The Library of Congress completes bibliographic cataloging for materials that are collected by LC which provides for the identification, description, and access to items in the collections. (Works deposited for copyright registration are also cataloged following copyright cataloging procedures.) All types of materials in the Library of Congress' collections are cataloged, covering hundreds of different languages and virtually every format. This includes books, journals, government documents, microforms, computer files, sound and video recordings, prints, drawings, photographs, films, manuscripts, braille books and music, and other formats. While virtually all subject areas are represented in the collections, the Library does not attempt to collect comprehensively in the areas of clinical medicine and technical agriculture. These subjects are collected by the National Library of Medicine and the National Agricultural Library, respectively.
Yes, there are several different methods currently available for searching the Library's catalogs over the Internet. The Library of Congress Catalog Home Page provides access to and information about these search methods.
Cataloging for LC collections is performed in many different areas of the Library although most of the books, music, sound recordings, microforms, and computer files are cataloged in LC's Cataloging Directorate. The following list includes categories of materials that are cataloged in other areas of the Library:
- Serials, including periodicals, annuals, newspapers, etc. (Serial Record Division)
- Maps and other cartographic materials (Geography and Map Division)
- Visual materials, including prints, photographs, etc. (Prints and Photographs Division)
- Materials for the blind and physically handicapped, including braille, audio materials, etc. (National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped)
- Manuscripts (Manuscript Division)
- Motion pictures and other moving images (Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division)
- Sound recordings cataloged in Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division
- Materials submitted for copyright protection (Cataloging Division, Office of the Associate Register of Copyrights for Operations); full bibliographic cataloging of these items may also be done in other LC cataloging units
Please see the Library of Congress Help Desk Web page. You can use the interactive forms there to report Catalog/Authority Record Errors or email us general questions and comments using the General Inquiries link.
Questions on the use of MARC 21 formats, including which fields to use for types of data, should be directed to the following:Network Development and MARC Standards Office
101 Independence Ave. SE
Library of Congress
Washington, DC 20540-4102
ndmso@loc.gov (email)
LC's Cataloging Policy and Support Office (CPSO), a division in the Cataloging Directorate, is responsible for coordinating bibliographic cataloging policy throughout the Library. CPSO cataloging policy specialists work with LC management and staff in all areas of the Library to develop LC cataloging policy. The Copyright Cataloging Division is responsible for copyright cataloging policy.
Cooperative cataloging is a way in which libraries work together to create bibliographic and authority records that can also be used by others. Libraries agree to follow established cataloging practices and work in systems or utilities that facilitate the use of records by others. Bibliographic records for materials collected at different institutions can then be shared. Name, subject, and series authority records that are created for one bibliographic record may also be used when the same headings are needed for another bibliographic record. A serial record can be collectively maintained when one institution creates the initial record and another adds data at a later time to reflect changes in the serial publication.
The Library of Congress is involved in cooperative cataloging programs through its participation in the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC). LC serves on both the PCC Steering Committee and the Policy Committee and operates as the secretariat to coordinate and support component programs within the PCC: Name Authority Cooperative Program (NACO), Bibliographic Record Cooperative Program (BIBCO), CONSER (Cooperative Online Serials) Program, and Subject Authority Cooperative Program (SACO). LC staff also serve on other PCC committees, task forces, and groups to develop policies and practices for the Program. LC catalogers contribute bibliographic and authority records that are distributed as PCC records to the library community.
Libraries throughout the world rely on LC cataloging, either directly through products from the LC Cataloging Distribution Service or by participating in bibliographic utilities or cataloging services. LC cataloging saves other U.S. libraries more than $268 million each year.
The rules for cataloging bibliographic resources cover monographs, serials, and integrating resources. Monographs are either complete in one part or intended to be completed within a finite number of separate parts. Serials are also issued in separate issues or parts but have no predetermined conclusion. Integrating resources are added to or changed by updates but these updates are integrated into the resource itself instead of remaining separate. Any format of material (e.g., printed texts, maps, computer files, musical scores, microforms) can be issued as a monograph or a serial. The most common integrating resources are updating loose-leafs, updating databases, and updating Web sites.
From October 2000 to September 2001, LC cataloged 270,801 bibliographic volumes at an average cost of $122.60 per volume.
From October 2001 through September 2002, LC cataloged 310,235 bibliographic volumes at an average cost of $94.58 per volume.
Cataloging documentation can be ordered directly from the Library of Congress' Cataloging Distribution Service (CDS). Ordering information is made available on the Web by CDS. The CDS home page provides more general information about obtaining LC cataloging documentation.
LC's Cataloging Distribution Service publishes the Library of Congress Rule Interpretations (LCRI). LCRI is formulated by the Cataloging Policy and Support Office and edited by Robert M. Hiatt.
Classification Web, a new Web-based subscription service from the Cataloging Distribution Service, includes both the Library of Congress Subject Headings and the LC Classification. See http://classweb.loc.gov/.
LC catalogers currently use Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd edition, 1988 revision. The publications listed below are also used by LC catalogers (most of which are also included in the Cataloger's Desktop). For other documentation that relate more specifically to a function in LC (e.g., Copyright Cataloging Rules), refer to the list of contacts provided in answer 4.
