INTRODUCTION


With the changing landscape and development of new technologies for audiovisual materials and the increasing variety of materials that may be considered nonprint, the Cataloging Policy Committee (CAPC) of Online Audiovisual Catalogers, Inc., an international organization for catalogers concerned with all types of nonprint materials, formed an AV Glossary Task Force to develop a glossary in electronic format to include the traditional and newer terms associated with the cataloging of audiovisual and nonprint materials. The final result of the work of the Task Force is the creation of this electronic glossary, The AV & Nonprint Glossary: Cataloging Terminology for Audiovisual and Nonprint Materials.

Audiovisual material has "both sound and visual components and originally was used strictly for film materials with sound. Its use was broadened gradually to include a wide range of materials that had sound and/or visual aspects." (Olson, 2008) "Generally, audiovisual materials are defined as being 'not print.' They are materials that convey their information in some way other than text on a printed page. They have also been called 'nonbook,' 'nonprint,' and 'special formats' and sometimes require equipment to use." (Black, 2001) While nonprint and nonbook have sometimes been viewed as negative terms, different terminology has not gained acceptance and the terms nonbook, nonprint and audiovisual have come to be used interchangeably. (Weihs, 2001) For this glossary, terms will describe audio and video formats, electronic and computer resources, still images, notated music, cartographic materials, graphic materials, microforms, and other resources that may be described as nonprint.

While primarily designed as a resource for cataloging terminology associated with audiovisual and nonprint materials, and a resource to help clarify any inconsistencies that occur with the use of that terminology, it is also a valuable resource for all librarians and researchers interested in cataloging terminology in general. This database includes all terms from the 1988 Audiovisual Material Glossary by Nancy B. Olson (Olson, 1988) and terms as defined in the RDA Toolkit (RDA Toolkit: Resource Description and Access) associated with audiovisual or nonprint materials, as well as terms which covered materials described in Chapters 3 and 5-11 of AACR2. To assist in the transition from AACR2 to RDA, the glossary still assigns the general material designation (GMD) and the specific material designation (SMD) used for various formats in the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules 2nd ed. (Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 1978), and will also assign the content, media and carrier designations to terms taken from the RDA Toolkit. The glossary does expand to include terms for newer formats and new types of materials, or terms associated with recently developed technology for existing formats from other resources listed in the bibliography. As in the 1988 glossary, when definitions are used exactly as found in a source, the source of the definition is identified. For this electronic glossary, a hyperlink to the citation will help to identify each source.

Retrieval of information in the electronic glossary mirrors searching in other electronic databases and provides for browsing alphabetically by individual letter or number or by combining terms using either a Basic or Advanced Search strategy. Where there are broader, narrower, related, or synonymous terms, these variant access points will be hyperlinked for ease of searching.

[References]
  1. Anglo-American Cataloging Rules. (1978). (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: American Library Association, 1978.
  2. Black, D.K. (2001). Preface Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 31(2): xv-xii.
  3. Olson, N.B. (1988). Audiovisual Material Glossary. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., 1988.
  4. Olson, N.B. (2008). Cataloging of Audiovisual Materials and Other Special Materials. (5th ed.). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2008.
  5. RDA Toolkit: Resources Description and Access. Retrieved Dec. 1, 2011, from http://access.rdatoolkit.org/.
  6. Weihs, J. (2001). "A Somewhat Personal History on Nonbook Cataloguing." Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 31(3-4): 159-188.

INTRODUCTION

[taken from 1988 publication]

Audiovisual material is defined as two- and three-dimensional material conveying information primarily by sound and/or image rather than text (e.g., sound recordings, motion pictures, flash cards, graphics). Use of this material (computer software, sound recordings, videorecordings, film materials) frequently requires special equipment. By tradition, toys and games of all types are considered audiovisual material when included in the collections of a library. Audiovisual material has also been called nonbook material, nonprint material, visual aids, and instructional technology.

