The catalogued record

The purpose of cataloging is to establish a record for a library item which includes a brief description and (usually) a call number, which in the case of printed materials are either placed on the spine or, if too thin, on the upper left corner of the book or periodical.

The description of the item would normally list the title; author or editor; publisher, along with place of publication and publishing date; physical description, i.e. how many pages, if it is illustrated, and how high in centimeters; notes, if it contains a bibliography or index; series, if it is part of one; and subject headings. Literary works, that is, poetry, fiction, drama, etc., do not normally include subject headings unless its topic is central enough to be listed, a historical novel, for example

The description of the item appears in different formats. What is called the brief view or the full view is what the patron normally sees at the library website, and is similar to what is usually found on the inside verso page, known as "Cataloging in Publication" data (more on that later). For example, this record in full view form from the Library of Congress website:

LC Control No.: 85019329
LCCN Permalink: http://lccn.loc.gov/85019329
Type of Material: Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.)
Personal Name: Pike, Douglas, 1924-2002.
Main Title: PAVN : People’s Army of Vietnam / Douglas Pike.
Published/Created: Novato, CA : Presidio Press, c1986.
Related Titles: People’s Army of Vietnam.
Description: vii, 384 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
ISBN: 0891412433 : $18.95
Notes: Includes index.
Bibliography: p. 362-378.
Subjects: Vietnam. Quân đội nhân dân.
LC Classification: UA853.V48 P55 1986
Dewey Class No.: 355/.009597 19
Geographic Area Code: a-vt---
CALL NUMBER: UA853.V48 P55 1986
Copy 1

-- Request in:
Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms
-- Status:
Not Charged

This is a full view of the record, the brief view is the default mode in the LOC website. But the cataloger works with a different format, which can also be found at the LOC website by clicking "MARC tags":


PAVN : People's Army of Vietnam / Douglas Pike.

LCCN Permalink: http://lccn.loc.gov/90026264

000

01026pam a2200277 a 450

001 1525312

005 20090828140631.0

008 901203r19911986nyu b 001 0 eng

906 __ a 7 b cbc c orignew d 1 e ocip f 19 g y-gencatlg

955 __ a pc05 to ea00 12-03-90;ea15 to SCD 12-04-90; fg05 12-04-90; fm22 12-07-90; CIP ver. bd65 to SL 05-07-91

010 __ a 90026264

020 __ a 0306804328 : c $14.95

035 __ 9 (DLC) 90026264

040 __ a DLC c DLC d DLC

043 __ a a-vt---

050 10 a UA853.V48 b P55 1991

100 1_ a Pike, Douglas, d 1924-2002.

245 10 a PAVN : b People’s Army of Vietnam / c Douglas Pike.

260 __ a New York, N.Y. : b Da Capo Press, c [1991], c1986.

300 __ a vii, 384 p. ; c 22 cm.

490 0_ a A Da Capo paperback

500 __ a Reprint. Originally published: Novato, CA : Presidio Press, c1986.

504 __ a Includes bibliographical references (p. 362-378) and index.

610 20 a Vietnam. b Quân ḍoi nhân dân.

740 0_ a People’s Army of Vietnam.

920 __ a Do not acquire

These numbered fields and coded letters in each field are necessary so that the records are properly exported to the computerized library database. MARC stands for MAchine Readable Cataloging. A MARC record can be viewed at library websites by clicking either on MARC or "Staff view". The numbers for each of the fields represent different categories: 050 or 090 is for call number; 100 is for author (if there is one); 245 is for title; 300 is for physical description; 440 or 490 and 830 are for series, if the book is part of one; 500 is for notes and 504 for noting if there is a bibliography; the 600 fields are for subject headings (600 for personal names; 610 for corporate names including organizations; 650 for topical subjects; and 651 for countries); 700 is for added entry personal names (such as editor) and 710 for organizations involved in the publication. The 900 numbers are for local notes. These are the main fields used by a cataloger, but there are many more. For more descriptions, see the Library of Congress description here.

As a cataloger, I will sometimes go to the website of a library which has the book I am cataloging, and copy and paste sections of the MARC record into the OCLC record I am about to export, if the OCLC record is incomplete.

I have discussed here only a monographic record, as that is what I work with daily. Serial records and electronic resources might look slightly different. In the next entry I will discuss the call number, which is divided into the classification number and the cutter number.