Telecataloging : a consideration of presentand future practices

Abstract

The concept of remote site cataloging or "telecataloging" (Hopkins 1994) follows more than three decades of technological developments in cataloging. These developments began in the 1960's when MARC (machine-readable cataloging) was established as the standard for coding bibliographic records to be read and interpreted by computers. The introduction of bibliographic databases, such as the OCLC Online Union Catalog (OLUC) in 1971, allowed catalogers to share their work electronically with other libraries and users throughout the world. The _Anglo-American Cataloging Rules_, 2nd edition, was published in 1978 (revised in 1988) in an effort to provide new standardization of the bibliographic description of an item, including computer files.