1.
historical studies;
- 2.
research studies;
- 3.
position papers; and
- 4.
a section specifically addressing Ruth Carter's many accomplishments.
In the first section Henderson depicts Carter's library science education at the University of Illinois; her career, most of which was spent at the University of Pittsburgh; her research and publication record, and her contributions to professional associations culminating in her presidency of ALCTS. Ewbank conducts an interview with Carter, reprising her career and eliciting her thoughts on the future of both cataloging as a profession and cataloging research. Roe, Culbertson, and Jizba conduct a statistical analysis of Cataloging & Classification Quarterly (CCQ) from 1990 to 2006, analyzing the publications by article type, topics, and other criteria to provide a picture of cataloging research trends during Carter's tenure as editor of CCQ. The final entry in this section is a poem about Carter by Sheila Intner.
Historical studies are addressed in the second section of this book. Joachim describes the availability of books and other reading material in early 19th century Indiana, concluding that reading material was generally available to individuals in what was then the western frontier. Bowman explores the practice of annotating catalog cards in British public libraries, a practice that was common a century ago, but which has all but been abandoned today. Ayres and Ridley summarize the many research projects conducted at the Leeds University Library during the last 25 years, and the impact of many of these projects on the development and maintenance of a national database. Bianchini and Guerrini discuss the Italian cataloging rules and their relationship with international cataloging rules and conventions.
Seven research studies are included in the third, and strongest, section of this book. Hill discusses the factors affecting the ability of technical services librarians to achieve tenure in academic institutions. Smiraglia shares his research into the relationships among 20th century best‐selling books. Beall and Kafadar report on the results of their study on the impact of typographical errors on record retrieval in online catalogs. Bothmann discusses the educational, training, and mentoring needs of non‐book catalogers, confirming that library school education does not adequately prepare catalogers for their first job, thereby requiring subsequent on‐the‐job training. Myall and Chambers show that cataloging copy for video materials requires significantly more editing than does that for print monographs. Holley explores the percentage of technical services papers presented at the ACRL annual conferences from 1979 to 2005 and finds that technical services papers are in fact underrepresented at ACRL.
Of the six position papers in the final section, three stand out. These include Yee's comparison of traditional cataloging with descriptive bibliography, abstracting and indexing practices, and metadata, as well as Tillett's analysis of the challenges facing efforts to use international standard numbers to identify entities, and Condron's case study of how using the concept of self‐responsibility has increased personal effectiveness at her institution.
It is all too rare that we pay tribute to our distinguished and deserving colleagues for their many accomplishments or long and fruitful careers. This eclectic collection of papers in honor of Ruth Carter is a welcome addition to the research on cataloging, and it is fitting that it is published simultaneously in the journal to which she devoted well over 20 years of her scholarship and guidance. It would be a useful addition to academic libraries that do not already subscribe to Cataloging & Classification Quarterly.
