20世紀資訊爆炸時代來臨，使得出版品數量呈幾何級數般地急速成長，圖書館編目工作的負擔也更形加重。故在圖書出版前即預行編目（在版編目）的方式，可為編目工作及讀者帶來更多的便利。本文即對中國大陸實施在版編目的發展做了一番回顧整理，包含其萌芽（1970－1985），試驗（1985－1992），及實施（1993－）等三時期，更對其在大陸地區推行的三個階段予以介紹。

　　　　　With the advent of the twentieth-century information explosion age there has been a rapid geometrical growth of the publication amount and consequently a heavier work load in the library cataloging. Fortunately the measures of the cataloing in publication have been worked out to facilitate catalogers and patrons of the libraries. This article is written as a retrospect of the cevelopment of the cataloging in publication up to the preaent on mainland China with the beginning (1970-1985), experimental (1985-1992) and implemental (1993-) stages reviewed for further progress.