A Study on the Choice of Main Entry in German Cataloging Rules; a comparison with the title entry in the Orient

독일목록규칙의 기본기입선정에 관한 연구

This study reviews the development and change of main entry principle in German cataloging codes, with special emphasis on RAK. With rerard to the functions of catalog, comparison between the traditional title main entry in the Orient and author main entry in the West has been made. The analysis confirms in this study that various criteria in choice of the entries in RAK have been adopted. In case of works where the persons who have played different roles in the works are named on the title page, as well as related works and works of mixed responsibility, the criteria of entry determination are complex and time consuming process and have no absolute value. And there are also various kinds of problems in corporate entries including confirmation of originator(Urheber), choice of either the territorial authority corncerned or corporate bodies as an entry depending on the nature of the publications, and a unique bibliographical situation of treaties. This means the code is absence of absolute value in selecting entries, and this results in adoption of main entry principle which has lost its significance for the purpose of cataloging. With emergence of the ISBD and actualization of automated cataloging, morever, all entries are equal as points of access. It would eliminate the need for personal judgements required in choice of main entry by the present code. In doing so, it would bring uniformity and standardization to cataloging practice. In direct approach to works, title entry is more developed finding device than author entry in cataloging theories. Thus introduction of unit card system beginning with title which is adopted in KCR3 would be desirable, the complicated rules for the choice of entry could be abandoned from cataloging codes. Most of the user studies show that catalog users have placed higher value on the title entry as a finding device and each entry is equal as access points through unit entry. This means that choice of a given entry as a main entry is unnecessary in cataloging codes. Title entry would be a rather simple standard and direct approach for works. This study proves that the traditional title entry of Korea is superior to author main entry in the Western world in cataloging theory. Thus recommendation to be made is that abandonment of author main entry from cataloging codes should be considered in the future.