Access Points: Text and/or numeric terms used to search bibliographic records. Based on the card catalog, an access point was any element of the record
that resulted in a card being added to the catalog for access. Access
points were headings that were filed alphabetically in the catalog. The
access point concept was carried over in some computerized catalog
software. In these catalogs, a user enters a left-anchored string and is
returned a screen of alphabetically sorted catalog entries that appear
before and after that string. The term "access point" is sometimes used
to refer to any part of the bibliographic record that is searchable, in
particular when speaking of fielded searches in OPACs.
Authority Control: Authority control is a process of using a single, specific term for a person, place, subject, or title to maintain consistency between access points within a catalog. Effective authority control prevents a user having to search for multiple variations of a title, author, subject or term.
Cataloging In Publication (CIP): "CIP data" in its broadest sense refers to the bibliographic record created by the Library of Congress for a book prior to its publication. Strictly speaking, however, "CIP data" is the bibliographic record that appears printed on the verso of the book's title page. It is an abbreviated version of the machine-readable cataloging (or MARC) record that resides in the Library's database and which is distributed to libraries and book vendors. The full MARC version contains additional information including specific "tags" for each piece of information in the CIP.
Classification Numbers: Top part of a call number which stands for the subject matter of the book. Throughout the 19th century libraries experimented with ordering their
books by topic using classification systems. Books are assigned a "class
number" (although some systems use letters or combinations of letters
and numbers). Using class numbers, books can be placed on the shelves in
classification order, thus creating a collection that can be browsed by
subject. At the same time, the class number allows the book to be
located on the shelf. Two often-used classification systems are the
Dewey Decimal Classification and the Library of Congress Classification.
Descriptive Cataloging: Descriptive cataloging is the aspect of cataloging concerned with the bibliographic and physical description of a book, recording, or other work, accounting for such items as author or performer, title, edition, and imprint as opposed to subject content.
Imprint: The name of the publisher, distributor, manufacturer, etc. and the place and date of
publication, distribution, manufacture, etc. of a bibliographic item. This information can be found at the 260 tag in a MARC record.
Main Entry: Main entry (or access point) generally refers to the first
author named on the item. Additional authors are added as "added
entries." In cases where no clear author is named, the title of the work is considered the main entry.
MARC record: An international standard format for the arrangement of cataloging information so that it can be
stored and retrieved using computer tapes.
Original Cataloging: For machine-readable records, you input a new master record cataloged according to current cataloging practices and Anglo-American Cataloging Rules and Resource Description and Access.
Copy Cataloging: A machine-readable record exists. You modify the record for local use and create a copy of the record with your modifications.
Copy Cataloging: A machine-readable record exists. You modify the record for local use and create a copy of the record with your modifications.
Subject Cataloging: Subject cataloging may take the form of classification or (subject) indexing. Classification involves the assignment of a given document to a class in a classification system (such as Dewey Decimal Classification or the Library of Congress Subject Headings).
Title Page Verso: Title Page Verso is the back side of the title page where the the bibliographic and copyright details are printed. CIP is found on the title page verso.
Tracings: "Tracings" is terminology from the card catalog. Before the time of printed cards (in which each card contains all of the bibliographical information) there was a primary card that had along the bottom a list of all of the headings that would be entered into the catalog for that bibliographic item. These included added authors, series entries, and subject entries. This card served as the control card for the item; if the item were withdrawn from the library, this card would list all of the cards that would need to be removed from the catalog, so that the librarian could "trace" them through the catalog. In electronic catalogs, the term can be used to refer to the set of added entries in the bibliographic record.