cataloger

A cataloger is a person who’s responsible for cataloging things—recording them in an ordered list. Catalog is sometimes spelled catalogue, and cataloger is sometimes spelled cataloguer.

The list that the cataloger compiles is also called a catalog. Cataloger is often used in the context of the formal recording of items in a collection, such as that of a museum or library.

Catalog also often refers to a printed copy of items available for purchase from a particular company. The company providing such catalogs can be called a cataloger, but this sense of the word isn’t all that commonly used anymore.

Example: A team of catalogers has been working for months to document and record every last volume in the collection.

The first records of the word cataloger come from the 1800s. Its base word, catalog, comes from the Greek katálogos, meaning “a register,” from the verb katalégein, meaning “to list” or “to count up.”

Catalogers often do more than just make a list of items. Especially when they’re cataloging items in a professional setting, their records often include descriptions of the items, their contents, and their condition, among other things.

What are some other forms related to cataloger?

• cataloguer (alternate spelling)
• catalog (verb, noun)

What are some synonyms for cataloger?

• indexer

What are some words that share a root or word element with cataloger? 

• card catalog
• online catalog
• logos

What are some words that often get used in discussing cataloger?

• list
• file
• register
• record
• inventory
• order
• mail order

Cataloger is typically used in the context of formal records of items, such as those held by a museum or library.

I work as a cataloger at a seminary library, and this sweet lady I work with puts up a "topical shelf" near the front desk each month for various calendar events. This month I asked if she would let me pull some LGBT+ books (it's a v. prog institution) for Pride. 1/

— arden’s affable anti fascism (@arden_seriously) June 12, 2019

#askacataloger I'm a special collections cataloger for an art museum. ASK ME THINGS!

— Sarah Bilotta Belclaire (@Sarahebb_) June 1, 2019

Which of the following things is a cataloger likely to do? 

A. make lists
B. record items
C. inspect inventory
D. all of the above