AACR2-AngloAmerican Cataloguing

Rules
Prepared by G. Grant (2011)

AACR2 INTRODUCTION

These rules are designed for use in the

construction of catalogues and other lists in
general libraries of all sizes.

They are not intended for specialist and archival

libraries but such libraries are recommended to
use the rules as the basis of their cataloguing
and to augment the provisions as needed.

the structure of the rules make them usable as

a basis for cataloguing uncommonly collected
materials.

STRUCTURE OF THE
RULES

The AACR2 rules follow the sequence

of cataloguers operation in most
present-day libraries.
Part 1 deals with information
describing the item. Part 2 deals with
determination and establishment of
access points. (headings)
The rules proceed from the general to
the specific

Structure Contd

In part one the specificity relates to the

physical medium of the item being
catalogued.

The level of detail required for each

element of the description.

The analysis of an item containing

separate parts.

Structure Contd

In part two the rules are based on the

proposition that one main entry is
made for each item described. This is
supplemented by added entries.

AACR2 Structure

Part I Description
1. General Rules for Description
2. Books, Pamphlets, and Printed
Sheets
3. Cartographic Materials
4. Manuscripts
5. Music

AACR2 Structure

6. Sound Recordings
7. Motion Pictures and Video
recordings
8. Graphic Materials
9. Electronic Resources
10. Three-Dimensional Artefacts
and Realia

Level of description

AACR2 first level of description

title proper
first statement of responsibility
edition statement
material specific details
first publisher, etc.
date of publication, etc.
extent of item
notes
standard number

SCOPE OF AACR2

AACR2
Description

ISBD elements
classes of material
mode of issuance
type of description

SCOPE CONTD
Access

choice of access points

form of headings
references

SOURCES OF
INFORMATION

The sources of information for a

bibliographic description of a resource
is dependent on the aspect of the
resource being described.
A bibliographic resource may or may
not be part of a larger resource.
When it is part of a resource determine
what aspect is being described.

SOURCES OF
INFORMATION

Basis of the description

Single part
Based on the description of a
single part
Multiple parts
when a resource is or will be
more than one part.

TITLE AND STATEMENT

OF RESPONSIBILITY

Teaching Children with Learning Difficulties a

manual by Steven Downs and Rupert Salt.

The appeals of communism by Gabriel A. Winter,

Howard M. Smithson and Ellen Doe.

A Picture study of the Settlement of the West.

Prepared by John T. Sewell.

Life together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer translated and

with as introduction by John W. Doberstein

CHIEF SOURCE OF
INFORMATION
Printed monographs the title page. If there is none, then the
part of the item that gives the most
complete information is used. The
information from the substitute is
treated as if it were from a title page.
Atlases
title page. For other cartographic
materials the material itself is used or
the container or case or cradle or stand
of the globe.
Manuscript

manuscript itself is used

SOURCE OF
INFROMATION CONTD
Published Music list title page cover or captionwhichever furnishes the fullest
information.
Sound Recordings
disc and label
disc reel and label
tape
cassette and label
sound recording on
container and label
film

Find out the chief source of

information for the
following

motion pictures and video

recordings
Graphic materials
Computer files
Three dimensional artifacts
microforms

TITLE AND STATEMENT

OF RESPONSIBILITY

TITLE PROPER
Transcribe exactly as to wording, order and
spelling but not necessarily as to
punctuation and capitalization eg. The
materials of architecture
Alternative titles are a part of the title
proper. They should be separated by a
comma and begin with a capital letter
and if not taken from chief source of
information say where it was taken from.

STATEMENT OF
RESPONSIBILITY

Transcribe statement of responsibility

appearing prominently in item in the form in
which it appears there.

Statements of responsibility states the name of the

person or persons responsible for the intellectual or
artistic content of the work. The corporate bodies or
body from which the work emanates.
May include: writers, editors, composers, compilers,
adapters, translators, revisers, illustrators, reporters,
photographers, narrators etc.

STATEMENT OF
RESPONSIBILITY

If no statement of responsibility appears prominently in the

item, do not construct or extract one from the item. Give
the relevant information in a note.
Transcribe a single statement of responsibility as such
whether the two or more persons or corporate bodies
named in it performed the same of different functions. Eg.
Thinking and reasoning, Selected readings / edited by P.C.
Wason and P. N. Johnson.
If a single statement of responsibility has more than three
persons or corporate bodies performing the same functions
or with the same degree of responsibility omit all but the
first of the group. indicate the omission by using the mark
of omission and add et al. Eg Raymond wolfinger ... [et al .]

