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The current need for performance measurement and quality targets for services to users requires suitable performance indicators for libraries to use. This paper looks at the self‐assessment audit tool for catalogue quality developed by UKOLN in collaboration with Essex libraries. For the tool a checklist of errors was drawn up, which can then be used to assess the quality of records within a catalogue using a sample of library stock. The tool can be used to assess the quality of catalogue records for monographs and non‐book materials (but not serials), for complete collections or parts of collections and for records created at different periods. This paper describes the tool and the process of making the assessment and reports on the results of the pilot study carried out at the University of Bath library in 2000.

This study attempts to compare the National Library of Malaysia (NLM)'s cataloguing in publication (CIP) records with their permanent records in the NLM's online public access catalogue (OPAC) database.

The study compares the description of records in the NLM CIP versus NLM OPAC in terms of similarities and differences in the bibliographic elements for each record. The study selected the NLM's CIP records from January to April 2000, allowing more than 5 years for publishers to publish the registered CIP titles and also the NLM to make the records available in their OPAC database.

The findings indicate that libraries that use NLM's CIP records in their copy cataloguing activity should not rely 100 per cent on the records. Verifications and modifications need to be carried out to ensure accuracy and quality of their catalogue records.

That Malaysian experience confirms research carried out previously elsewhere.

The findings of the study are significant in terms of giving data about whether NLM's CIP records are trustworthy sources for the practical task of copy cataloguing or not.

Although comparison studies of the accuracy and consistency of CIP records versus OPAC records are commonplace, having been conducted extensively since the 1980s in a variety of contexts, such a comparison study of CIP records versus OPAC records has never been conducted in Malaysia. With the increased usage of web‐based OPACs as one source option for copy cataloguing, it is imperative to ensure the records copied are consistent and accurate to avoid post‐alteration of the bibliographic description.

The purpose of this paper is to suggest that cataloguing departments and agencies could benefit from Fourth Industrial Revolution and advanced technologies.

A desk research based on literature review extracted from different information sources. Literature was interpreted based on the search of the researcher on key concepts of the topic.

Literature indicates new trends in cataloguing and how technologies could be incorporated into cataloguing.

This study can inform policies on artificial intelligence adoption in cataloguing.

The 4IR and artificial intelligence does not often occur in cataloguing literature. Linking 4IR and advanced technologies, artificial intelligence and robotic science in cataloguing could inform policies and practice in cataloguing.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to prevent the spread of disease, the National Library of Indonesia Cataloging Department adopted remote working. There is a need to examine the productivity of remote cataloging as this form of cataloging becomes more prevalent.

The study was conducted using a mixed methods approach. The authors analyzed data to assess cataloging librarians' productivity based on system logs. Then, the authors interviewed librarians to understand librarians' perspectives concerning productivity and remote cataloging, and also to seek insights into factors that may affect productivity while working remotely.

The analysis found higher productivity in terms of quantity of cataloging. Librarians' productivity during remote cataloging is not statistically related to individual factors of age, years of experience, or gender. The in-depth interviews found that other factors may hinder the quality and quantity of the remote cataloging, including the working environment, infrastructure, and lack of policies on remote working.

The findings were based on a study conducted in the National Library of Indonesia, which may not apply to libraries with different infrastructures or existing policies in remote cataloging. However, the authors identified numerous factors that could be related to remote cataloging productivity. More work needs to be done to identify these factors that impact productivity by conducting further surveys.

The research provides evidence showing the productivity of cataloging can be higher in remote working mode. The study provides insights for library managers to decide whether to implement remote cataloging and what additional perspectives could be considered for the better implementation of remote cataloging.

The gap in the literature about remote cataloging and productivity has been bridged.

Discusses the possible application of various TQM tools in cataloguing operations. Focuses on the methods libraries have adopted to identify user needs and to improve services to meet user needs. Many of these methods either are based on the TQM philosophy or can be adapted to it.

From the cataloging librarians' point of view, this paper aims to present how technical services, especially the cataloging department, can play important roles in the improvement of user services.

The paper examines the practices of the University of Oklahoma Libraries.

The paper identifies several aspects in which technical services can enhance the quality of user services, especially in the cataloging department. A library's online catalog becomes the first point of access to the library's information resources. Its quality can be improved and enriched in many ways to raise users’ satisfaction. Aside from the improvement in technical aspects, efforts should also be made to promote collaboration between technical and public services so as to ensure efficient processing of materials and to meet the needs of library users.

The value of the paper is in showing that the quality of an online catalog and the cooperation between public and technical services are two of the key factors in achieving high quality of user services.

Various measures exist to determine the quality, however defined, of records in a database or catalogue but there has been less work in developing quality measures for catalogues or databases. UKOLN has carried out work on record quality and catalogue/database performance measurement since 1980. Recently UKOLN has extended its work on the currency of records in the BNB files on the British Library database to a number of other sources of bibliographic records. The results of the Multi‐Source Currency survey presented here have highlighted a number of issues relating to the bibliographic record coverage of the UK imprint.

The purpose of this paper is to show that some important astronomical information is still not taken into account in the documental description of historical star catalogues.

A sample of 28 historical star catalogues (eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries) from the Royal Institute and Observatory of the Spanish Navy was selected in order to analyse their structure and to identify information patterns.

The analysis shows that there are a number of technical parameters which are not present in the cataloguing standards and which should be taken into account in the bibliographic descriptions of these specialised documents since they are of great interest to astronomers and astrophysicists. On the other hand, star catalogues provide some cartographic information which can be described by these standards but whose corresponding fields are not widely used by cataloguers.

A proposal of new technical parameters is given in order to try to improve the bibliographic records of these astronomical resources. Some directions are also given in order to identify the sections of the catalogues where these parameters may be found, making the task of locating them easier.

New social discovery systems have social‐type Web 2.0 features that allow users to enhance the content of bibliographic records by adding their own tags, ratings, and reviews. One of the primary underlying principles of cataloguing is that catalogue records be designed with the user in mind, i.e. user convenience. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the principle of user convenience and social discovery systems.

A review of the literature and codes of ethics of associations of information professions was undertaken to examine: the ethical dimensions of creating catalogue records to reflect user convenience, the relationship between culture and user convenience, and how social discovery tools can facilitate the creation of interactive and flexible catalogue records that reflect the culture(s) and needs of the library communities in which they exist.

Social discovery systems can address the primary barriers to creating catalogue records that meet user convenience: determining and reflecting the needs and cultural warrant of the users, and maintaining the quality and integrity of the catalogue records.

Social discovery systems can serve as a bridge between cataloguers' desire to create accurate catalogue records that conform to accepted cataloguing standards, and their ethical imperative to ensure that these records meet the needs of the clients.

The findings of this study pave the way for further research into how user‐contributed metadata allow clients to express their needs and cultural warrant and to interact with one another and library staff.

This study presents an overview of the quality of 232 OCLC rare book cataloging records. Of the 232 records, 31 that needed subject headings were not provided with any. A total of 791 headings, including main headings (428) and subdivision headings (363), were examined and 69 discrepancies were found. The discrepancies were mainly obsolete headings. The error rate was 9 per cent. Only one typographical error was found. Moreover, 95 per cent (191) of the 201 records had been replaced at least once but the discrepancy rate remained very high at 8 per cent. Since the records examined were not randomly selected and the sample size was small, the result of this study cannot be generalized. However, the overall results indicate that the quality of OCLC rare book records need attention as much as, if not more than, other records.