Cataloguing the St. Canice’s Cathedral Library Collection at Maynooth University

Abstract

This article outlines the processes involved in cataloguing the historic St. Canice’s Cathedral Library collection of over 3000 rare books. Cataloguing began on the collection in June 2015 and subsequently ceased in March 2016 to facilitate the main objective of allowing access to this collection without delay. Collection processing was carried out on a phased basis: the first stage was to list the material in the collection and then each item was catalogued to a minimum level. Priority was given to 14 of the rarer books in the collection to comply with the DCRM(B) rare books cataloguing standard, including four items of incunabula (pre-1500 printing). Phase 2 of this retrospective cataloguing project will include full bibliographical descriptions for all materials, following prescribed rules set forth in DCRM(B). The challenges of cataloguing a rare books collection using the St. Canice’s Collection as an example are considered. Metadata issues experienced in displaying such collections on library management systems are also discussed.