Romanization in Cataloging of Korean Materials

This paper analyzes cataloging rules for Korean materials focusing on the McCune-Reischauer (MR)1 system, the Korean romanization scheme currently used in the United States. This system has been used for a long time in many Western countries, and was officially adopted by the Library of Congress (LC) for use in the cataloging of Korean language materials. Considering users’ information-seeking behavior and searching abilities, however, the MR system has many drawbacks for increasing users’ ability to retrieve information. This paper analyzes bibliographic records in academic libraries, the LC, and the Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) to identify the issues and problems of the MR system. A user survey conducted demonstrates that theMR system is not a user-customized tool based on users’ searching ability. Several solutions are suggested to overcome the limitations of the MR system.