General

A study reported in 1971 of 3,905 Indonesian authors listed in 5 different Indonesian bibliographies over varying time periods showed thatmost names were entered under the last element of the name, while only 648 (18%) were entered under the first element of the name. Of these 648 names, 90% are Indonesian names of Chinese origin, where the first element of the name is the surname.   (Source)

Academic

A 1977 survey of academic libraries with collections of 300,000 volumes or more that were also OCLC members concerning cataloging practices (survey size: 147 libraries; responding: 121 or 82.3%) showed thatwhen cataloging copy was not available, 95% of the larger (900,000 volumes or more) libraries and 84% of the smaller (under 900,000 volumes) libraries followed LC practice when assigning call numbers and establishing the form of name headings, subject headings, and series entries. However, “one-third” of the larger libraries and “one-half” of the smaller libraries that follow LC practice used a local call number system for some materials. These were generally microforms, juvenile literature, and theses.               (Source)

A study reported in 1982 concerning the impact of AACR 2 on the card catalog in a medium-sized (740,000 volumes) academic library, based on a random sample of 909 catalog records (1,714 headings) taken from a year’s pre-AACR 2, OCLC archival tapes and searched in the post-AACR 2, OCLC LC name authority file, showed that217 (12.7%) different headings required changes under AACR 2 rules. 43% of these “unique” headings were verified in the online name authority file as of January 1981.                       (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thatthe distribution of changes to be made by type of heading was as follows:

                personal (1,246 headings)                98 ( 7.9%) changes

                corporate (125 headings)                 53 (42.4%) changes

                geographical (153 headings)             20 (13.1%) changes

                uniform title (34 headings)                   1 (2.9%) changes

                series (156 headings)                        45 (28.8%) changes

However, since not every heading that required a change under AACR 2 was already represented in the catalog, the number of conflicts was less than the number of changes. The number of conflicts by type of heading was as follows:

                personal (1,246 headings)              85 (6.8%) conflicts

                corporate (125 headings)               27 (21.6%) conflicts

                geographical (153 headings)           15 (9.8%) conflicts

                uniform title (34 headings)               1 (2.9%) conflicts

                series (156 headings)                     42 (26.9%) conflicts                 (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thata summary review of the literature came up with the following rates of difference (“headings which would be constructed differently under AACR 2”) and rates of conflict (“AACR 2 headings for names already entered in the catalog under a different form”):

                of 295 records and 541 headings studied at Johns Hopkins University, the rate of difference was 17.3% and the rate of conflict was 11%;

                of 484 records studied at Duke University the rate of conflict was 15.5%;

                of 330 titles and 577 headings at Emory University the rate of difference was 15%;

                of 300 titles and 447 headings at the University of Minnesota the rate of difference was 3%;

                of 258 headings at the University of Washington the rate of difference was 30%;

                of 325 titles and 644 entries at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, the rate of difference was 20.3%.                 (Source)

Dr. David Kohl

 "Libraries in the digital age are experiencing the most profound transformation since ancient Mesopotamian scribes first began gathering and organizing cuneiform tablets."

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