The Paris Principles (PP), also known as the Statement of Principles, defined the theoretical foundation for the creation of bibliographical cataloging rules for libraries. They were specified and agreed upon in October 1961 at the ''Conference on Cataloguing Principles'' (CCP) of the

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is an international body representing the interests of people who rely on Library, libraries and information professionals. A non-governmental, not-for-profit organizati ...

(IFLA) in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The six-page script stipulated which function and structure

library catalog A library catalog (or library catalogue in British English) is a register of all bibliography, bibliographic items found in a library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations. A catalog for a group of libra ...

s should have in the future. It was the first international agreement – delegations from 65 countries were involved – on fundamental questions of cataloging, which formed an important basis for the development of regulations such as the German (RAK). For example, determining the function of a library catalog is influential up to now. By using the catalog, the user should be able to determine whether a respective library holds a certain book of which is known: * the author and the title, or * only the title (if the author is not mentioned in the book), or * a suitable replacement for the title (if the author and title are unsuitable or insufficient). In addition, the catalog should allow to determine which works by a particular author and which specific editions of a work are present in a library. Since 2009, the Paris Principles have been replaced by the

International Cataloguing Principles The (Statement of) International Cataloguing Principles (ICP) define(s) the foundation for the creation of bibliographical cataloging rules for libraries. The ICPs are an initiative of the International Federation of Library Associations and Inst ...

(ICP), also an IFLA initiative.

See also

References

Further reading