Preface to the 1981 Edition

Preface to the 1981 Edition

As rare book catalogers and librarians began in 1977 and 1978 to make preparations for the adoption of the second edition of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR2), it became apparent that the code’s brief section on rare printed materials at the end of its second chapter might benefit from some expansion and elaboration to address in a more complete way the often troublesome questions of rare book description. A comparable reaction to the general provisions of ISBD(G) has already prompted the formation of a special working group within the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), which has as its goal the preparation of a complementary ISBD that might form the basis for international practice in the description of older materials.

Near the end of 1977, just as work was being completed on AACR2, the first draft of ISBD(A): International Standard Bibliographic Description for Older Books (Antiquarian) (1) was issued, and a few of its initial provisions were actually incorporated into AACR2. It was not possible, however, to delay the publication schedule of AACR2 while this and other ISBD work progresses toward conclusion. As the IFLA Working Group on ISBD(A) (under the guidance of Richard Christophers, British Library) issued succeeding drafts in 1978 and 1979, the Library of Congress and other rare book cataloging agencies in the United States watched the progress of the text with increasing interest, and many institutional and individual responses to the drafts were prepared and forwarded to the Working Group.

The need to have a single cataloging standard, based on AACR2 but approaching the cataloging of rare materials with the thoroughness of ISBD(A), increased in this country as planning for the North American participation in the Eighteenth-Century Short Title Catalogue (ESTC) commenced, and as the Library of Congress and other institutions around the country began to consider the question of rare book cataloging under AACR2. The Operations Test of the ESTC (1978, Terry Belanger, Columbia University, School of Library Service, Project Director) addressed the problem, and the Independent Research Libraries Association’s Ad Hoc Committee on Standards for Rare Book Cataloging in Machine-Readable Form (1978-79, Marcus McCorison, American Antiquarian Society, Chair) set the same issue high on its original agenda.

It was in this context that the Library of Congress began in June 1979 to prepare these rules for the descriptive cataloging of rare books under AACR2, combining appropriate sections of Chapters 1 and 2 of those rules as well as the expanded provisions from the most recent - now the final - draft of ISBD(A). In preparing these rules, the Library was aided by the efforts of the Athenaeum Group (John Lancaster, Amherst College Library, Chair), and informal organization made up of administrators and cataloging staff from some dozen New England rare book libraries, which had first met in 1978 at the Boston Athenaeum as an informal adjunct to the IRLA Ad Hoc Committee, and which continued after the completion of the Ad Hoc Committee’s work to study questions of rare book cataloging and computerized processing.

In addition, The Library has had valuable advice and comment from the staff of the North American Imprints Program at the American Antiquarian Society, which has assumed responsibility for supplying cataloging records to the ESTC for all 18th-century North American publications and which has already begun applying these rules in draft form.

A number of other libraries and individuals in the United States and Canada commented on earlier drafts of these rules, and the final text reflects many of these contributions.

These rules should be considered the Library of Congress’ interpretation of AACR2 Chapter 2 for its own cataloging of older printed materials. It is expected that the text may require revision over the course of time and comments on it from other institutions are welcomed.

These rules must be seen as supplementary to AACR2. As stated in provision 0A, "Scope Purpose," the general rules for the description of books, pamphlets, and printed sheets contained in AACR2, Chapter 2 may be appropriate for some older or rare materials, depending on the policy of the cataloging institution. Even for publications cataloged under these rules, the text of AACR2 proper must be applied for all aspects other than description (i.e., choice and form of access points, capitalization, etc.)

An important feature of these provisions for bibliographic description is that elements of data from a publication are generally transcribed as they appear, frequently without transposition or the other forms of intervention practiced by catalogers of ordinary books under AACR2. This tendency required that rare book catalogers be alert to the AACR2 provisions for uniform titles and added entries as a means of making their record as accessible as those in which transposition, etc., occurs. For example, rule 1B2 says that subsidiary titles, etc., preceding the chief title should be transcribed in this position. In such cases, a uniform title should be assigned so that the record will file under the chief title; a title added entry should also be made for this chief title. Conversely, rule 1F for single sheet publications allows the transcription of a genuine chief title on the sheet. A title added entry beginning with the words omitted is then essential so that anyone who does not recognize the chief title chosen by the cataloger may still have access to the record. These are merely two examples. The cataloger should be mindful of any such situations that require adding the proper access points to the bibliographic descriptions created under these provisions.

Acknowledgments:

Many individuals have contributed to the production of these rules. Lucia J. Rather, Director for Cataloging, Processing Services, Library of Congress, encouraged the effort from the start and gave generously of her time and knowledge to answer major policy questions raised by the committee she appointed to so the work. The committee was made up of present or former members of the Library of Congress staff, as follows: Stephen Paul Davis, Robert B. Ewald, Kay D. Guiles, J. William Matheson (also a member of the IFLA Working Group on ISBD(A)), Marion Schild, Roger J. Trienens, and Ben R. Tucker (Chair). Of equal importance to the Library of Congress committee was the fact that many individuals and institutions in the United States and Canada took time to comment on the draft of these rules, thereby sharing their expertise and knowledge with us.

I must mention specially the contributions made by the American Antiquarian Society and by the Athenaeum Group. In addition, I would like to acknowledge the cooperation and constructive criticism offered by Richard Christophers (British Library), who served as chair of the IFLA Working Group on ISBD(A). Finally, many thanks must go to Lisa Cockran for the long hours she spent at the Lexitron preparing this manuscript for publication.

Ben R. Tucker

Chief, Office for Descriptive Cataloging Policy