Cataloger, Editor, and Scholar: Essays in Honor of Ruth C. Carter

Leading figures pay tribute to an expert in the field

Honoring the work of Ruth C. Carter upon her retirement as editor of Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, Cataloger, Editor, and Scholar is a unique collection that features 21 articles from experts in the field. Celebrating Dr. Carter’s dedication to technical services, cataloging, history, and management, these essays recall all the important aspects of her life and career. The important compendium also includes an interview with Dr. Carter and a review of Cataloging & Classification Quarterly (CCQ) during her 20 years at its helm.

In four parts, this wide-ranging collection includes articles that not only span the length and breadth of Dr. Carter’s professional career, but also present new contributions to the field. The first section of Cataloger, Editor, and Scholar considers Dr. Carter’s personal history and direct influence on CCQ as well as what she sees as key issues in cataloging at the beginning of the 21st century. The studies in part two take an international look at cataloging and bibliographic history while new research in the field is presented in part three. Finally, part four offers papers that consider current trends as well as possible directions for the emerging digital future.

Chapters in Cataloger, Editor, and Scholar include:

• a commemorative biographical sketch of Ruth Carter
• an interview where she discusses her career as a librarian, archivist, historian, and long-time editor
• a comprehensive review of the contents of Cataloging & Classification Quarterly from 1990-2006
• an analysis of the availability of books and reading materials in Monroe County, Indiana, through 1850
• annotation as a lost art in cataloging early twentieth-century British libraries
• twenty-five years of bibliographic control research at the University of Bradford
• the Italian cataloging tradition and its relationships with the international tradition
• technical services and tenure impediments and strategies
• the works phenomenon and best selling books
• measuring typographical errors’ impact on retrieval in bibliographic databases
• meeting the needs of special format catalogers
• copy cataloging for print and video monographs in academic libraries
• balancing principles, practice, and pragmatics in a changing digital environment
• the development of knowledge structures on the Internet
• and may more!

A unique compilation of the many issues that appeared in CCQ during Dr. Carter’s 20-year tenure, Cataloger, Editor, and Scholar is an informative resource for librarians, LTS professionals, catalogers, students, educators, and researchers.

Robert P Holley