Introduction to Catalogs

Catalogs are the backbone of our library’s content organization and navigation system. Understanding how they work will help you get the best use out of our library. 

Function: The purpose of our catalogs is to help you find content with specific characteristics quickly and easily. To this end, each catalog holds one, or multiple, lists of links. These links will take you to articles (eg. content catalogs), to other catalogs (eg. a catalog of catalogs), or to both (eg. a catalog that contains links to articles, as well as links to other catalogs). 

Catalog Hierarchy: At the highest level, most catalogs link to other catalogs. Once you’ve clicked down through the higher levels, the bottom levels will hold the actual content. This nested hierarchy allows you to click through various catalog pages to filter content by different characteristics. For example, to find encyclopedia style articles about “Inflation History”, you would click on “Reference Content Catalogs” >> “Encyclopedia Topic Catalogs”>>”Economic Indicator Catalogs”>>”Inflation Articles” → and within the “Inflation articles” catalog you would scroll down to the “inflation history” section listing inflation history articles. 

Catalog Matrix: In addition to a top down hierarchy, catalogs are also linked to each other in a matrix that allows for lateral movement between related catalogs. For example, “Economic Indicator Catalogs” are all linked to each other via Navigation Boxes. This allows you to navigate from the “Inflation Articles Catalog” directly to the “GDP Articles Catalog” or “Demographics Articles Catalog” without having to navigate back up and down the catalog hierarchy. 

Content Listing Rules: Links in a catalog are selected based on specific “listing rules”. These rules determine the criteria needed for content to be listed in a particular catalog. For example, common rules include listing by topics, content type, or use cases. Content may be listed in multiple catalogs if the content meets the criteria of the different rules for those catalogs. 

In-Catalog Organization Systems: Once content has been selected for inclusion in a catalog, the links to that content are organized by a variety of systems. These include Alphabetical Order (Title, Topic, Author name, etc.), Chronological Order (Date published, Date Edited, Time Period Covered), Numerical Order (eg. Edition Number, Issue Number, Version Number), Hierarchical order (Department, Rank, Difficulty Level, Priority, Relevance, Utility), Size (File Size, Article Length, Population, Economy Size, Price), Classification or Taxonomic System (Periodic table, Dewey Decimal System, LCC, Internal Systems), by Process Order (Project phase, Lifecycle Stage, Workflow), Recommended Reading Order, and finally by “Editor’s Order” – which is a manual/custom/curated list based on our editor’s judgement.

Catalog Naming: Catalogs are named based on a standardized system. Catalog names describe the contents they hold, usually in this format [topic, content type, and organization system]. For example, a catalog named “China Economy News Articles by Date” will hold links to News Articles related to China’s Economy, which are organized by date published. A catalog named “Inflation Catalogs by Title Alphabetical Order” will hold links to other catalogs that hold content about inflation, organized by their title’s alphabetical order.