UCLA

In a 1997 article on teaching critical cataloging published in Technical Services Quarterly, Hope Olson emphasizes the importance of critical thinking in cataloging work. Unlike most scholarship on critical cataloging, which focuses on remediating problematic subject headings from specific perspectives, Olson’s article is distinctive in its emphasis on teaching catalogers to think critically. This article presents a selective review of the literature on teaching critical cataloging since the publication of Olson’s work. It is the author’s contention that incorporating the principles of critical cataloging into cataloger training is fundamental to making inclusive description practices central to everyday cataloging work.