The ISSN Network as an Example of International Cooperative Cataloging

The primary role of the ISSN Register, the ISSN Network’s international database of ISSN records, is to serve as in international authority file of ISSN, key titles, and linking ISSN. This almost 1.5 million-record database also contains descriptive cataloging information contributed over the course of 35+ years by an increasing number of ISSN centers, currently numbering 87. This article examines the ISSN Network as a cooperative cataloging venture, highlighting its atypical features and pointing out where those features have anticipated some current trends. For example, ISSN centers are located mainly in national libraries but also in non-library centers such as scientific and technical organizations; centers may work directly in the ISSN database or in local or cooperative databases; ISSN centers use a variety of cataloging rules to create national or local records which are then exported to the international database in several possible formats. ISSN records are “language neutral,” relying on coding to communicate information not transcribed from the cataloging source. Although ISSN records contain fewer elements than typical catalog records, they have served the Network well over the years and have served as copy for further elaboration by LC, other CONSER institutions, and libraries around the world. ISSN records can be viewed as an example of “good enough” cataloging. The development of the ISSN Network, its catalogingmanual, and its current practices are described. This article also provides a personal perspective on how the ISSN Register has succeeded as a cooperative database in spite of the challenges presented by the significant diversity of its member institutions and their practices.