The Concise AACR2 (4th ed.)

Citation

Sukkar, L. (2005), "The Concise AACR2 (4th ed.)", Library Management, Vol. 26 No. 6/7, pp. 422-422. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120410609851

The Concise AACR2 4th edition is a must have for all students, librarians in the information services sectors who might need to deal with the basic rules of cataloguing to input a simple record in a library management system (ILM). It is a very comprehensive, informative, and easy to follow resource for the national cataloguing standards written in a clear and simple language. It summarizes the cataloguing rules contained in the 2002 revised edition of AACR2 and refers users to the original rule for issues not covered by the concise text. New examples are provided for each rule in a very clear and simple display. Although the main focus is on monographs, the author also included important examples for serial and integrating resources.

Readers of the Concise AACR2 are introduced to two parts. Part one, which deals with the description of library materials while the second part deals with rules belonging to headings, access points, uniform titles and references.

The first part deals with different areas of the descriptive cataloguing rules, such as the chief source of information for different formats. General rules of punctuation are covered at this point with examples given in different layouts. In Rule 1 titles and statements of responsibility are covered and examples are given for items with or without collective titles, parallel titles, other title information. The most comprehensive area is the note area, which is covered in section 7. Throughout this part emphasis on integrating resources can be noticed and examples for electronic resources are given frequently.

The second part deals with the choice of access points, headings for persons, corporate bodies, geographic names, uniform titles and references.

At the end of the book readers can find three appendices that cover capitalization, glossary and a comparative table of rule numbers. Although the book does not cover each and every rule in AACR2, it does provide a practical and essential introduction to new cataloguers or in this matter cataloguers who need an update or a reminder of the rules.