Classification and Cataloging of Spoken Records in Academic Libraries

A LIDRARIAN who :6nds himself suddenly saddled with the job of establishing a usable collection of spoken-word phonograph and tape recordings may regard his chore either an albatross or an adventure. If he adopts the :6rst attitude, there is little hope for him or for the collections; if the latter~ it will be just that. The almost endless list of choices and decisions offers challenges to the stronghearted somewhat akin to those presented to Ulysses. And of all of them, the two which probably require the greatest amount of foresight are the classi:6cation and cataloging procedures to be used in his collection. This article will treat each of these separately. Classification. Before choosing a classi:6cation system for a record collection, there are many things which the librarian must take into account. The fact that there are at least eight classi:6cation schemes, all of which seem to be used with equal satisfaction in different libraries, indicates that the physical and, perhaps, psychological aspects of the library, the librarian, and the collection have a substantial influence on the system :6nally employed. Often, as with books, the larger the