This book, first published in 1948, lays out the basic precepts for the useful cataloguing of a library’s collection. With catalogues being first compiled to serve as records of stock – a practice dating back to ancient Egypt – modern developments have updated the methods for doing so, for instance adding a bibliographic description to the record.

This set, comprising out-of-print titles from The Library Association Series of Library Manuals and The Practical Library Handbooks, is a key guide to the early modernisation of librarianship. Systems set up then are still in use today, giving the books practical use today, as well as providing a valuable historical analysis of the discipline.