GPO Cataloging Guidelines

Details

Last Updated: January 26 2018

Published: September 20 2013

Introduction

The staff of Library Technical Services, Library Services & Content Management (LSCM), U.S. Government Publishing Office developed these Cataloging Guidelines with assistance from staff throughout LSCM. These guidelines are intended to provide specific examples and practices that are unique to the cataloging and creation of various types of metadata for U.S. Government information published by all three branches of the Federal Government and in all formats. These guidelines are used by staff at GPO but are also intended for use by staff in Federal depository libraries and library staff in other institutions who handle, process, or use U.S. Government information.

The practices outlined in the guidelines are utilized in the creation of bibliographic (MARC) records, which are made available through the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP), an online catalog of U.S. Government information products. In addition, these bibliographic records are available to Federal depository libraries, other libraries, partners, and commercial vendors through various distribution mechanisms. Bibliographic records produced using these guidelines and other recognized standards and practices are also made available through OCLC , a worldwide bibliographic network. Other metadata schemes, such as ONIX and Dublin Core, are also utilized by GPO for describing U.S. Government information.

List of Standards

When creating metadata records, GPO follows national standards unless stated otherwise in these guidelines. Below is a listing of the standards followed by GPO.

Bibliographic

Anglo-American Cataloguing Committee for Cartographic Materials. Cartographic Materials: A Manual of Interpretation for AACR2, 2002 Revision. Chicago: American Library Association,2003, with updates.

Anglo-American Cataloging Rules. 2nd ed., 2002 revision, 2005 update. Prepared under the direction of the Joint Steering Committee for the Revision of AACR2.Chicago: American Library Association, 2005.

BIBCO Participants' Manual. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2008. http://www.loc.gov/aba/pcc/bibco/documents/bpm.pdf

Canadian Library Association, Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (Great Britain), Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA. RDA: Resource Description and Access. Chicago: American Library Association, 2011.

CONSER Cataloging Manual. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2006.

CONSER Editing Guide. 2003 cumulation with updates. Washington: Library of Congress: Distributed by the Library of Congress, Cataloging Distribution Service.

CONSER Standard Record (CSR) Guidelines. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2010. http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/conserdoc.pdf

Integrating Resources: A Cataloging Manual. 2011 revision. Washington, DC: Program for Cooperative Cataloging, 2011. http://www.loc.gov/aba/pcc/bibco/documents/irman.pdf

Library of Congress. Office for Descriptive Cataloging Policy. Cataloging Rules for the Description of Looseleaf Publications. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 1989. http://www.itsmarc.com/crs/mergedProjects/looself/looself/contents.htm

Library of Congress. Policy and Standards Division. Descriptive Cataloging Manual Z1: Name and Series Authority Records. Washington, DC: Cataloging Service, Library of Congress, 2013. http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/dcmz1.pdf

---. Library of Congress Rule Interpretations. Washington, DC: Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress.

---. Subject Headings Manual. 2008 edition with updates. Washington, DC: Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress.

Library of Congress. Network Development and MARC Standards Office. MARC 21 Format for Authority Data. 1999 ed. With updates. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Cataloging Distribution Service.

---. MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data. 1999 ed., with updates. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Cataloging Distribution Service.

NACO Participants' Manual. 3rd ed. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2005. http://www.loc.gov/aba/pcc/naco/documents/npm3rd.pdf

OCLC. Bibliographic Formats and Standards. 4th ed. Last modified October 2011. http://www.oclc.org/bibformats/en.html

---. Enhanced Training Outline. Rev. Jay Weitz. Rev. March 2004. http://www.oclc.org/support/services/worldcat/training/enhanceoutline.en.html

---. Guidelines for National Level Enhance Participants. Rev. Jay Weitz. May 2000. http://www.oclc.org/support/services/worldcat/documentation/records/enhanceguidelines.en.html

SACO Participants' Manual. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2007. http://www.loc.gov/aba/pcc/saco/documents/SACOManual2007.pdf

Classification

Library of Congress. Classification Web. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Cataloging Distribution Service.

United States Government Printing Office. GPO Classification Manual: A Practical Guide to the Superintendent of Documents Classification System. Ed. Marian MacGilvray. Washington, DC: Library Programs Service, Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1993. https://www.fdlp.gov/file-repository/gpo-cataloging/1172-gpo-classification-manual

---. List of Classes of United States Government Publications Available for Selection by Depository Libraries. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Publishing Office. https://www.fdlp.gov/requirements-guidance/instructions/281-list-of-classes

Other Metadata Schemes

Dublin Core Metadata Element Set, Version 1.1. Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, June 2012. http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/

ONIX for books 2.1 specification. ONIX International Steering Committee, February 2005. http://www.editeur.org/15/Previous-Releases/

Other

Chicago Manual of Style: the Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers. 16th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.

United States Government Printing Office. United States Government Printing Office Style Manual. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2008. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-STYLEMANUAL-2008/pdf/GPO-STYLEMANUAL-2008.pdf

Cooperative Associations

GPO continues to be heavily involved in cooperative cataloging and metadata activities with members of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) library community and the library community at large. GPO is an active participant in all components of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) which is managed by the Library of Congress, including BIBCO, CONSER (Cooperative Online Serials), NACO (Name Authority Cooperative) and SACO (Subject Authority Cooperative). GPO has been a member of OCLC since 1976 and contributes bibliographic records for U.S. Government information to the international database on a daily basis. Since 2010, GPO has formed cooperative cataloging partnerships with Federal depository libraries to exchange metadata for fugitive material as well as for digitized collections on historic publications.

Questions

Questions on the GPO-specific practices outlined in the guidelines should be submitted via askGPO. Please indicate "Cataloging: Policies & Practices" in the subject area.