The Cataloguing Code of Ethics 2021: conception, community and continuation

Cataloguing has existed for millennia but until January 2021 there was no formal code of ethics for this branch of the information profession. But what is the Code? Who created it and why? How was it produced? Is the Code immutable and what relevance does it have in day-to-day cataloguing work now? Can institutional experiences of encountering and resolving ethical dilemmas in creating, sharing, enriching and maintaining metadata be shared for mutual benefit? This article, based on a presentation delivered by the authors as part of the ARLIS UK Cataloguing and Classification Ethics series delivered online between April and June 2022, 1 provides examples of how the ten ethical statements of principles can be used to inform cataloguing in art libraries.