May/June 2008

Cataloging 101:

Cataloging Made (Almost) Easy

Sandra Q. Williams

This is the final column of the Cataloging 101 series by Sandra Q. Williams. The columns included discussion of the importance of rules and standards in today's world of automated catalogs in school library media centers. Information on descriptive cataloging, AACR2, the MARC format, subject headings, classification numbers, and ways to find cataloging information in the items themselves and on the Internet was included. The series expands upon cataloging issues begun with the C.I.P articles by McCroskey and Turvey published in KQ in 2003-2004 and complements the CE-MARC column by Tom Adamich. The goal is to provide library media specialists with new tools, knowledge and the confidence needed to do copy and original cataloging in a timely manner.

Cataloging Made (Almost) Easy

Items find their way into the media center in many ways besides the traditional standard ordering process from vendors. A teacher might purchase a DVD to use in the classroom, and then give it to the school library media center (SLMC); or perhaps a parent will donate a book in honor of a student. Maybe the school library media specialist (SLMS) will purchase a signed book at an event where an author or illustrator is giving a presentation; or sometimes the SLMS will select free books from a book fair based on the number of books sold at the fair. Or perhaps, the school librarian will order books from online sources. For these and other reasons, media specialists usually have some materials that must be cataloged locally before they can become part of the library media collection.

CIP: One Source of Cataloging Records:
This fifth column will discuss some of the ways media specialists can find cataloging information that has already been prepared for many of these uncataloged resources. One of the greatest boons to media specialists looking for cataloging is the "Cataloging in Publication" (CIP) program. CIP records are found in materials published by 3,500 publishers (McCroskey and Turvey, 2003, 45). These records are usually found on the back of the title page (the verso), or sometimes at the very back of the book, also known as the colophon. CIP cataloging uses a card catalog format, although other stylistic formats are sometimes seen. If there is an author main entry, it is printed on the first line and the title is indented on the second line. A subtitle might be given, along with a statement of responsibility set off by International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD) punctuation. A series statement will be enclosed in parentheses and notes will follow. The subject headings are Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH, 2004); those in brackets are from the Library of Congress Annotated Card Program, which assigns headings for children's materials. The Dewey call numbers come from the full edition of the Dewey Decimal Classification System (DDC, 2003).

Catalogers at the Library of Congress prepare CIP records when the book is still in its galley stage. Because fairly substantial changes are sometimes made before the book is actually published, the media specialist must evaluate the CIP information for accuracy. This evaluation requires knowledge of cataloging rules in the Anglo American Cataloging Rules, 2nd ed. (AACR2) and the standards for the MARC format. If the book has a subtitle not listed in the CIP record, then that will have to be supplied by the media specialist. Also, a statement of responsibility will need to be written if it does not appear in the CIP. The imprint – or publication data – must always be added, along with the collation, which includes the pagination, illustration statement, and size. ISBD punctuation added for these fields completes the formatting of the record.

Subject Heading Consistency
The media specialist will need to consult the Sears List of Subject Headings (Miller, 2004) to find subject headings consistent with ones already in the local catalog. Similarly, the SLMS should examine the Abridged Dewey (Mitchell, 2003) to determine if the classification number given will be compatible with other items in the collection. Since the classification numbers in CIP records come from the full edition of Dewey, they can be longer than what is needed for a school library. Often the classification number in the CIP record will have a "prime" mark, which looks like an accent mark, after some of the numbers. [Note: in online CIP records, a slash mark is used in place of the prime mark.] For example, the Dewey number given in the CIP information for Soft Hay Will Catch You (Lyne, 2004) is 811.008'09282. The prime mark designates a place where the number could logically end; however, even this shortened number (811.008) should be checked against the Abridged Dewey for accuracy and a good fit.

MARC formatting
Now that the correct bibliographic information has been obtained for this item, the library media specialist must input the data into the automated catalog. MARC format details are never given as part of the CIP record. Although all automated systems provide screens for entering new records, varying levels of knowledge about the MARC format are required. For example, in some systems the ISBD punctuation between fields is provided; other systems require the media specialist to insert the correct punctuation.

