Library collection management and development policy

Collections information

5.1 The service recognises that good documentation of its collections is fundamental to effective collections management and to good public access.

5.2 Newly created collections information meets common international standards and principles governing the creation of electronic catalogues for libraries.

5.3 The library catalogue conforms with the bibliographic data instructions and guidelines of the international Resource Description and Access (RDA) cataloguing standard and the MARC 21 standards for electronic catalogue records. Most catalogue records are provided by the supplier via electronic data interchange (EDI).

5.4 Non-fiction titles are classified in accordance with the latest edition of Dewey Decimal Classification with some minor local variations. Lancashire local studies material is classified in accordance with a bespoke classification system developed in 1974.

5.5 The catalogue is currently held on ESS's ALTO library management system and is accessible to users through the Prism public interface.