Description and Reference in the Age of Automation

This article is a report of the results of a survey conducted in 1986 to determine the effects of descriptive practice on retrieval capabilities of archive and manuscript materials described in bibliographic utilities. Forty repositories inputting into RLIN AMC were surveyed on (1) standardization in the choice and construction of headings, (2) levels of authority control, and (3) treatment of out-of-scope materials. Massive inconsistency in descriptive practice was found. The author makes five recommendations to correct inconsistency in the file and the retrieval difficulties that result.