Online Sources for Catalog Records
Besides using CIP data, media specialists can also search for cataloging details for their uncataloged materials on the Internet. The first place to look for cataloging data is the Library of Congress catalog website at http://catalog.loc.gov/. The Library of Congress (LC) online catalog allows free access to its 14 million records, so there is a good chance that the record needed will be found, unless it is an audiovisual item. Not many of the records on the LC site are for audiovisual materials. If a bibliographic record is found for the resource, all the media specialist needs to do is to follow the directions given on the site for downloading the record into his or her local online system. If several needed MARC records are found at LC, these records can be "batched," or saved together, and downloaded in one operation. Once the new record has been entered into the media center's local system, the media specialist must evaluate the record's bibliographic data, both for accuracy and for compatibility with the rest of the records in the local catalog. Even Library of Congress catalogers have been known to misspell a word or to use a colon instead of a semicolon in the ISBD punctuation, so the information must be checked. The SLMS should also verify that the record contains complete information. Many online CIP MARC records lack the number of pages (listed in the MARC 300 field $a) or subject headings (listed in the MARC 6XX fields). The media specialist may also wish to add local or other information such as notes regarding reading level or awards a book has won to "enhance" the record.

Another source for catalog records is AMICUS at http://www.collectionscanada.ca/amicus/. AMICUS is the database of the National Library of Canada, and it contains over 30 million records from more than 1300 libraries. As is true with the Library of Congress catalog, there is no charge for using AMICUS, but on this system, a user must register. Once a media specialist has registered, MARC records may be viewed and downloaded free. Many audiovisual records are available on this site.

The SUNLINK database at http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/ offers another good place to search for MARC records. This catalog contains over 1.6 million titles from more than 2,500 K-12 public school libraries in Florida, so the chances of finding materials needed in another school library are very good. The catalog is very easy to use and in addition to MARC records, it includes book jacket cover images and many links to websites. A user name and password are needed to actually download records from this site; these are assigned by SUNLINK only to those in Florida SUNLINK schools.

ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA at http://www.accesspa.state.pa.us is another useful site for locating MARC records. This state of Pennsylvania union catalog includes libraries of all types. Access Pennsylvania is an especially good resource for non-print materials such as videos and DVDs. More than 2,000 school libraries participate in Access Pennsylvania, and the database includes approximately 15 million titles.

If a media specialist isn't able to find an exact match for an item needing cataloging, a subject or keyword search can be run on one of these large databases to look for similar materials. Finding a resource very much like the one needing cataloging will provide at least a beginning point for subject headings and classification numbers.

Copy v. Original Cataloging
The term that is used for the practice of using CIP records or records created by other librarians is "copy cataloging," because the media specialist is copying the cataloging work done by others. Copy cataloging is a fast, efficient way to get a media center's materials processed, but care must be taken to evaluate the records based on AACR2 and MARC format standards. The most time-consuming way to create catalog records for uncataloged items is to do "original cataloging." Original cataloging means that the media specialist must record all the cataloging data that is needed according to AACR2, and then input the data into the local automated system using the rules defined for the MARC format. Original cataloging will most likely not need to be done on a daily basis in the school library media center, but media specialists will need to use many of the same skills to verify and modify catalog records acquired from other databases.

Original cataloging must be done when the media center receives items that have been produced locally. Perhaps a class has worked together to make a reference book on Native Americans or local history that they then donate to the library. Or a group of students in the high school has developed a website about the weather. It would be very useful to add these resources to the library catalog so other students or teachers will find them when doing a search on these topics. Original cataloging will be needed for these items and any others that cannot be found through a search of sites on the Internet.

The Continuum of Cataloging
The cataloging effort media specialists must provide for their uncataloged items runs along a continuum:

Whatever the effort needed for cataloging any particular item, the school library media specialist must work from a broad knowledge base. The SLMS must have a good understanding of the cataloging rules in AACR2, a solid foundation in MARC format standards, and basic knowledge about assigning subject headings and classification numbers. When media specialists put this knowledge to work, uncataloged and unretrievable materials will become a thing of the past, media center catalogs will be more accurate and more conducive to resource sharing, and the media center's students and teachers will be better served.

Glossary of Cataloging Terms

CIP: "Cataloging in Publication" records contain basic descriptive information including the main entry, title, statement of responsibility, Library of Congress subject headings, and both Library of Congress and Dewey Decimal classification numbers.

Collation: The area of the cataloging record that lists the physical description of an item. This is the 300 field in the MARC record. Ex: 300 #a xiii, 114 p.: #b ill. (chiefly col.); #c 25 cm.

