Languages of the World: Cataloging Issues and Problems

This practical guide helps library catalogers deal with specific problems in cataloging materials in languages from all parts of the world. Even the most experienced catalogers frequently have to handle materials in languages with which they are not familiar. Cataloging such materials can be bewildering when the cataloger must face the challenges of identifying the language, creating bilingual catalog systems, or cataloging by names in languages with entirely different naming systems. Languages of the World is invaluable as a resource of practical solutions for cataloging specific languages or groups of languages, and it has much advice for helping patrons locate materials in languages other than their own. Catalogers will find specific and practical advice for dealing with field recordings in Native American languages, Chinese legal materials, materials in Icelandic languages, African languages, Middle Eastern Languages, Central Asian languages, and languages of India and the Pacific. Some of the cataloging methods covered in Languages of the World include using archives and manuscript control formats to provide access to a large collection of Spanish materials, using the PA schedule for cataloging the literature of classical antiquity, the advantages and disadvantages of vernacular versus transliterated Hebrew, and cooperative cataloging from the point of view of a Southeast Asian bibliographer.This informative guide analyzes such topics as cooperative cataloging and the role of national libraries, such as the a National Library of Canada and the Bibliothèque Nationale in France, in cataloging a variety of languages. Catalogers at all levels of expertise will learn much from chapters that discuss:

• how to identify unfamiliar languages
• descriptive cataloging when materials lack sources of information such as title pages, do not have uniform titles, or feature non-Western calendars and dating
• subject cataloging under inadequate and confusing LC subject headings for specialized collections
• cooperative and shared cataloging
• collection-level cataloging
• minimal level cataloging
• bilingual cataloging
• the role of subject headings in access to information for non-native speakersExperienced catalogers searching for new and better ways to catalog materials in many languages as well as beginning catalogers confused by unfamiliar languages will find this to be an essential book. Languages of the World combines practical cataloging strategies with specific language examples to create a complete guide to successful cataloging in a wide variety of languages.

Contents Issues and Problems in Cataloging the Languages of the World

• Part I: Specific Languages or Groups of Languages
• Cataloging Field Recordings of American Indian Languages
• Cataloging Icelandic Materials
• The Spanish Comedias(in ital.) Project at the University of Colorado: A Case for Collection-Level Cataloging
• The Literature of Classical Antiquity and the PA Schedule
• A Cooperative Cataloging Proposal for Slavic and East European Languages and the Languages of the Former Soviet Union
• Cataloging of Materials in African Languages
• A Look at Hebraica Cataloging in the United States: Access Versus Cost
• Cataloging of Middle Eastern Materials (Arabic, Persian, and Turkish)
• Central Asian Cataloging: Problems and Prospects
• Languages of India: Cataloging Issues
• Is Cooperative Cataloging Realistic? Thoughts of a Southeast Asian Bibliographer
• The Cataloging of Chinese Legal Materials
• The Languages of the Pacific
• Part II: Non-Specific Languages
• Cataloging Non-English Government Publications in a Medium Research Library
• Cataloging in the Official and Heritage Languages at the National Library of Canada
• Cataloging at the Bibliothèque Nationale
• Cataloging Non-English Materials at Cleveland Public Library: A One Hundred Twenty-Four Year History
• Part III: Viewpoint of the Patron
• The Role of Subject Headings in Access to Information: The Experience of One Spanish-Speaking Patron
• Reference Notes Included
• Index