Introduction

Conversations about catalogues indicate that the boundaries of this terrain are currently in a state of flux. This situation is hardly new. Ruth French Stout, in 1956, recounts an eerily similar conversation from the sixteenth century:

At this time, when scholarship was entering upon a period of great activity motivated by such significant world movements as the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the dawn of scientific experimentation, library catalogues were still in a primitive state, completely inadequate for what must have been the demands of the age. It is unthinkable that the kinds of catalogues which we have been examining could ever have served as useful tools for the type of scholar that the period produced, for this was, you recall, the age of Scaliger, Galileo, Grotius, Descartes, Bacon and Kepler. If we are to learn from history, a study of the sixteenth century should certainly put us on the alert. Here in the midst of an enthusiasm for scholarship and intellectual activity which has not often, if ever, been equaled, library catalogues did not at all rise to the occasion. Rather it fell upon the scholars themselves both to originate the ideas and to make the initial attempts toward providing some kind of index to the world's learning.

Few would disagree that the library catalogue, along with other traditional information retrieval tools, endures periods of frantic experimentation that sometimes result in radical change. Factors driving these forces today include changing bibliographic codes, changing institutional priorities, and changing user expectations. Beginning in 2002, many cultural-heritage institutions began to experiment with radically new approaches to the traditional library catalogue. Whether we call these instantiations third-generation catalogues, next-generation catalogues (NGCs), or next-next-generation catalogues, these are most often characterized by a single search box, advanced query tools, faceted search capabilities, enhanced visual displays, and reliance on social technologies like tagging that encourage user interaction and participation (Breeding, 2010).

An Establishing Shot

A common contextual device in classic filmmaking, the establishing shot situates or provides the foundation for a scene by connecting important people, places, and developments. It helps the viewer appreciate the outlook of a film and may assist the viewer in the act of becoming immersed in the viewpoint and experiential stance of the filmmaker. The chief motivation for this issue is the act of creating an establishing shot. The articles and case studies highlighted herein seek to both interrogate and contribute to the ongoing conversation about the unfolding roles of the library catalogue in discovery and access to information. Any such effort must also acknowledge the limitations inherent in such an enterprise. The narrative contained in these pages is partial and imperfect, even as this issue's articles include investigations of the historical background of developments and innovations, as well as a smattering of works that articulate and describe both the theories and practices of approaches to next-generation discovery and access. The voices in these pages provide a mere sampling of a rich universe of experimentation, instantiation, and implementation. Through the creation of an establishing shot, this issue aims to provide a permanent record of the current state of "next-generation" library catalogues.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

One strategy deployed by authors in this issue is to provide insights into the role of heritage, or legacy, in contextualizing and thereby broadening understanding of current trends and developments in discovery and access. To get a sense of this trajectory, it can be helpful to review the names of a few of the earlier thinkers who still exert influence on developments in library catalogues today. Perhaps the most famous is Charles Ammi Cutter and his explicit statement of the "objects of the catalogue" (1876, p. 5):

1. 1. to enable a person to find a book of which either: the author, the title, the subject, the category is known.

2. 2. to show what the library has: by a given author, on a given subject, in a given kind of literature

3. 3. to assist in the choice of a book as to its edition (bibliographically), as to its character (literary or topical).

Cutter's objects were invoked and revised...