Cataloging Manual

Standards & Procedures

The contents of this manual were prepared by the Catalog/Database Committee Standards Task Force and approved by the Directors' Council, December 3rd, 2003. Revisions made in consultation with the Cataloging COI, December 2021. 

Part One: Standards

1. General Principles
2. Types of Bibliographic Records Allowed
3. Bibliographic Record Maintenance
   • Deletion of Records
   • Withdrawn Items
   • Handling Duplicate Bibliographic Records and Transfer of Attached Records
   • Monthly Cleanup
4. Overlaying of Bibliographic Records
5. Descriptive Cataloging Policies
   • Editing Bibliographic Records
   • Classification Policies
   • Addressing Outdated or Offensive Subject Headings
   • Serials Record Selection
   • Serials Item Volume Standards
   • LIBRARY HAS Statements
   • Electronic Resources Cataloging
   • Cataloging Juvenile Materials
   • Policy On Adding Lexile Values
   • Policy On Use Of RDA Records
6. Bibliographic Standards for Non-MARC Records
   • General Principles
   • Reserve Materials Records
   • Order Records
   • Government Documents
   • On-the-Fly Records
   • Equipment
7. Attachments to Bibliographic Records
   • Item Records
   • Checkin Records

Part Two: Procedures

1. Record Loading and Deletion 
2. Cataloging in OPAL
3. Processing Government Documents
4. Open Access eBooks: Submission and Selection
5. Updating Serial Holdings

Part Three: Appendices

1. Appendix A: Authorized Cataloging Standards
2. Appendix B: Institutional Names Used in 590 Field
3. Appendix C: ITYPES
4. Appendix D: ICODE1 Ranges and LOCATION and AGENCY codes
5. Appendix E: MAT TYPE and SUPPRESS Codes for 949 Export Commands
6. Appendix F: Create List Ranges
7. Appendix G: Database and Record Structure
8. Appendix H: Configuring OCLC to Export to OPAL
9. Appendix I: Glossary
10. Appendix J: Standardized List of Awards for 586 Field
11. Appendix K: Exceptions to OPAL Cataloging Standards and Procedures
12. Appendix L: Sample Workflows