ISBD: Aid or Barrier to Understanding?

This article investigates the validity of claims that ISBD (International Standard Bibliographic Description) punctuation and conventions are a barrier to the · understanding of catalog information. A group of undergraduate students were asked specific questions about the elements on catalog cards. Two sets of catalog entries were used for the test. The sets were identical in content, but one followed unrevised 1967 AACR chapter 6 rules and the other followed ISBD. The degree of correctness of the response and the response time were recorded. The test results showed a slightly greater degree and number in correctness of response to the ISBD format cards. The study indicates that the ISBD format aids, rather than hinders, reader understanding.