Inconsistent, contradictory, and/or misleading terminology has always been a problem for those handling audiovisual material. While the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, second edition (ALA, 1978) provides rules and guidance for cataloging this material, it does not provide much help with terminology. Harriet Woakes cites Ian C. Butchart in Audiovisual Librarian: "The nonbook terminology which to librarians is generally unfamiliar, is not satisfactorily defined in this code. The glossary is a disaster for nonbook terminology." (Butchart, 1979) Woakes goes on to justify this criticism by identifying AACR2 glossary definitions for print materials and for equivalent terms for nonprint materials. Many of the nonprint terms are not included. (Woakes, 1985)

The spelling "disc" is used in AACR2 for sound recording discs and videorecording discs. The spelling "disk" is used in the revised chapter 9 of AACR2 (AACR2, Chapter 9) for computer disks.


SCOPE OF THE GLOSSARY

Chapters 3 and 5-11 of AACR2 cover the following materials as does this Glossary: This Glossary is designed to be used by the people who catalog these types of material. It includes terms naming or describing the materials themselves, but it does not include terms naming or describing the playback or other equipment needed for use of the material. While this Glossary is designed for catalogers, it will be of value to acquisitions librarians and reference librarians as well.

The Glossary defines terms needed by the general cataloger handling special materials. It is not intended for the specialized cataloger. The reader is referred to the Bibliography Section for specialized cataloging manuals and texts for more technical definitions and wider coverage of each field.

The Glossary does not include definitions of general cataloging terms (main entry, title proper), nor does it include general coding and tagging terms (subfield, indicator) used for machine-readable cataloging.


PREPARATION OF THE GLOSSARY

Chapters 3 and 5-11 of AACR2 and their related OCLC-MARC format documents were examined for terms to be defined, and a list of terms was compiled. Terms used as General Material Designation (GMD) and/or Specific Material Designation (SMD) are identified by the abbreviations GMD and SMD. GMDs and SMDs include those from the draft revision of chapter 9 and those added to AACR2 in 1986 by the Joint Steering Committee for the Revision of AACR. All the sources listed in the Bibliography Section were examined and definitions were added to the list of terms with a code for the source of each definition. Other relevant terms and definitions also were added to the list as each source was examined.

In many cases more than one edition of a source is listed in the Bibliography Section and the Attributed Definitions list. Variation from edition to edition was found in many sources in the glossaries and in the definitions of the terms themselves. Therefore all editions of each work were consulted.

At this stage many terms had several definitions which differed in meaning or in fullness. Some of the definitions for the same term contradicted others. Conflicts were resolved based on AACR2. If an AACR2 definition conflicted with a definition from some other source, the AACR2 definition was considered to be authoritative. Definitions for each term were developed by merging and rewriting the material.

If a definition that appears in the Glossary is used exactly as found in a source, the source of the definition is identified by a code in parentheses at the end of the definition, e.g., (AACR2). The codes and explanation follow the definitions in an Attributed Definition list. Attributed Definitions are exactly as found in the original source except for:
  1. Spelling. British spellings (artefact, centre, colour, organised, etc.) were changed to American spellings (artifact, center, color, organized, etc.).
  2. Number. Plural terms were changed to singular throughout the glossary.
  3. Initial article. An initial article was added to definitions.
If a definition was changed in any way other than the three identified above, a code does not appear with the definition.

Cross reference were added as needed. "See" references are used to refer the user from one term to another, e.g., AV. See Audiovisual material. The term referred to includes a note, e.g., Audiovisual material. Also called AV. "See also" is used from a broader term to a narrower one, e.g., Disc. See also Compact disc. "Cf." is used to relate terms to be compared, e.g., Disc. Cf. Disk.

Graphics were added to some definitions to help the user visualize the material.


[References]
  1. Ian C. Butchart, "Should We Adoopt AACR2 for the Cataloguing of Non-book Materials?" Audiovisual Librarian 5 (Autumn 1979): 130.
  2. Harriet Woakes, "The Cataloguing of Audiovisual Materials." Audiovisual Librarian 11 (Spring 1985): 87.
  3. Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, Second Edition, Chapter 9, Computer Files, Draft revision, Chicago: American Library Association, 1987: 15.