• Bibliographical (in process)
• Biographical (in process)
• Cataloging (in process)
• Pseudonyms and Identification (in process)
• Index of all resources by title (in process)

Purpose

This is a collection of reference sources used by the Special Collections Cataloging Team to assist in its cataloging activities. It consists of traditional paper sources found in the Pattee/Paterno Library and electronic resources (both PSU-only access and outside sources). A secondary purpose of this collection is to gather useful reference sources in one area to save searching time.

The collection is divided up into four categories:

1. Bibliographical

Resources used for finding information about books, such as dates of publication or printing, author attributions, differences between editions, etc.

2. Biographical

Resources used for finding biographical information for 545 fields and NACO contributions (especially for resolving heading conflicts).

3. Cataloging

Resources used for assistance in how to catalog an item. This can cover formats, language rules, rare books rules, genre terms, etc.

4. Pseudonyms and Identification

Resources on pseudonyms to assist in rare book author identification and NACO contributions. This includes things such as artist signatures, monograms, symbols, etc.

Hierarchical Structure

References are organized in a hierarchy based on geographic location starting at the continent level, followed by country or region, than by country subdivisions (states, provinces, etc.). Under some geographic locations, there will be subdivisions on references based on classes of people (e.g. politicians, poets, women, etc.). If there are only a small number of reference sources on a geographic location, there will not be any further subdivisions. Instead all sources will be listed on one page with general references first, followed by specialized sources (with pseudo-subject headings in bold above each listing).

Entry Listings

Entry listings are listed in main entry order.

Each reference listing consists of a set of "fields." These generally include authors, editors, title, publisher info, edition, arrangement (how the information is arranged within the source), language, notes, and location. Each listing should contain enough information to determine on if it's worth the trip to the Stacks to have a look.

If more than one edition exists of a monograph, the most recent edition, or in some cases, the most important edition, will be listed. In the notes field earlier editions will be noted as well as the location field. This way, if the item is not found, another edition can be used.

Only sources are listed that are available in the Pattee/Paterno Library complex, simply because this is where the Special Collections Cataloging Team is located. For additional locations, the call number is hyperlinked to its corresponding CAT record. Click on that link to see the full bibliographic record and all locations it is available at in the Penn State Libraries system.

Compiled by: Ken Robinson.
With contributions by: <insert your name or pseudonym here>