EDITION AREA
Preceded by full stop space dash space ( . )
Precede statement relating to the named revision by a
comma
Transcribe as found in the document. Use abbreviations
as instructed. Eg second edition
2nd ed.
If the edition statement consists solely of characters that
are neither numeric or alphabetic give the statement
in words in the language and script of the title proper
eg. *** ed. [three astericks]

PUBLICATION AREATaken from the chief source of information or from any source
recommended for this area.
Precede this area by a Full stop space dash space (. - )
Precede a second or subsequently named place of publication
by a semicolon.
Precede the name of publisher by a colon :
Precede the place of publication by comma
Record information relating to the manufacturer of the item in
this area
When there is more than one name , place or date recorded in
this area give them in the order that is appropriate to item.

PUBLICATION AREA

Transcribe a place of publication in the form and

grammatical case in which it appears.

If the name of a place appears in more than one

language or script, give the form in the language or
script of the title proper

If the name of the country, state province appears in

the source of information transcribe it after the name
of the place if it is considered necessary for
identification.
Eg London, England.

PUBLICATION AREA

If the place name is found only in the abbreviated

form in the item, transcribe it as found and add
the full form or complete the name.

If two or more places in which a publisher has

offices are named in the item, give the first
named place. Eg source reads: Toronto, Buffalo,
London; use Toronto as it appeared first.

If the place of publication is uncertain supply the

probable place of publication in English followed
by a question mark.

NAME OF PUBLISHER

Give the name of the publisher following the

place to which it relates eg London : Macmillan

Give the name of a publisher, in the shortest

form in which it can be understood and
identified internationally. Eg. The source of
information reads Penguin Books use Penguin

In giving the name of a publisher, retain:

Words or phrases indicating the function (other than
solely publishing) performed by the person or body.
Eg. Printed for the CLA by the morriss print. Co. or
Distributed by New York Graphic Society.

DATE OF PUBLICATION

For published items give the date (ie year) of

publication of the edition, revision named in
the edition area. If there is no edition
statement give the date of the first
publication of the edition to which the item
belongs. Give date in western style eg
[1975].

Give the date as found in the item even if it

is known to be incorrect. If a date is known to
be incorrect add the correct date. (if necessary
explain and discrepancy in a note)

DATE OF PUBLICATION

If the publication date differs from the date of distribution

add the date of distribution. If the publisher and distributer
are different give the dates after the names to which they
apply. Eg. London: Macmillan, 1971, [distributed 1973].

If the publication and distribution dates are the same, give

the date after the last named publisher, distributor etc. Eg.
New York: American Broadcasting Co. [Production Company] :
Released by Xerox Films, 1973

If the date of publication or distribution is unknown give the

copyright date or in its absense the date of manufacture
(indicated as such ) in its place eg. C1976, 1976 printing,
1979 pressing

DATES FOR SERIALS

If the first published issue, iteration or part is available,

give the beginning date followed by the hyphen. 1998-

If the resource has ceased or is incomplete and the last

published issue, iteration or part is available, give the
ending date preceding by the hyphen. -1997

If the first and last published issues, iterations, or parts are

available, give the beginning and ending publication dates,
separated by a hyphen. 1968-1973

If the publication date is the same for all issues, iterations,

or parts give only that date as the single date. 1997

PHYSICAL
DESCRIPTION

Precede this area by a full stop space dash space

or Start a new paragraph

Other physical details (ie other that extent or

dimensions) by a colon.

Precede each statement of accompanying material

by a plus sign.

Enclose physical details of accompanying material

in parentheses.

PHYSICAL
DESCRIPTION

Information is taken from any source.

Implicitly and explicitly stated information
should be taken from the item it self.

If the item is available in different formats

give the description of the item in hand.

Record the extent of the item by giving the

number of the physical units eg. 3 microscope
slides, 1 jigsaw puzzle, 1 hand puppet.

PHYSICAL
DESCRIPTION

Give the physical data (other than

extent or dimensions) as instructed
321 p. : ill. (some col.)
5 microscope slides : stained
1 sound disc (20 min. ) : stained

Give dimensions as instructed

1 wall chart : col. ; 24 48 cm.

