Ohio Reference
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Catalog as Reference Source
The catalog can be your most effective reference tool.
The Library Catalog
No matter how many resources you examine every day, you just
can't know all of them! The catalog is an organized list of the library's collection and
helps you find resources in different ways. It's both a good beginning to your strategy
and a resource in itself. It is useful in several ways.
- Use the catalog to find books which will have sections on your topic, even though the
book is not cataloged under that topic. For example, when a patron asks for information on
German Shepherds, and the catalog shows nothing under that specific breed of dog, you
would then look up "dogs" and check the general books on the subject for
chapters on German Shepherds.
- Sometimes it takes very creative use of the catalog to find a book which will help on
more obscure topics. For example, something on old egg beaters might be found in books on
kitchen implements, general antiques, metal tools, folk designs, or histories of
technology, among others. It is good practice to check first under the most specific
heading you can think of. If you don't find what you need, broaden your search.
- Use entries for other books on the same subject to help you find the correct subject
headings to use. For example, if you don't know the subject heading, you may do a keyword
search. If the term you used isn't in a subject heading but appears in the title of a
book, from that catalog record you can get the correct subject headings to use.
- Use the catalog to quickly locate miscellaneous information such as authors' names and
dates. Or use call numbers from sources that you found in your search to determine a good
place to start browsing the shelves.
New Connections: Web, OPAC, ILS
Remember the card catalog? Accessing records for library
resources is easier online, but you're still tied to the machine! Locating terminals
throughout the library is one solution. A more recent concept is roving access, using
laptops or PDAs and wireless networks.
Another catalog challenge is connecting the library collection
to Web resources. One method to bring all resources together is to use Dewey (or whatever
classification system your library uses) to organize links to recommended Web resources,
at the reference workstation and on the Web. Dewey can be used to organize Web links for
users, reinforcing the connection between catalog subject headings and categories of
related Web resources. Increasingly, your catalog may connect to the web and be part of an integrated library system or ILS. (See sidebar for new links about cataloging.)
Major Point: The catalog is a good place to start your search and can help you find
books, subject headings, or author names and dates.
1. Locate an encyclopedia of science and/or technology in the catalog.
2. Locate a handbook of chemistry and/or physics in the catalog.
3. Look in your catalog for books about Ohio. Look closely at the catalog records for 2
or 3 of these items. What can you learn about dates for the authors? What can you learn
about other subject headings to help you find more resources?
Answers
Types of reference tools
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Catalog connections
"Next-Gen Catalogs" in Library Technology Reports, Jul/Aug 2007 (43:4), by Marshall Breeding, who describes "efforts to create new catalogs and interfaces more in tune with today's expectations." Covers terminology associated with the "next-generation" catalog situation as well as such areas as federated searching and other features expected in the "next-generation" interfaces: faceted navigation, relevancy, the "did you mean?" feature, and RSS.
New features for WorldCat, with more than a billion items from OCLC libraries:
-Add a Worldcat search box sites.
-Search from browser toolbars.
-Build Web links to WorldCat info.
-OCLC and Google agree to exchange data and link digitized books to WorldCat.
Fun
with Our Meebo Widget and the Library Catalog (David Lee King blog). "When a customer searches
our catalog and doesn’t find anything, they can contact us via IM and ask for help."
Catalogablog, good stuff for
library cataloging, classification, metadata, and subject access info.
Cataloging in a digital world: Resource Description and
Access, designed for the digital world, guidelines and instructions on resource description
and access covering all types of content and media (expected in 2009 and built on foundations established by the
Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules).
Catalogs help you find books, subject headings, and author names and
dates. It's an index to the library and a good place to start a search.
The catalog gives locations for books on the shelf and other resources in the library.
 Library resources are classified so
that they will be organized on shelves. Some libraries also organize online resources for
users with the DDC. For example, the Webrary® is a service of the Morton Grove Public Library.
"Webrary Links pages consist of links to the most useful reference and informational
web sites, organized by subject according to Dewey Decimal System call numbers."
Check specific terms, synonyms, & broader terms in the catalog to
use the catalog effectively:
Look up the most specific term first.
Example: Daylight Savings Time. Try "daylight."
Then try a synonym. Example: Whose
picture is on a $20 bill? If there is no entry under "paper money," try
"currency."
Then broaden the search term.
Example: If you are looking for the speed of a lion and find nothing under
"lion," broaden to "animals."
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