March 31, 2004 AACR2 Added to Cataloger's Desktop on the Web

The Cataloging Distribution Service (CDS) of the Library of Congress and the co-publishers of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd edition (AACR2) have agreed to add the AACR2 to the Web edition of the widely used cataloging tool from CDS, Cataloger's Desktop. Currently in test, AACR2 soon will be available to users of the Web version of Cataloger's Desktop, which provides the cataloging documentation resources in an integrated, online system.

The agreement to include AACR2 in Cataloger's Desktop on the Web was signed by representatives of the Library of Congress and the American Library Association on behalf of the co-publishers of AACR (the American Library Association, the Canadian Library Association and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals). AACR2 has been in the CD-ROM version of Cataloger's Desktop for many years.

"The addition of AACR2 to the Web version of Cataloger's Desktop represents a big leap forward in Web-based cataloging for librarians all over the world," said Kathryn Mendenhall, chief of CDS.

The rules in AACR2 form the basis for descriptive cataloging practice in the English-speaking library community, with implications for cataloging standardization worldwide. Their inclusion in Cataloger's Desktop on the Web ensures that Web-based cataloging will employ standardized description, which in turn makes the cataloging interchangeable from one catalog to the next. When the Web version of Cataloger's Desktop becomes available as a subscription publication in June 2004, AACR2 will be available for around-the-clock online consultation.

The Cataloging Distribution Service of the Library of Congress has provided publications and services to the international cataloging community on a cost-recovery basis for more than 100 years. Additional information about CDS and Cataloger's Desktop is available online at www.loc.gov/cds/desktop/.

Additional information about the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd edition, is available online at www.aacr2.org.