Colophon: Cataloging information found on the back page of a book.

Copy Cataloging: The work involved in searching a database to find cataloging records prepared by others that match items being added to a local catalog. Once a record is found, it must be evaluated for accuracy in both AACR2 and MARC format standards.

ISBD: "International Standard Bibliographic Description" is a standard that uses prescribed punctuation within the MARC record to set off separate elements in the description. For example, a colon, set off by a space in front of it and after it, precedes a subtitle. A slash, also set off by a space before and after, comes before the statement of responsibility. See Cataloguing Section of IFLANET at http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/pubs/cat-isbd.htm to download a pdf document of ISBD standards. Accessed 20 April 2008.

Main entry: The person or corporate body responsible for the work. The 1XX field (100, 110, 111, or 130) contains the main entry. If no person or corporate body qualifies as the main entry (as in the case of a motion picture, or another type of work with many contributors, or a work with an editor), then the main entry is the title. This is shown in the MARC record by the use of a "0" (zero) in the first indicator position of the 245 (title) field.

MARC record: "MAchine Readable Cataloging Record" is a bibliographic record that has been formatted in the MARC standard. Ex: 260 #a New York: #b Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, #c c2004.

Original cataloging: The work involved in cataloging an item "from scratch." Original cataloging needs to be done by school library media specialists when they are adding unique, one-of-a-kind resources to the catalog. A book or a video prepared by a class in the school would need this approach because no record for this item would already exist in another database.

Statement of responsibility: The portion of the cataloging record that includes the names of the main contributors. For a book, this will be the author, up to two co-authors, illustrator, editor, or translator. For a motion picture, this area could include the director, producer, animator, writer, or publisher.

Verso: The reverse side (back) of the title page. A variety of bibliographic data is included here – often the name and address of the publisher, information regarding copyright releases of photos or images used in the book, copyright dates and edition statements, and, when available, Cataloging in Publication (CIP) data.

Works Cited
(DDC) Dewey decimal classification and relative index. 2003. 22nd ed. Albany, NY: Forest Press.

(AACR2) Joint Steering Committee for Revision of AACR. 2004. Anglo-American cataloging rules. 2nd ed. Chicago: American Library Association.

(LCSH) Library of Congress, Cataloging Policy and Support Office, Library Services. 2004. Library of Congress subject headings, 27th ed., 5 vols. Washington, D.C.: Cataloging Distribution Service.

Lyne, Sandford. 2004. Soft hay will catch you: Poems by young people. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

McCroskey, Marilyn and Michelle R. Turvey. 2003. CIP/LC: What is CIP and how does it benefit the school library media specialist? Knowledge Quest 32, no. 2 (Nov./Dec.): 45-46.

Miller, Joseph, ed. 2004. Sears list of subject headings. 18th ed. New York: H.W. Wilson.

Mitchell, Joan S. et al., eds. 2003. Abridged Dewey decimal classification and relative index: Devised by Melvil Dewey. 14th ed. Albany, N.Y.: Forest Press.

Additional Cataloging Resources

• National websites for obtaining free MARC records:

AMICUS

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/amicus/
The site of the National Library of Canada, this database has more than 30 million full records from 1,300 libraries across Canada. MARC records are free, but a user must register. Accessed 20 April 2008.

Library of Congress Online Catalog

http://catalog.loc.gov/
The Library of Congress catalog contains approximately 14 million records including many different formats. MARC records may be viewed and downloaded free. No registration required. Accessed 20 April 2008.

• State systems that include school libraries; most also give access to MARC records

Connecticut – reQuest

http://iconn.org
Search 400 library catalogs (including school libraries) with over 3 million records. See a jacket cover illustration and detailed summary for many titles. Users are given free access to MARC records. Accessed 20 April 2008.

Florida -- SUNLINK

http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/
Database contains over 1.6 million titles from more than 2,500 K-12 public school libraries in Florida. It also includes 380,000 jacket cover illustrations and 23,000 websites. Searches can be made according to format, including AV, books, computer software, spoken recordings, and websites. Reading and interest levels can be specified, as well as designating that a book is part of the Accelerated Reading program or Reading Counts. Users are given free access to MARC records, but only registrants in Florida may download records to their local systems. Accessed 20 April 2008.

