IFLAThe Multilingual Dictionary of Cataloguing Terms and Concepts (MulDiCat) is a controlled vocabulary maintained by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). It gathers the core terminology of library cataloguing and provides authoritative translations of each term across many languages, supporting the consistent international interpretation and exchange of cataloguing documentation.
Background
MulDiCat originated from IFLA's long-standing effort to coordinate cataloguing practice across linguistic and national boundaries. As IFLA developed foundational documents such as the Statement of International Cataloguing Principles (ICP), it needed a stable, agreed set of terms whose meaning would be preserved when those documents were translated. MulDiCat answers that need by defining each cataloguing concept once and attaching equivalent labels and definitions in multiple languages, so that a translator of an IFLA standard can reuse vetted terminology rather than inventing it anew.
The dictionary is published as part of IFLA's Value Vocabularies initiative on the IFLA Standards site (iflastandards.info), alongside related IFLA vocabularies such as those for the International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD) and the IFLA Library Reference Model (LRM). Wikidata records a publication date of 2010 for the resource.
Purpose & Scope
MulDiCat serves as a terminological reference and a linked-data value vocabulary. Its primary functions are:
- Fixing the meaning of cataloguing terms and concepts used in IFLA standards and principles
- Providing equivalent labels for each concept in a wide range of languages
- Enabling multilingual exchange of cataloguing documentation by giving translators an authoritative, shared vocabulary
- Acting as a value vocabulary that other metadata and linked-data applications can reference by URI
The vocabulary covers roughly 40 cataloguing concepts and provides labels in around 26 languages, ranging from Arabic and Bulgarian through to Chinese and Vietnamese. It is concerned with the vocabulary of cataloguing itself rather than with describing resources directly, which distinguishes it from element sets such as ISBD or exchange formats such as UNIMARC.
Serializations & Technical Formats
MulDiCat is published as a SKOS (Simple Knowledge Organization System) vocabulary under the namespace http://iflastandards.info/ns/muldicat, with the suggested prefix muldicat. The data is offered for download in several machine-readable formats:
- N-Triples
- RDF/XML
- JSON-LD
Expressing the dictionary in SKOS means each cataloguing concept is a resource with a stable URI, preferred and alternative labels per language, and definitions — making it directly usable in linked-data environments and as a source of controlled values for other metadata standards.
Relationships
MulDiCat sits within IFLA's family of cataloguing standards and vocabularies. It underpins the terminology of the International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD) and the IFLA Library Reference Model (LRM), and its concepts align with the broader cataloguing tradition expressed in Resource Description and Access (RDA) and IFLA's own exchange format UNIMARC. As a multilingual value vocabulary, it complements these standards by supplying shared, translatable terminology rather than rules for describing individual resources.
Maintenance
MulDiCat is maintained by IFLA as part of its Value Vocabularies initiative and is hosted on the IFLA Standards site. The vocabulary is updated as cataloguing terminology evolves and as additional language equivalents are contributed.