Format Integration and the Design of Cataloging and Classification Curricula

Cataloging is a dynamic and ever changing activity. Developments in codes and standards create a need for continuing reconsideration of the design of our curricula. Format integration, in particular, raises questions about the structure of curricula for cataloging and classification. The issues relating to differing formats of materials are not new, but the process of standardization of treatment, which was begun quite tentatively in the development of the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR) has blossomed to the fore in the ensuing years. This paper examines the historical context of the integration of formats before addressing the continuingarguments that maintain that all types of materials should be treated in an introductory course as opposed to those that assert that format issues should not be covered in any depth in an introductory course. A design for an integrated, but not exhaustive, treatment of formats in an introductory course with more detailed coverage included in advanced courses is proposed. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery