Cataloguing Exhibition Catalogues

Cataloging Exhibition Publications: Best Practices

Subjects

Written and compiled by:

Lynda Bunting, Sherman Clarke, Marly Helm, S. Isidor Justeson, Elizabeth Lilker, Elizabeth O'Keefe, Sarah Quimby, Daniel Starr, Lori Van Deman.

This new Online Publication provides invaluable insights into cataloging subject heading fields for exhibition catalogs -- illuminating the particular issues and challenges associated with these 6xx fields, including meeting names, named works of art, and the use of genre terms.

This publication of best practices, created by the ARLIS/NA Cataloging Advisory Committee, is devoted to providing practical guidance to catalogers working with art exhibition publications. These guidelines are intended to be used in conjunction with other cataloging documentation, including Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules 2nd edition, 2002 revision (AACR2), and its successor, Resource Description and Access (RDA), Library of Congress Rule Interpretations (LCRI), and MARC21.

The cataloging of exhibition publications poses unique challenges to new and experienced catalogers alike. These types of publications often require more use of a cataloger's judgment, and more intervention in terms of transposing, omitting, and supplying data. Decision-making about the choice of a primary access point can be quite involved, and local practices and guidelines greatly affect how an exhibition publication is cataloged.

This new online publication is the third devoted to providing best practice guidelines for cataloging exhibition catalogs. The series of three are:

Title and Statement of Responsibility: http://www.arlisna.org/resources/onlinepubs/cataloging.pdf
Note Fields: http://www.arlisna.org/pubs/onlinepubs/cat_exhib_pub.pdf
Subject Headings: http://www.arlisna.org/pubs/onlinepubs/cat_best_pract-subjects.pdf