Illinois – SILC

http://findit.ilsos.net/OCLC/
The Statewide Illinois Library Catalog allows a user to search by region or by type of library, including school libraries. Besides jacket cover illustrations for some titles, summaries and book reviews are also included. Accessed 20 April 2008.

Minnesota – MnLINK

http://www.mnlink.org/
The Minnesota Library Information Network (MnLINK) is a statewide virtual library that electronically links users to Minnesota's library resources. Libraries of all types are included – public, academic, state agency, special, and K-12 school. Accessed 20 April 2008.

New Hampshire – NHU - PAC

http://www.nhu-pac.library.state.nh.us/
The New Hampshire Union Public Access Catalog includes the holdings of the libraries that make up the New Hampshire Automated Information System (NHAIS). Free access is given to MARC records. Accessed 20 April 2008.

North Dakota – ODIN

http://www.webcat.odin.nodak.edu/webpals/home.html
The Online Dakota Information Network (ODIN) database includes some school libraries and gives easy access to MARC records. Accessed 20 April 2008.

Oklahoma – Oklahoma Digital Prairie

http://www.odl.state.ok.us/prairie/
This is your "one stop shop" for Oklahoma's online library resources. From this URL, click on "ODL Catalog" to search approximately 3 million holdings from over 500 libraries, including schools. Access to MARC records is free. Accessed 20 April 2008.

Pennsylvania – ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA

http://www.accesspa.state.pa.us/
This site began in 1985 and is the largest statewide union catalog that includes the holdings of all types of libraries. Over 3,000 libraries participate and there are approximately 15 million titles included. A user may select from school, academic, public, or special libraries for a search, or search all databases together. Searching can be done by title, author, Sears subject heading, Dewey call number, ISBN, and other categories. Free access is given to MARC records. Accessed 20 April 2008.

Rhode Island – RILINK

http://www.rilink.org
The Rhode Island Library Information Network for Kids is made up of the school libraries in Rhode Island. The database includes more than 30,000 Internet sites as well as print and nonprint resources. RILINK is an attractive, friendly catalog and is easy to search. Accessed 20 April 2008.

South Dakota – South Dakota Library Network

http://apollo.sdln.net
This easy-to-search database gives access to MARC records and displays book jackets. It includes the holdings of more than 75 libraries from elementary through high school, college, public, and special libraries. Accessed 20 April 2008.

West Virginia – West Virginia Union Catalog

http://ill.wvlc.lib.wv.us/vtls40/frame/
This statewide online catalog includes school libraries. MARC records are easily accessible. Accessed 20 April 2008.

Wisconsin – WISCAT

http://www.wiscat.net
Wisconsin libraries, including school libraries, have their holdings in WISCAT. Free access is given to MARC records. Accessed 20 April 2008.

Wyoming – WYLDCAT

http://wyld.state.wy.us/
This database allows searching by each individual library in Wyoming, including 15 school libraries. Book jackets are shown. It includes a nice Kids' Library search option, with graphic images representing subject areas. The selected items then show the book jacket and a review. Accessed 20 April 2008.

• Programs to help catalogers clean up their records or find and download MARC records:
(Some of the sites in this section were mentioned in: Kaplan, Allison G., and Ann Marlow Riedling. 2002. Catalog It! A Guide to Cataloging School Library Materials. Worthington, OH: Linworth. [The second edition of this title was published in 2006.] Others appeared in Intner, Sheila S., Joanna F. Fountain, and Jane E. Gilchrist, eds. 2005. Cataloging Correctly for Kids. 4th ed. Chicago: American Library Association.

Book Systems Inc.

http://www.booksys.com
"Book Systems is an innovator in the library automation industry and has been for nearly two decades, providing affordable library automation solutions that deliver more features and demand fewer resources." Accessed 20 April 2008.

eZcat

http://www.booksys.com/v3/products/ezcat/
eZcat allows the media specialist to take advantage of Z39.50 technology and the Internet to obtain MARC records free of charge. "Search multiple library databases (Library of Congress, large public, and major university libraries) simultaneously. eZcat works with the Internet to help you catalog your materials (books, video, audio, etc)." The user can sign up for a free demonstration online. Accessed 20 April 2008.

InfoWorks Technology Company

http://www.itcompany.com/index.htm
Check out the Library Solutions at http://www.itcompany.com/products.htm to see what InfoWorks Technology can do for your library. Accessed 20 April 2008.

