Age of Inventory - evolution of catalogue:
Such simple lists were attempted in good numbers in the succeeding periods (900 A.D. - 1100 A.D.). Louis Pious (814-840 A.D.) issued a decree requiring the monasteries and cathedrals to list all the books in their possession. So the catalogues of the monasteries and cathedrals were compiled to serve the need for inventories of the material possession. Books were arranged not by author but by the importance of the work in the order of Bible, other religious works and secular works. Contents were not indicated in the case of collections (works of the same author and works of various authors on the same subject hound together, as was the practice). The old traditions of the pre-Christian era continued. 2.2.3 Age of Finding List (1600 A.D. - 1800 A.D.)
Although the inventory idea persisted, many catalogues of the 16th century such as the Catalogue of St. Martin's Priory of Dover, the Syon Catalogue, the Catalogue of the Bretton Monastery, etc. contained many additional details such as content notes, names of editors, translators, etc. in the entry and provided with author and other indexes. The 16th century proved a further productive period influenced by great bibliographers like Gesner, Treflerus, Maunsell, to mention a yew. Of particular significance was the contribution made by Andrew Maunsell, a bookseller and a bibliographer in his own right, who published a bibliography of books in English. He adopted dictionary arrangement making entries under the surnames of authors with added entries provided under editors, subject words, etc. in a limited way. Through his procedure the concept of main entry (to be distinguished from the added entries as the one made under author with full bibliographic description) emerged. The idea of uniform heading also owes to him. He entered the Bible and books of the Bible under the uniform heading of Bible.
By the close of the century, although the vestiges of the inventory catalogue still existed, the need for uniformity and systematic approach to catalogue was clearly recognised. Full description became evident. Author entry gained importance as the primary entry providing the basic approach. Added entries were sought for additional approaches. Printed catalogue became the fashion. Efforts at standardization received new inspiration from men like Naude, Dury, Brillet and others. The Bodleian catalogues produced during the century marked a milestone and greatly influenced the succeeding studies of cataloguing practice. Initially intended as shelf guides on single printed pages with supplements to follow, a catalogue (in book form) of printed books and manuscripts of the Bodleian library (in the typical manner of the 16th century shelf list) was printed in 1605. Thomas Bodley and Thomas James were the principal men behind it. The last of the Bodleian catalogue issued under the guidance of Thomas Hyde in 1674 marked further improvement. It continued the alphabetical order and other procedures as in the earlier catalogues but provided better assemblage of literary units.
The preface contained rules which remained authoritative until the middle of the 19th century. The next century i.e., 18th century was rather a period of stabilisation than innovation or solution. Libraries, more importantly the university and private collections grew in size without definite improvements in organisation. The spread of ideas was slow. Only the printed catalogues did serve the purpose but in a limited way; as examples. But most of them were influenced by the early bibliographers who were immature and were not concerned with logic or theory.