Kids’ Kit Cataloging 1

IST 616: Information Resources

Joseph Desiderio, Danielle Herb, Louisa Lebwohl

June 27, 2018

Final Project: Artificial Kids’ Kit​ ​Cataloging Project

Policy and Procedures

Overview of cataloging procedures

Cataloging standards and tools

Copy cataloging procedures

Original cataloging procedures

Bibliographic materials

Audiovisual materials

Other materials

Frequently asked questions

1. Overview of cataloging procedures

The following details the cataloging standards, tools, and procedures library staff should use when
adding or editing records in this library’s catalog. Most records can be copied from OCLC
Connexion and edited for this library’s specific holdings. When editing existing records and
creating original records, library staff should use RDA descriptive standards and encode records
using MARC 21.

2. Cataloging standards and tools

Library staff should use the following standards and tools when cataloging (copy cataloging or
original cataloging) library materials, including books as well as audiovisual and other materials.

​ ● ​​
OCLC Connexion​ http://connexion.oclc.org/ (login required)
● ​​
RDA Toolkit ​https://access.rdatoolkit.org/ (login required)
● MARC 21 Bibliographic Formats and Standards ​https://www.oclc.org/bibformats/en.html
● Library of Congress Linked Data Services Authorities and Vocabularies ​https://id.loc.gov
 Kids’ Kit Cataloging 2

3. Copy cataloging procedures

Most records can be copied from OCLC Connexion and edited for this library’s specific holdings.
This can be a helpful strategy when cataloging. However, edits must be made if there are any data
inaccuracies, errors, typos, and the like. Also, depending on the item, a cataloger may add more
information, and/or eliminate other information, as long as the choices reflect RDA standards.

4. Original cataloging procedures

When no record is available in OCLC Connexion, library staff will create an original record using
the standards outlined by RDA. These records can be created in Connexion and exported to the
catalog. ​Verify “Name Authority” and “Subject Headings” in the Library of Congress or OCLC
Connexion when cataloging an original record.

5. Bibliographic materials
The majority of this library’s holdings consists of bibliographic materials. Books include fiction and
nonfiction for children, young adults, and adult users. All bibliographic catalog records should
include at least the following MARC fields (RDA in parentheses): 020 (2.15), 050​ (), 092 (),​ 100
(2.4.2), 245 (2.3.2), 250 (2.5.2), 264 (2.8.2 and 2.11), 300 (3.4), 336 (6.9), 337 (3.2), and 338
(3.3). Records, especially those for adult nonfiction and children’s fiction and nonfiction, should
also include terms from the Library of Congress subject headings in the 650 field (23.4 in RDA).

6. Audiovisual materials
Audiovisual materials in this library’s holdings include music CDs, DVDs, and audiobooks on both
CD and Playaway. These materials should be cataloged by type as listed in the OCLC ​Bibliographic
Formats and Standards manual​ for MARC 21.

7. Other materials
The library also has some materials that are neither bibliographic nor audiovisual. These other
materials consist primarily of museum passes, puzzles and games, and kids’ kits created by library
staff. Each of these other material types requires a few special considerations when cataloging.
Museum passes: TBD.
Puzzles and games: TBD.
Artificial kids’ kits:
 Kids’ Kit Cataloging 3

The OCLC ​Bibliographic Formats and Standards manual​ for MARC 21 instructs catalogers
to use code “o” (“Visual Materials - kit”) as the entity type for mixed materials in which no
type of material predominates. The manual instructs catalogers to include a fixed 007 field,
as in the following table. Footnotes on specific fields follow the table. Text in​ red​ must be
modified for each record.

MARC FIELD TAG MARC FIELD INDICATORS DATA RECORDED

0071 Physical description ## $a 0 $b u

fixed field (kit)

0202 International Standard ## $a ​International

Book Number Standard Book
Number

500 General note ## $a ​ISBN from ___ in

kit.

$a ​Classification
050 Library of Congress 14
number
Call Number

$a ​Classification
092 Locally Assigned ##
number
Dewey Call Number

$ a ​[Title]​ $h [kit].
2453 Title statement 00

$a​ Title supplied by

500 General note ##
cataloger.

1
MARC fixed field 007:​ subfield a is category of material (o is code for Visual Materials - Kit); subfield b is
specific material designation (u is code for unspecified)
2
Use ISBN from book in kit and add 500 note; if there is no book, do not include 020 field:
020 # # $a ISBN
500 # # $a ISBN from book in kit.
3
MARC field 245: subfield h [kit] required after title proper
● If title is staff-assigned, put title in brackets and add 500 note:
245 0 0 [Medical kit] $h [kit].
500 # # Title supplied by cataloger.
● If title is chosen from an item in the kit, add 500 note:
245 0 0 Going to the doctor $h [kit].
500 # # Title from DVD in kit.
 Kids’ Kit Cataloging 4

$c ​Date of production,
2644 Production, #3
publication,
publication,
distribution,
distribution, manufacture, or
manufacture, and copyright notice
copyright notice

$a ​Extent
3005 Physical description ##

$a ​content type​ $b
3366 Content type ##
content type code​ $2
rdacontent

$a ​media type​ $b
337 Media type ##
media type code​ $2
rdamedia

$a ​carrier type​ $b
338 Carrier type ##
carrier type code​ $2
rdacarrier

5007 General note ## $a ​In cloth bag.

$a ​Summary, etc.
520 Summary, etc. ##

$a ​Topical term as
6508 Subject added entry - 10
entry element​ $2 lcsh
topical term