MITINET MARC Software

http://www.mitinet.com
"MITINET, Inc. makes the complex job of running a library simple. We clean-up, organize and optimize your database and information management systems…." Accessed 20 April 2008.

MARC Magician

http://www.mitinet.com/MARC%20Magician.aspx
MARC magician cleans up existing records, creates original MARC records, and a special add-on package can be purchased that will print catalog cards and labels. Accessed 20 April 2008.

MARC Mechanic Express

http://www.mitinet.com/MARCmechanicexpress.aspx
This is a "MARC database tuneup service." Some of the cleanup options available include updating Sears subject headings, standardizing call number prefixes, standardizing Cutters, removing unwanted terminology, and adding awards notes, such as Newbery and Caldecott winners. Catalog data can be cleaned up quickly – usually in less than a day. Accessed 20 April 2008.

Surpass Copycat

http://www.surpasssoftware.com/copycat.htm
After charging a one-time fee of $450 per library (other pricing structures are available), this company currently allows unlimited downloading of MARC records. Surpass also allows the media specialist to scan the barcode of the ISBN on a library resource to search for records. It will search multiple databases, and the user can ask it to quit when a record has been found. Users can select libraries to be on their "favorites" list. MARC records can be viewed and edited before being downloaded into the local system. A free 60-day trial is available. Accessed 20 April 2008.

WebClarity Software Inc.

http://www.webclarity.info
"WebClarity's mission is to specialize in the development of solutions to enhance the productivity of librarians and researchers." Accessed 20 April 2008.

BookWhere

http://www.webclarity.info/products/bookwhere/index.html
This program allows a media specialist to search "thousands of libraries and related databases, including academic, public, and national libraries worldwide." It offers simultaneous searching with immediate results display. It is compatible with Windows computers, but Mac users need to subscribe to BookWhere Online for use via the Internet. Users are invited to sign up for a free trial for 30 days or 45 hours. Accessed 20 April 2008.

• Other Resources:

AUTOCAT

http://www.cwu.edu/~dcc/Autocat-ToC-2007.html
Use this site to subscribe to a cataloging listserv. One must be a subscriber to read the archives or to post a message to the list. Accessed 20 April 2008.

Gateway to Library Catalogs

http://www.loc.gov/z3950/gateway.html#other
An alphabetical listing of libraries whose records are available in a Z39.50 format. Accessed 20 April 2008.

Libraries on the Web – USA Special and School Libraries

http://sunsite3.berkeley.edu/Libweb/usa-special.html
A list of schools with web based catalogs in alphabetical order by the name of the school or special library; includes schools at all levels and from many states. The links appear to be kept up-to-date. Accessed 20 April 2008.

MARC Specialized Tools

http://www.loc.gov/marc/marctools.html
This page is a list of software programs providing enhanced usability to MARC records that have been downloaded from the Library of Congress database. Listed in alphabetical order from AuroraZMARC Collector to ZMARCO. Several are offered free (among them Cataloging Calculator, FRBR Display Tool, MARCBreaker, MarcEdit, MARCMaker, MARC/Perl, and MicroLif Conversion Tool) and links to the companies' websites are provided. Accessed 20 April 2008.

PBS TeacherSource

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/librarymedia/ and http://www.pbs.org/teachers/librarymedia/marc_archive/index.html
Perfect for teachers or media specialists who want to keep PBS programs they've taped off the air. Free MARC records, in either HTML or MS Word format, are available here so the programs added to the media collection can be located through the library's catalog. Accessed 20 April 2008.

Resources for School Librarians

http://www.sldirectory.com/
Find information to help with Learning and Teaching, Information Access, Program Administration, Technology, Education and Employment, and Continuing Education. Click on "Cataloging" for a list of useful websites and other resources having to do with cataloging or cataloging policies. This site is maintained by Linda Bertland, a retired school librarian in Philadelphia. Links have been recently updated. Accessed 20 April 2008.

   Sandra Q. Williams is a professor in Learning Resources & Technology Services and the Center for Information Media at St. Cloud State University. She is the government documents librarian, has taught cataloging in the CIM graduate program for over 15 years, and has a special interest in children's literature. In the past she co-coordinated the annual Children's Literature Workshop at SCSU, which will celebrate its 29th year in summer 2008.

This column article was edited by Carolyn Karis (email ckaris@att.net).