Yesterday's Heresy - Today's orthodoxy: An essay on the changing face of descriptive cataloging

Abstract

This article analyses four descriptive cataloging orthodoxies of the past-corporate authorship, uniform personal headings, the main entry, and the dominance of the card catalog-and contends that each has been overthrown, overtly or covertly. It contrasts the views of Cutter and Panizzi, mostly in the latter's favor, and alludes to the pronouncements of nineteenth and twentieth century luminaries and committees on the matters under discussion. The ways in which the MARC format has influenced descriptive cataloging, for good and ill, are also treated. The article closes with a plea for reason and the application of utilitarian principles.