Historical and Current Implications of Cataloguing Quality for Next-Generation Catalogues

Discussions of quality in library cataloguing are traced from early library science literature to current debates. Three studies that examine dimensions of quality cataloguing in academic libraries, public libraries, and school libraries and a review of vendor processes update the issues surrounding a definition of bibliographic record quality and quality assurance processes. The implications of perceptions of bibliographic record quality on next-generation catalogues are presented with emphasis on the shift in the cataloguer's judgment from rigid standards for transcription to meeting the requirement for more metadata that matches the user need of find-ability.