As a practising cataloguer I hearty welcome this timely and comprehensive overview about the current state of education for library cataloguing in the different parts of the world. An interesting, curious and informative reading for anyone concerned in the future of cataloguing in the era of fast development of modern technology for shared information resources. The book includes articles on a wide range of topics in library cataloguing and classification contributed from 21 countries on six continents. The articles are compiled geographically, which makes it convenient to refer to the countries covered in each region.
Educators in the field of librarianship and professional librarians discuss a wide range of topics on formal and continuing education of cataloguers and technical services staff.
The well‐documented articles are supported by bibliographies of cited works as well as helpful charts and tables demonstrating educational programmes and curriculae for nurturing cataloguing professionals in different countries of the world.
The cataloguing librarians have been “the cornerstone of library services for centuries”.
The quality of their education highly influences their ability to effectively deal with the versatile challenges in the demanding field of knowledge management.
Librarians in different parts of the world cooperate and combine their efforts in the unification of cataloguing standards, rules and practices. I would add that the modern ever‐expanding growth of information and the advent of the internet expand the significance of the cataloguing profession, thus making it even more challenging.
This volume contributes greatly towards the understanding of the trends in current state of education and training for cataloguing and classification around the world.
Three first articles examine the education and training of library cataloguers in Africa.. Authors from Botswana, Nigeria and South Africa contributed their thoughts and results of their researches towards this volume. We learn about the formal education in librarianship and on‐job training, and continuing education in Botswana, where author also looks at the restructuring of the cataloguing and acquisition units in the University of Botswana Library in an attempt to ensure quality records. Problems regarding the training of cataloguers in the workplace are summarised. A widely discussed question of the relevance of cataloguing also has influenced a library science curriculum in Cross River State of Nigeria. Challenges and outcomes of the education and training of cataloguing students through distant education, implementing interactive instruction and multimedia are discussed in the paper devoted to South Africa.
From Africa we travel to Asia to look at the education and training of cataloguing librarians in China, India, Japan and Korea.
Z. Ma carefully discusses educational programmes at different levels where cataloguing, classification and subject analyses are generally the core courses in the university curricula. This article is supported by the next one where Li Si offers a very detailed analyses of the status quo and future development of cataloguing and classification in China, supplemented with a lengthy table outlining universities that offer cataloguing and classification module in undergraduates programmes. Since the number and type of libraries are so large in China both of these articles are of certain interest. Next, we learn of the present situation and current status of library cataloguing education in India, Japan and South Korea. The interesting results of survey conducted in South Korean academic libraries reveal the necessity of the cooperation of formal education and organised job training plus the opportunity to learn foreign languages to understand and process foreign information and publications. Three authors introduce the education for cataloguing in Australia. Gillie Hallam provides highly interesting information on an innovative approach to teaching descriptive cataloguing at the University of Queensland, which encourages students to think critically about broader issues. The results of this pilot project are beyond expectations as students clearly indicated that learning about descriptive cataloguing, a good knowledge of AACR2 and MARC is highly relevant. Following two article depicting cataloguing content in LIS programmes in Australian Universities add the results of the survey of the practicing cataloguers which made it clear that a “sound foundation in bibliographic organization skills and knowledge is still the key to effective professional practice.”
Europe – readers gain an access to the detailed information on the training of library cataloguers in Germany and Austria. Of particular interest is the discussion on the possible migration away from German cataloguing rules and formats to international rules. A well‐developed librarian education system structure exists in Poland with the almost 200 years‐long tradition. “This is so because the first matter of library education were university lectures on bibliography and naturally linked teaching on cataloguing and classification since the first half of the 19th century”. The article with the romantic title “Cataloguing education on the sunny side of the Alps” depicts the status of library and information science education in one of the smallest countries in Europe Slovenia. An always existed emphasis on cataloguing and classification courses allows Slovenia to have a “healthy LIS education program”. The importance of cataloguing module in the library science programmes is well accepted in Spain as prove the results of the critical descriptive study of the education for cataloguing in Spanish universities. Cataloguing is represented as a core and compulsory subject within the three‐year programme, which is culminated by a work practice of students in libraries to receive an important practical experience in cataloguing. Slightly different situation is in the British Isles. A survey of postgraduate education and training for cataloguing clearly shows that as for the general opinion of the graduates there is not enough is being taught on cataloguing and classification and with a very little practical content.
For Latin America, we learn of the current curriculum in teaching of information processing in Buenos Aires that is comprehensive and flexible and meets the needs of contemporary society. Education for cataloguing and classification in Mexico traditionally features a strong emphasis on cataloguing and classification learning. Next, A.M. Talavera informs on the development of education in cataloguing and bibliographic control in Peru. Four final articles cover the educational issues on cataloguing in Middle East. The library curriculae in Egypt show the increasing focus on machine‐readable cataloguing and automated environment while strengthening of the practical part of cataloguing education. In Iran training of cataloguing professionals experiences great modifications in terms of better compatibility with international standards, greater use of computers and electronic media, and the Internet. Cataloguing module is the requirement in the instructional frameworks in Israel, but the length of the course has been reduced over years. Finally Z. Khushi explains the necessity of continuing education for cataloguers in Saudi Arabia due to the lack of recent changes in cataloguing courses and slow response to the new trends and issues in the organisation of information.
This volume is a valuable collection of the most interesting and educational articles that will surely inspire further publications on this important topic of international education for library cataloguing. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the editors for their efforts in identifying and locating authors all over the world to provide access to the knowledge of the international issues and status of education for cataloguing in different countries conveniently collected in one volume.
