This review discusses articles and publications of interest to all involved in the preservation of library materials. It includes English-language materials only, but not articles of a technical nature, except those that have a broad appeal. It is not a comprehensive bibliography of preservation literature, but a selection of significant publications and informative articles. It comprises an introductory essay and a classified bibliography, annotated where necessary. A few items from 1987 that appeared after the 1988 re-view was written are included here.
This review is based upon examination of significant articles on various aspects of serials work appearing during 1988, These articles appeared primarily in journals, conference proceedings, and annual publications. Some conferences were held in 1987, but the published proceedings appeared in 1988 and are therefore included in this review. Some articles cover multiple topics, but each is discussed under only one heading to save space.
The focus of this article is a review of the subject access literature for 1988. English-language books, journal articles, CD-ROM, and micro-forms are included. Topics covered in this review include online subject access, standard subject heading lists, proposed alternatives to subject heading lists, authority work, classification schemes, and new product information. Most of these topics are not discussed as separate issues. Change is ongoing in the library profession, and many of the topics important to subject access are interrelated. The online environment changes the ways in which subject information is accessed and available. Online public access catalogs and new formats for old tools bring about and are the result of changes in librarianship and information services.
Selecting items for inclusion in a year's work article on the reproduction
of library materials is never easy, because of the diversity of the subjects
covered. This year, where the year's work articles have been allotted two-thirds
of the space they had last year, my overview of the literature has had to be
cursory at best. In the sections that follow I have noted references that seemed
to me likely to be of special interest to the members of the Reproduction of
Library Materials Section of the Resources and Technical Services Division of
ALA. With one exception (Horder, 1987) everything listed was published in 1988.
Subjects covered include the use of microforms in libraries, micropublishing,
and the technical production of microforms. In addition there are sections on
newer technologies, including optical disc and telefacsimile. And with more
ways of reproducing library materials, the question of copyright is of increasing
concern to authors, publishers, and librarians everywhere.
In the practical world, the term cataloging encompasses much more than just
description and subject analysis. In this paper, therefore, more than descriptive
cataloging is covered. Also included are related topics such as the functions
and structure of catalogs, authority work, cataloging management topics such
as retrospective conversion and backlogs, and preparation for cataloging. Subject
analysis, serials cataloging, and library automation per se are excluded.
The most prominent characteristic of the 1988 literature relating to cataloging
was the heavy representation of papers concerned with the underlying theories
and assumptions of catalogs and cataloging rules, and of papers which reported
or proposed extension of those principles and mechanisms to materials previously
treated outside the mainstream of bibliographic practices.