Current trends in cataloguing and the challenges of a cataloguer in the digital age

Abstract

The paper explains the challenges faced by cataloguers in this age of Information explosion and Information Communication Technology (ICT) and the attendant innovations and trends that are required to cope in this new environment. Cataloguing is not just building a catalogue, but about providing users with timely access to information relevant to their needs. The task of identifying resources collected by libraries, results in rich metadata that can be used for many purposes. It involves describing resources and showing their relationships to persons, families, corporate bodies and other resources, thereby enabling users to navigate through libraries to quickly get information they need. The metadata constructed throughout the life cycle of a resource is especially valuable to many types of users, from creators of resources to publishers, subscription agents, book vendors, resource aggregators, system vendors, libraries and other institutions, and end users. The new international cataloguing code, RDA (resource description and access) is discussed in this paper, with a view to meet fundamental user tasks in a way that produces wellformed, interconnected metadata for the digital environment.

Keywords: cataloguing, RDA, digital environment, metadata, resources description