n. (also catalogue)a compilation of concise descriptions of library and archives resources, especially those conforming to standardsNARS 1972, ivThe microfilm publications are briefly described in the Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications (1972). This catalog presents a select portion of that catalog.Gundry 1975, 97On January 1, 1975 the Public Archives of British Columbia inaugurated a new system of cataloguing manuscripts. All material catalogued since that date has been listed in a new catalogue. Material described by the old method will be recatalogued, but until the recataloguing is completed, researchers will have to consult both the old and new catalogues, which are located together in the reference room.Taylor-Vaisey 1977, 214What of the catalogue as a guide to archival resources? From the outset it must be noted that the arrangement of the contents is rather disappointing, failing to follow the archival principles of provenance and respect des fonds. There is no need to harp on the fact that the archivist and librarian both handle information, but differ in their methods of organizing that information. An archivist, however, would not have used the same priorities in organizing the material as those evidenced in this work, and would thus have been better able to provide the optimum access to the fine regional historical collection in London which this catalogue does not.APPM2 1989, 3-4An archival catalog may be only one part of a more complex institutional descriptive system, which may include several other types of finding aids (e.g., registers, inventories, calendars, indexes, and shelf and container lists).v. (also catalogue) to create a concise description of a library or archives resourceSchellenberg 1959, 57In the last century, when there was a paucity of research materials and when such materials were housed mainly by historical societies that served as libraries or by libraries themselves, the methods employed were primarily those of librarians. In the Massachusetts Historical Society, for example, the manuscript collections were usually bound in books, the contents of the books were indexed, and the books themselves were cataloged. If the manuscripts did not lend themselves to binding, the individual documents were handled separately and were separately cataloged.Martin 1994, 482The paper concludes with an admonition for archivists and traditional catalogers to work collaboratively to catalog archival and manuscript collections.Hensen 1997, 289Underpinning this is the conviction that it is both appropriate and desirable to catalog and describe archival materials as a part of those systems which describe more traditional library materials such as books, films, serials, maps, sound recordings, graphics, etc. It is thus now axiomatic from the point of view of access to research information that there are logical, vital, and inextricable relationships among all of these materials, and that it is important to show those relationships in a bibliographic context.Uhrich 2018, 550For example, chapter 2, “Accessioning, Arrangement, and Description,” offers guidance on when to catalog media holdings at a collection or item level.