6 microfilm reels ; 6 cm

SERIES AREA

Precede this area with a full stop space dash

space.
Enclose each series statement in parentheses.
Precede each parallel title with an equal sign
Precede other title information by a colon
Precede the first statement of responsibility by
a diagonal slash
Each subsequent statement of responsibility by
a semicolon
Precede the ISSN of a series with a coma

TITLE PROPER OF A
SERIES

Transcribe the title proper according to the exact

wording and sequence on the item eg Virgo modern
classics or Great news papers reprinted
If numbering is included as part of the title proper
transcribe as such. Eg. Publication # 122 of the Social
Science Education Consortium
Transcribe parallel titles in the order indicated by their
sequence on or by the layout of the chief source of
information.
Give other title information only if indicated eg English
linquistics, 1500 -1750 : A collection of facsimile
reprints

STATEMENT OF
RESPONSIBILITY OF A
SERIES

Transcribe statement of responsibility appearing in

conjunction with the series title only if they are
considered to be necessary for identification of the
series.

ISSN OF A SERIES

Give the international standard serial number of a

series if it appears in the item being described.
Give the ISSN in the standard manner followed by a
space and two groups of four digits separated by a
hyphen eg. Western Canada series report, ISSN 03173127

NUMBERING WITH IN
SERIES

Give the numbering of the item within the

series in the terms given within the item. Eg.
Historic instruments at the Victoria and
Albert museum ; 4 or Beatrix Potters jigsaw
puzzles ; no. 1

If the numbering on the item is known to be

incorrect transcribe as found and add the
correct numbering in square brackets. Eg.
Kieler historische studien ; Bd. 24 [i. e. 25]

NOTE AREA

Precede each note by a full stop space dash

space or start a new paragraph.
Take data recorded in the area from any
suitable source
If data in a note corresponds with data found in
the title and statement of responsibility,
edition, material of type of publication specific
details publication etc. give elements of the
data in the order in which they appear in those
areas. Eg. Adaption of: Germinie Lacerteux /
Edmond et Jules de Goncourt

STANDARD NUMBER

Precede this area by a full stop space dash

space or start a new paragraph
Take information included in this area from any
suitable source
Give the International Standard Book Number
(ISBN) or any other internationally agreed
standard number for the item being described.
Give the number with the agreed abbreviation
and hyphen. Eg. ISBN 0-55267587-3

PRACTICE (publication,
distribution etc)

The First Sacred Forrest by Henry Harrier.

First American Edition. Translated from the French by
Steohen Becker. London, Chapman Hill Ltd. 1990

A Picture Study of the Settlement of the West, prepared

by Historical Services and Consultants, Inc. under the
direction of John T. Sewell and John C. Ricker. Upper
Saddle River New York. Pearson. Distributed 1993,
published 1992.

The Whispering Trees: A Historical Account by James T.

Robinson. London, Macmillan Company, published 1999.

Practice Contd

Slaughter House-five or The Childrens Crusade,

Aduty Dance with Death by Elizabeth Halloway,
Published by Allyn and Bacon with copyright
date of 1987.

What You Should Know about Selling and

Salesmanship by Milton Brown it was put out by
Ocean Publications in Dobbs Ferry New York in
1969. There are ten preliminary pages, 85
pages and is 19.5cm in height. It is from the
Business Almanac Series number 18.

CHOICE OF ACCESS
POINTS

Access points are headings under which a bibliographic

description is entered in a catalogue

Choice of one as main entry and the others as added entries

Defined as a name, term or code under which a bibliographic

entry is made in a catalogue

In manual catalogues each entry is given record resulting in a

separate catalogue card/entry

In online catalogues the access points constitutes a key for

identifying a record for retrieval. It also serves as a filing key for
the display of records.

TYPES OF HEADINGS

Those based on the subject content of a work

(SUBJECT HEADINGS) this is selected based on the
analysis of the cataloguer and not on the
description of the item.
Those based on the bibliographic description of
the item.
There are four types of bibliographic access
points:
1. names of persons responsible for the work
authors, editors, compilers, translators, illustrators
and other persons connected to the work.

Access Points contd

2. Names of corporate bodies

3. Titles
4. Names of series
MAIN ENTRY
This is the completed catalogue record also
called the unit card.
The authors name is the primary choice for
main entry. There are two main types of
authorship: personal and corporate

Personal Authorship

The person chiefly responsible for the

creation of the intellectual or artistic content
of the work.

Enter a work by one or more persons under

the heading for the personal author, the
principal personal author or the probable
personal author.

Choice of Main Entry

BASED ON CONDITION OF AUTHORSHIP

Single AUTHORS: single personal author is
entered under the authors name.