This study investigated the us e of cataloguing tools and resour ces in the University of Malawi (UNIMA) Libraries and the Malawi National Library Service (MNLS) in providing access to information. Cataloguing tools and resources are mainly used by cataloguers to process library materials fo r easy location and access to the collection. The cataloguer’s goal is to meet user needs and make available materials and services for the purpose of supporting the learning, te aching and research needs of the UNIMA Libraries and the MNLS. Cataloguing practice in most of the acad emic and public libraries in developing countries has lagged behind due to financial constraints. Poor budget allocations and economic problems have forced many libraries to operate inefficiently without preparing cataloguers for the work with effective training. The UNIMA Libraries and the MNLS have also been affected by this economic problem. In order to find out how catal oguing tools and resources are being used by cataloguers in UNIMA Libraries and the MNLS in providing access to information, a study sample consisting of fifty cataloguers and directors (Librarians) of libraries was chosen. The cataloguers and directors of libra ries were surveyed by means of a self administered questionnaire a nd an interview schedule to investigate availability and use of cataloguing tools and re sources and the effectiveness of the services to provide for the information needs of the users. Other information requested from the respondents related to the probl ems encountered with the tool s and training offered to the cataloguers. A to tal of thirty-fiv e cataloguers and directors of libraries responded yielding a 70 % response rate. The results were analysed using SPSS. The results were shown in the form of tables and figures. The study revealed that the majority of cataloguers in the UNIMA Libraries and the MNLS used the cataloguing t ools and resources but relati vely infrequently. Results also revealed that the cata loguers encountered various pr oblems with the tools which most of them attributed to a lack of training to adequately prepare them for cataloguing requirements. In addition, the majority of libraries had cataloguing iv backlogs which were attribut ed to various factors such as a lack of professionally trained staff in cataloguing and a lack of cataloguing tools and resources. Recommendations and sugges tions to improve the catal oguing practice in general were made by both the researcher and re spondents with regard to the findings and the literature reviewed. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

El estudio tiene como objeto crear una metodología de trabajo que permita tratar de forma normalizada una colección pública de fondos artísticos que no tiene entidad jurídica de museo. El método empleado incluye tanto técnicas de revisión bibliográfica como trabajo de campo para la identificación de recursos en Internet y para la adaptación e importación de datos textuales en una aplicación informática. El trabajo se estructura en ocho capítulos que comienzan con la determinación de conceptos, así como la identificación y clasificación de fuentes de información artística. A continuación estudia las entidades que custodian y difunden la información y las técnicas que se aplican para ello, desde una perspectiva internacional para concluir con el panorama local. El último segmento desarrolla los conocimientos implantando una metodología a través de una herramienta informática y su validación con los registros de la sede del Rectorado de la Universidad Politécnica de Valencia. El trabajo demuestra la necesidad de utilizar en cualquier colección, técnicas y procedimientos probados en instituciones museísticas. De esta forma se garantizaría la compatibilidad de los resultados del tratamiento de la información: los sistemas de documentación de museos. El método implementado concluye la posibilidad de aplicar a cualquier información artística, con sus peculiaridades, unas técnicas de tratamiento estandarizadas. / The aim of this study is to develop a methodology that allows dealing with an artistic public collection which is not an established museum in a standardized way. It has been used a scientific method, including bibliographic review techniques as well as research work, which has been essential to identify Internet resources and to adapt and import textual data in a computer application. It is organized in eight chapters that begin with conceptual determinations, and the identification and classification of the artistic information sources. Then, the work studies the organizations that custody and spread the information and the procedures used for it, from an international perspective to a local view. The last chapter develops this knowledge implementing the method through a computer application and its validation with the Rectorate of the Polithecnic University of Valencia's records. This work demonstrates the need to use techniques and procedures experienced or previously tested at museums in any collection. In this way, compatibility of the results of the information treatment is ensured: the museums' documentation systems. The implemented method comes to the conclusion that it is possible to apply standardized techniques of information treatment to any artistic information, with its peculiarities.