Seymour Lubetzky (April 28, 1898 – April 5, 2003) was a major

cataloging In library and information science, cataloging ( US) or cataloguing ( UK) is the process of creating metadata representing information resources, such as books, sound recordings, moving images, etc. Cataloging provides information such as auth ...

theorist and a prominent librarian.

Biography

Born in the Russian Empire as Shmaryahu Lubetzky, he worked for years at the

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. He worked as a teacher before he immigrated to the United States in 1927. He earned his BA from

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in 1931, and his MA from

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

in 1932. Lubetzky also taught at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, then the School of Library Service. He was fluent in six languages, a fact that made him valuable both as a cataloger and a speaker at library conferences.

Influence on Cataloging

Lubetzky published three books that influenced the discipline of cataloging, and that are still influential in area of

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in particular and

information science Information science (also known as information studies) is an academic field which is primarily concerned with analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval, movement, dissemination, and protection of information. ...

in general had not been revolutionized as much since the likes of

Antonio Panizzi Sir Antonio Genesio Maria Panizzi (16 September 1797 – 8 April 1879), better known as Anthony Panizzi, was a naturalised British citizen of Italian birth, and an Italian patriot. He was a librarian, becoming the Principal Librarian (i.e. head ...

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. ''Cataloging Rules and Principles'' and ''Principles of Cataloging'', as well as several periodical articles, solidified Lubetzky as one of the most significant influences in his field. He developed a rationalized approach to catalog code design, one that is even more relevant today as current cataloging principles are revisited and revised for a digital environment. His unfinished book, ''Code of Cataloging Rules... unfinished draft'' (1960), was the basis for modern cataloging adopted by the first International Conference on Cataloguing Principles (CCP) (1961) held in

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, called the " Paris Principles" (PP). The code which eventually emerged from the conference became the basis for cataloging practice in the 20th century. In 1967 these concepts were encoded in the

Anglo-American Cataloging Rules Anglo-Americans are people who are English-speaking inhabitants of Anglo-America. It typically refers to the nations and ethnic groups in the Americas that speak English as a native language, making up the majority of people in the world who spe ...

, which were used in US,

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and UK libraries. Lubetzky is credited with renewing an emphasis on the "work" in library catalogs. This had been a feature of book catalogs of the early 19th century, but was not carried through to the card catalog. Whereas

, a late 19th century influence on cataloging, had not distinguished between the idea of a "book" and the idea of the "work" in formulating his objectives, Lubetzky contrasts the two ideas, bringing back into play

Anthony Panizzi Sir Antonio Genesio Maria Panizzi (16 September 1797 – 8 April 1879), better known as Anthony Panizzi, was a naturalised British citizen of Italian birth, and an Italian patriot. He was a librarian, becoming the Principal Librarian (i.e. head ...

's original emphasis on the relationship between a title and all of the different editions of that title that might exist. Lubetzky's idea was that relationships among all the editions and variations of a given work and the author of that work, in all variations of the author's name, must be established and brought together so they can be found in one place. All the works of a given author, in all their editions, should be linked together. As Lubetzky said at a 1977 Los Angeles conference, "The Catalog in the Age of Technological Change":

The catalogue has to tell you more than what you ask for…. The answer of a good catalogue is not to say yes or no, but … to tell
he user He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
that the library has he itemin so many editions and translations, and you have your choice.

Legacy

Two books are dedicated to the work of Lubetzky, one entitled ''Seymour Lubetzky: Writings on the Classical Art of Cataloging'' and ''Future of Cataloging: The Lubetzky Symposium''. Just before his 104th birthday, the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

awarded Lubetzky its highest honor, an honorary lifetime membership.

Bibliography

* Lubetzky, Seymour. ''Cataloging Rules and Principles: A Critique of the A.L.A. Rules for Entry and a Proposed Design for Their Revision; Prepared for the Board on Cataloguing Policy and Research of the A.L.A. Division of Cataloging and Classification.'' High Wycombe St. John's Rd, Tylers Green, Penn, High Wycombe, Bucks.: University Microfilms Ltd for the College of Librarianship, Wales, 1970. * Lubetzky, Seymour. ''Principles of Cataloging: Final Report.'' Los Angeles: Institute of Library Research, University of California, 1969. * Lubetzky, Seymour. ''The Author and Title Catalog in the Library; Its Role, Function, and Objectives; Report 2 of a Series on the Principles of Cataloging.'' (1969). * Lubetzky, Seymour. ''Code of Cataloging Rules: Author and Title Entry. an Unfinished Draft for a New Edition of Cataloging Rules.'' Chicago: American Library Assn, 1960. * List of famous librarians

Biography

Influence on Cataloging

Legacy

Bibliography

References

Further reading