Subcommittees & Task Forces

Background:

The Cataloging Guidelines for Chinese Rare Books serve as the primary reference for North American research libraries in the creation of bibliographic records for Chinese rare books in machine-readable formats. The guidelines were first introduced in 2000, following the establishment of the Chinese Rare Books Project (CRBP) in 1989. Since their inception, the guidelines have undergone two significant revisions: the first in 2009, necessitated by the integration of RLIN into OCLC WorldCat, and the second in 2018, which incorporated elements from the Resource Description and Access (RDA) standard. This marked another key milestone in their ongoing development.

Today, the cataloging of Chinese rare books faces significant shifts due to advances in technology and the evolving cataloging ecosystem. Recognizing the need for the guidelines to stay current with these changes, Haiqing Lin from UC Berkeley and Shuwen Cao from Princeton University formed a working group in CEAL in 2021 to review and revise the 2018 edition of the guidelines. The working group has undertaken a comprehensive set of tasks, including:

• Environmental scanning
• Examination of underlying cataloging issues
• Collection and dissemination of information and data
• Preliminary observations and analysis

However, given the complexities of these challenges, the working group requires additional time to carefully draft and revise the 2018 Guidelines. Once revisions are complete, the updated document will be circulated among a select group of librarians to gather feedback. This iterative review process will help ensure the revised guidelines effectively address new developments and continue to be a critical resource for the Chinese rare books cataloging community.

Following the submission of the revised guidelines, a subcommittee should be established within the Committee on Chinese Materials (CCM) to promote the Chinese Rare Book Project in alignment with the updated guidelines.

Working Group Report to:

• CEAL Committee on Technical Processing (CTP)
• CEAL Committee on Chinese Materials (CCM)

Past Members (2021-2023):

• Haiqing Lin (Chair, University of California, Berkeley)
• Shuwen Cao (Princeton University)
• Brian Cheung (Library of Congress)
• Jian Ping Lee (University of Washington)
• Tang Li (University of Southern California)
• Stephen Qiao (University of Toronto)
• Ann Roddy (Library of Congress)
• Anlin Yang (University of Wisconsin – Madison)
• Karen Yu (University of Chicago)
• Yangyang Zeng (Library of Congress)
• Wei Zheng (Columbia University)
• Runxiao Zhu (Oberlin College, CTP Representative)

Membership (2024-2026):

• Wei Zheng (Chair, Columbia University)
• Yuzhou Bai (PhD) (Williams College)*
• Shuwen Cao (Princeton University)
• Jian Ping Lee (University of Washington)
• Ann Roddy (Library of Congress)
• Ya Min Wu (University of British Columbia)
• Anlin Yang (University of Wisconsin – Madison)
• Yangyang Zeng (Library of Congress)
• Haiqing Lin (Consultant, UC Berkeley)
• Jessalyn Zoom (Project Advisor, Library of Congress)

* Yuzhou Bai will join Harvard-Yenching Library in January 2025

Access to the Guidelines and Contact Information:

The Cataloging Guidelines for Chinese Rare Books (2018 edition) is available on:

• The Library of Congress Descriptive Cataloging page
• Rare Books Cataloging folder on RDA & CJK Workshop Wiki

The working group welcomes all participants of the Chinese Rare Books Project and institutions using the guidelines to share their feedback. Please send your comments to chrbceal@gmail.com.