Professional Development Resources for Technical Services: Cataloging

Older webinars are freely available

Provided by the Library of Congress

Cataloging, metadata, and authority training materials provided by the Library of Congress and the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC)

Official standard of the U.S. archival community, adopted by the Society of American Archivists.

Links to various manuals from ALA's Rare Books and Manuscripts Section

2022 release of Rare Books and Manuscripts Section cataloging guidelines under RDA.

Comprehensive cataloging guidelines by the U.S. Government Publishing Office

Webinars, workshops, and best practices from the Music Library Association (MLA), Cataloging and Metadata Committee

Documentation provided by Yale University

Music cataloging resources and MOUG-L, an electronic discussion list and good place to ask music cataloging questions

Best Practices for cataloging a variety of formats including DVDs, streaming media, and video games

MARC Record Guidelines for electronic monographs, serials, and integrating resources

Active Listserv which can be used to ask questions of the cataloging community

Online Audiovisual Catalogers electronic discussion list

Open discussion of RDA, RDA Toolkit, and related topics on ALA Connect. (Also indexed in Cataloger's Desktop)

Latest conceptual model of the bibliographic universe incorporated into the Beta RDA Toolkit

Includes links to training materials

Access RDA: Resource Description and Access. Link to RDA Steering Committee (RSC) and RDA Discussion List. Demos of the RDA Toolkit. News & training resources

The original RDA Toolkit with free access to LC PCC Policy Statements under the Resources tab

Includes news, reports, guidance, and best practices. Its four programs are BIBCO, NACO, CONSER, and SACO

Contains linked data and Semantic Web representations of the elements and relationship designators approved by the RSC

Information in the About, Documentation, and Presentations sections can be helpful

Hosts RDA-related presentation and training videos for RDA Toolkit

Library of Congress initiative to create a foundation for bibliographic description based on the way information is organized on the web (a Linked Data approach)

Cataloging Ethics Steering Committee site which includes the Code of Ethics

Identifies the knowledge, skills, and behaviors used by cataloging and metadata professionals in libraries of all types and sizes (by the ALA ALCTS Cataloging Competencies Task Force).

Documentation from the Library of Congress for current standards and MARC development

MARC standards documentation from OCLC. Guide to the structure, coding practices, and input standards used in bibliographic records in the WorldCat database.

DCM Z1 contains LC guidelines for name and series authority records, with examples in MARC

Includes best practices, policies, and documentation for PCC authority work

2022 report by the PCC Ad Hoc Task Group

List of characters and punctuation and how they are normalized in searching

MarcEdit is a very useful tool for editing large batches of MARC records

Cataloging, classification, and subject resources. Also covers some special cataloging issues

Manuals and other documentation from ALA's Rare Books and Manuscripts Section

Country information on history, people and society, government, economy, energy, geography, communications, transportation, and military; also includes maps.

Indiana's Virtual Online Library which includes databases and other resources at no cost for Indiana residents. Search for 'Technical services (Libraries)', Cataloging, and/or Acquisitions for current articles (or search your library's databases)

List of standards and other cataloging tools

The Map and Geospatial Information Round Table of ALA

The Western Association of Map Libraries links to standards and tools for map cataloging and geographic names.