This study aims to examine the academic trends in research on Joseon Dynasty bibliographical catalogs (書目) conducted since the 1970s and to suggest future tasks for the field of Korean catalography. To this end, the trajectory of research was categorized into comprehensive and individual studies. In terms of comprehensive research, the foundational achievements of scholars such as Lee Seong-chun, Yoon Byeong-tae, and Chang Paik-ui were reviewed. Regarding individual research, the current status of the field was analyzed by classifying catalogs into library, government-compiled, woodblock-printing, documentary, and reading catalogs.
The analysis reveals that research on catalogs, which initially focused on the bibliographical analysis of individual items, has recently expanded its scope by integrating with adjacent disciplines such as history, literature, and cultural history. Nevertheless, several tasks must be addressed for the qualitative deepening of catalography. First, disparate classification systems must be standardized by comprehensively considering the location, publisher, and purpose of the catalogs. Second, existing errors in previous studies, particularly regarding the compilation dates of woodblock catalogs, should be critically reviewed, and recent research findings must be actively incorporated. Third, there is an urgent need to establish a “Comprehensive Bibliographical Database” that precisely links various catalog data with original images of the physical books. Such follow-up research will serve as a vital academic asset for empirically and multi-dimensionally elucidating the history of Korean printing culture.