4
MARC field 264: subfield c (date) only; use year that library creates kit
264 # 3 $c 2003

5
List all items in one 300 field OR use multiple 300 fields, each to describe one type of item.
● All items in one 300 field:
300 $a 1 book, 1 audio disc, 1 videodisc
● Or multiple 300 fields:
300 $a 1 volume : $b col. ill. ; $c 18 cm.
300 $a 1 audio disc (45 min.)
300 $a 1 videodisc (30 min.)
● For kits with a large amount of different items, give a general term as the extent.
300 $a Various pieces.
6
​MARC field 336, 337, 338: include a 336, 337, and 338 field (content, media, carrier type) for each item within the
kit; for example a kit with 1 book and 1 toy would include 2 of each of these fields in order to reflect all aspects of
the itemized record.
7
​Include general note (MARC 500 field) noting container for the kit; for example, 500 # # $a In cloth bag.
8
​Assign one or more Library of Congress Subject Headings describing content of the kit
 Kids’ Kit Cataloging 5

8. Reasoning behind our methodology for the artificial kids’ kits

Kits, like other “nontraditional” library materials, can be cataloged in a myriad of ways. Our library
has decided to include only the MARC fields listed above. This decision has been made​ because we
believe that these fields are the most necessary ones. This does not mean that a cataloger can not
choose to include more MARC fields if they deem it important or necessary. Creating a MARC
record for an “atypical” item is challenging, and we believe that we have created a more
comprehensive and detailed MARC record protocol for kits compared to some other public libraries
in the country. So our kit records may seem smaller than our traditional “book” records, but it is
because these kits in particular do not have an assigned edition, a place of publication, date of
publication, a specific or one creator, etc.

During the creation of our collection, we sought out other libraries in order to investigate how they
have cataloged kits. What we found is that many included very few MARC fields, and some of the
fields they did include, like 336, 337, 338 were simply filled out as “other.” We wanted our records
to go beyond “other,” and for the sake of thoroughness, we decided to include more information
than most of the libraries that we researched. It was a hard balancing act of creating only one record
for each kit, but then trying to be as detailed and exhaustive as possible.

However, if a cataloger would like to add more fields to a record, or believes it would be beneficial,
they would need to explain their reasoning for the edit or addition. For example, our library has
decided to forego attaching a personal name- main entry (MARC field 100) to our items. The
reason for this is because almost all of the kits have been compiled by the library staff and include
multiple creators. However, if the library receives a kit made by one creator, a cataloger could
decide to attach this specific MARC field to the record. A cataloger could also include the creators
(or one of the creators, more specifically, the author(s) of the book or book(s)) names in the
“Contributors” MARC fields (700). Though this is not a required, catalogers are encouraged to do
so if they so desire.

Another decision that was made by the library was to include an ISBN number from one of the
books in each kit. The reason for this was to have some congruity with all of the kits, and for
practical purposes. We needed to have an identifier of some sort for each kit, so the decision was
made to choose an ISBN from a book in each of the kits. Most of the kits (four of them) had only
one book. Two other kits had more than one book, but all of the books in each record were written
by the same author. We did not, however, include the author’s name of the book, because the record
is for the entirety of the kit, which consists of more than one “author” or “creator.” Therefore, we
did not want to exclude any of the creators, but used one of the book’s ISBNs for location purposes,
and for ease. Most of the kits were compiled by us, so they were not premade by a publishing
company (so they did not contain any assigned LOC classification number, ISBN, or Dewey
 Kids’ Kit Cataloging 6

Decimal classification number). If a kit contains more than one book (with three separate authors),
it is up to the discretion of the cataloger to choose which book the ISBN for the kit record comes
from.

Items in the kits are not to be cataloged separately. Kits must be cataloged as one item. However
there are a few of the MARC fields that we decided to attach to each item in the kit. These are
MARC fields 336, 337, 338 (content type, media type, and carrier type). Each item in the kit must
have its own field for the three previously mentioned. So, if you have 3 books in your kit, there
needs to be 9 entries total for these sections (3 content type- 1 for each book, 3 media type- 1 for
each book, and 3 carrier type- 1 for each book). The reason for this is to provide more important
details of the kit, and in order to be as thorough as possible in our cataloging of the item.

We also decided to use 092 instead of 082 for the Dewey Decimal Classification number, because
we assigned the numbers, they were not preassigned.

Reminder: the aforementioned fields in the table are ​required​ for each kit that is cataloged.

9. Issues we ran into

→ ​As with other “nontraditional” items, it was hard to decide what to include in specific MARC
tags, such as “Title proper” (245) and “Identifier for Manifestation”(020). We had to make many
tough decisions.
→ ​In the same vein, determining which of the many MARC tags to use or not to use was a
challenging task. We endeavored to include many of the core fields (and then some) though other
core fields were eliminated due to the atypical nature of our kit collection.
→ ​Copy cataloging was tricky, because there are not many “kits” out there, and a lot of the ones
we did find had very “sparse” records that included a limited amount of MARC fields. Much of
the time libraries simply put “other” in the MARC fields, which we felt was problematic.
→ ​We like to think that, compared to the other libraries that we researched, we included more
than the average amount of MARC fields for kits. However, we often worried that we did not
include enough fields.
→ ​Cataloging is a subjective business, and we had to constantly be mindful of our personal
biases and inclinations.

10. Frequently asked questions

From library staff:

● “What should be used for ISBN?”
Use ISBN from book in kit and add 500 note; if there is no book, do not include 020 field.
● “What should be used for title proper?”
 Kids’ Kit Cataloging 7

Either assign a title or choose a title from one item in the kit.

From patrons:
● “Can I renew a kit online?”
Yes, but kits can only be renewed once (books can be renewed up to three times, audiovisual
materials can be renewed twice).
● “What if I lose one (or more) items in a kit?”
Like all library materials, kits must be returned as they were checked out or the patron is fined
the cost of replacement.