A catalogue is a systematic, organized listing of items produced by human curation, defined by three parameters: (1) enumerated items drawn from a defined domain, (2) an ordering principle (alphabetical, categorical, chronological, or subject-based), and (3) identifying metadata for each item sufficient for retrieval. It persists through written or digital inscription — the catalogue exists as a structured record that can be reproduced, consulted, and updated independently of any single holder's memory. Its purpose is to make a collection accessible and searchable. [formal: catalogus | substrate: mind | horizon: generations | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
catalogue
A catalogue is a systematic, organized listing of items produced by human curation, defined by three parameters: (1) enumerated items drawn from a defined domain, (2) an ordering principle (alphabetical, categorical, chronological, or subj…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A catalogue is a human-made systematic listing of items, organized by category or attribute, designed to persist across time as a reference tool for identification and retrieval.
Names and aliases
- catalogueen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrmi0v8g00bwd1nlrx23qz6gDEPENDS_ON →
A catalogue organizes items according to categories and systematic order. Without classification — the practice of sorting items into categories — a catalogue has no structure to its organization. The dependency is constitutive, not merely facilitative.
- cmrc6da4l00isa9g4w16qp1irSERVES →
A catalogue is maintained for the sake of navigation through collections — its designed purpose is to enable users to find and orient themselves within a body of items. Servant→master: catalogue→navigation per Law 8d.
- cmrmgzgtv008qd1nlbwduigy7INSTANCE_OF →
A catalogue IS a specific kind of index — a systematic list of items organized by category or subject for retrieval. Competent-speaker test: 'a catalogue is a type of index' passes. Per Law 9: specific→general, nearest kind.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 20, 2026, 4:59 AM UTC
- Content hash
- 17fe6b948e2a493df881c6666f514771046080a2a05e2309262afb86dc1fb72f