The Edinburgh/Durham Southern Galaxy Catalogue: Pt. 2

The Edinburgh/Durham Southern Galaxy Catalogue is the first large-scale machine based optical galaxy catalogue. This galaxy survey is based on digitized scans of the SERC(J) survey plates, using the COSMOS high-speed measuring machine. In the second paper of a series concerned with the catalogue we present our optimized procedure for minimizing both plate position dependent and magnitude dependent systematic errors in image classification as a star or galaxy. We demonstrate the classification techniques and strict quality control that are necessary in order to reduce misclassification to an acceptable level for the production of a homogeneous catalogue from photographic plates of varying quality. (author)