- Descriptive cataloging aspects:
- Library of Congress Rule Interpretations
Music Cataloging Decisions
Descriptive Cataloging Manual
CONSER Editing Guide
CONSER Cataloging Manual
Cataloging Rules for the Description of Looseleaf Publications
Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Books
Graphic Materials
Map Cataloging Manual
Archival Moving Image Materials: A Cataloging Manual
- Subject cataloging aspects:
- Library of Congress Subject Headings
Subject Cataloging Manual: Subject Headings
Subject Cataloging Manual: General Cataloging Procedures
Free-Floating Subdivisions: An Alphabetical Index
- Classification/Inventory Control Aspects:
- Library of Congress Classification
Subject Cataloging Manual: Classification
Subject Cataloging Manual: Shelflisting
Dewey Decimal Classification
LC Cutter Table
- Machine-Readable Cataloging Aspects (MARC):
- MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data
MARC 21 Format for Authority Data
MARC 21 Code List for Countries
MARC 21 Code List for Geographic Areas
MARC 21 Code List for Languages
MARC 21 Code List for Relators, Sources, Description Conventions
The following levels of cataloging are used at the Library of Congress: full-, core-, minimal-, and collection-level cataloging. For information about the Cataloging Directorate's application of these different cataloging levels for monographs, refer to "Modes of Cataloging Employed in the Cataloging Directorate." For information about cataloging levels for serials that are used in LC's Serial Record Division, refer to "CONSER Record Requirements for Full, Core, and Minimal Level Records."
The Library of Congress does not use the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) to organize any part of its own collections. Rather the Dewey program maintained at the Library serves an outreach function to the Library's national and international constituencies. The Dewey Decimal Classification is the most widely used library classification in the world, and the Decimal Classification Division's mission is, on behalf of library users everywhere, to develop, apply, and assist in the use of the DDC.A Dewey editorial office has been maintained at the Library since 1923, and cataloging staff began adding Dewey numbers to bibliographic records (printed cards) for books being processed in the 1930s. Division classifiers now add numbers to approximately 115,000 records each year, in all subject fields, for items in English and the major European languages. These records are distributed through the Cataloging Distribution Service's MARC delivery services.
The editorial staff (the editor and three assistant editors), which is funded by the Classification's current owners, OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., revises and updates the DDC continuously, with revisions appearing on the Dewey home page and the annual Dewey for Windows CD-ROM. New print versions are issued by OCLC Forest Press, the Classification's publisher, at approximately seven-year intervals. Edition 22 of the DDC will appear in 2003.
The Library of Congress is responsible for developing and maintaining a number of cataloging publications that serve as standards for cataloging library materials throughout the world, including: Library of Congress Rule Interpretations, Library of Congress Subject Headings, and Library of Congress Classification. Other cataloging documentation that address various formats of materials are also developed and maintained at LC (e.g., Map Cataloging Manual, CONSER Cataloging Manual)
Standards that are necessary for record interchange between library systems are developed and maintained in LC's Network Development & MARC Standards Office. These include U.S. Machine-Readable Cataloging (MARC) formats for bibliographic data, authorities data, classification data, holdings data, and community information, and numerous MARC 21 code lists. The Library is also the maintenance agency for the Z39.50 ANSI/NISO standard, "Information Retrieval (Z39.50): Application Service Definition and Protocol Specification."
In the area of metadata, the Library of Congress is the maintenance agency for MODS, the Metadata Object Description Schema, and METS, the Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard.
The MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data is used by LC catalogers when inputting bibliographic records and data in LC's catalog system and other bibliographic utilities (i.e., RLIN and OCLC). The MARC 21 Format for Authority Data is used by LC catalogers when creating authority records for the name and subject authority files. The MARC 21 Format for Classification Data is used by LC's Cataloging Policy and Support Office in the creation of Library of Congress Classification records that are directly available to staff at LC using the Minaret software package. Library of Congress Classification schedules in print are now produced from records in the MARC 21 classification format. (See also answer 14 above.)
"Information for Publishers" is available on LC's Web site, listing a variety of cataloging-related services for publishers. These services include the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) for serial publications, Preassigned Card Number (PCN) for books and other monographs, and Cataloging in Publication Data (CIP) which is also for monographic publications. Information about the International Standard Book Number (ISBN), a service coordinated by the R.R. Bowker Company, is also included in "Information for Publishers." Registration information, application forms, and general information about Copyright is available through "Information for Publishers" as well.
Items submitted for copyright are cataloged in LC's Copyright Cataloging Division, part of the U.S. Copyright Office, by catalogers using the Copyright Cataloging Rules. These rules are developed and maintained in the Copyright Cataloging Division and specifically address facts about copyright ownership of a work that include basic bibliographic information. Full bibliographic cataloging is undertaken by the Library's cataloging units outside of the Copyright Office for those copyright deposits that are selected for inclusion in the Library's collection.
The Library does not catalog publications at the request of authors. Publications are selected for bibliographic cataloging according to guidelines developed by cataloging managers and collection development officials.
Initial bibliographic control (IBC) encompasses all the bibliographic processing that is done on an item before it reaches the unit that completes the cataloging. IBC consists of the acquisitions stage, including work needed to acquire an item for the Library, as well as the processing that is performed when an item is first received. Searching is done initially to determine that an item has not already been cataloged.
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