This study proposes answers to questions of how and why computers can be used to catalog rare books. Divided into two parts, the first examines the nature of rare book cataloging needs and considers problems associated with machine-readable rare book cataloging. The question of how rare book cataloging differs from standard cataloging is analyzed and differing opinions about the extent of description catalogers should provide is discussed. The second part describes solutions to these problems in the form of six computer-assisted rare book cataloging projects: (1) the Independent Research Libraries Association (IRLA) Ad Hoc Committee on Standards for Rarebook Cataloging in Machine Readable Form; (2) the Eighteenth Century Short-Title Catalog (ESTC); (3) the North American Imprints Program (NAIP); (4) the International Standard Bibliographic Description for Antiquarian Books; (5) the Apple Pie Project; (6) and the Hand Printed Books Project. Appendices include a glossary of standard terms, a draft thesaurus of generic terms for older materials, and a draft standard for terms relating to illustrative and graphic processes. Twenty-five references are included. (Author/RAA)