Basic Cataloging and Classification

Register for this four-week online course – Limit of 25 CALL-sponsored seats, don’t miss out! 

Tuesday, January 10 – Monday, February 6, 2023.

Through practical information and hands-on exercises, you will gain an understanding of cataloging practices, rules, and tools, as well as the nuts and bolts of copy cataloging. The course will cover Resource Description and Access (RDA), the current cataloging rule, the Library of Congress genre/form headings project, and Book Industry Standards and Communications (BISAC) subject headings. MARC format and Dewey Decimal Classification system will be discussed as well. Tips on copy cataloging of newly emerging formats, such as e-books, graphic novels, and downloadable media will be offered.

At the end of four weeks you will feel comfortable with the basics of cataloging, classification, and MARC records and be ready to begin copy cataloging items in a variety of formats.

Course Description: This four-week online course will provide an overview of library cataloging and classification and prepare you to do copy cataloging. Through reading materials, online forums, and individual exercises, you will gain knowledge of basic cataloging rules and tools, commonly used controlled vocabularies, the Dewey Decimal Classification system, and MARC21 format. Applying this knowledge, you will be able to decode MARC bibliographic records and perform basic copy cataloging.

During the course, you will be doing assignments and taking quizzes. You will also participate in discussion forums as part of the online learning process. In addition you will have access to the online tools, such as OCLC WebDewey.

Course Outline: When you log in to the Infopeople online learning site, you will see weekly modules with these topics:

• Week 1: Overview of Cataloging
  • Purpose and elements of cataloging
  • General cataloging methods and cooperative cataloging
  • Introduction to cataloging rule: RDA
  • Introduction to controlled vocabularies, such as Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), LC Genre/Form Headings, Book Industry Standards and Communications (BISAC) Subject Headings, etc.
• Week 2: Classification systems and MARC Format
  • Introduction to Dewey Decimal Classification and Library of Congress Classification
  • What is MARC format?
  • Elements of MARC records
  • Summary of commonly used MARC fields for bibliographic data
• Week 3: Basic Copy Cataloging for print material
  • Tasks of copy cataloging
  • Which cataloging record to use?
  • Essential MARC fields to verify
  • Copy cataloging of print material, including graphic novels
• Week 4: Basic copy cataloging for non-print material
  • Copy cataloging of e-books
  • Copy cataloging of DVDs
  • Copy cataloging of CDs
  • Issues and tips on copy cataloging of downloadable media

See full course information here.

Presented by :: Xiaoli Li​

CALL SPONSORED: CALL is offering a limited number of free seats to California library staff in this Infopeople course. Please use the link above to register for one of these no-cost seats. In order to gain the most impact from learning events sponsored by the CALL grant we ask that all participants engage fully (attend, participate, discuss and share). If you are unable or not willing to agree to this, please be kind and leave a seat or place for someone else.