That portion of the descriptive cataloging process in which elements that identify an item are transcribed into a bibliographic record.

Descriptive Cataloging

That phase of the cataloging process that is concerned with identification and description of an item, the recording of this information in a bibliographic record, and the selection and formation of access points - with the exception of subject access points.

Title Proper

The title that is the chief name of an item; excludes any parallel title or other title information.

Chief Source of Information

The source of an item that is prescribed by the rules as the major source of data for use in preparing a bibliographic description.

General Material Designation (GMD)

A term that is given in the catalog record to indicate the class of material to which an item belongs.

Statement of Responsibility

A statement in the item being described that gives persons responsible for intellectual or artistic content, corporate bodies from which the content emanates, or persons or bodies responsible for performance.

Shared Responsibility

More than one person is responsible for the creation and intellectual content of a work.

Editor

One who prepares for publication or supervises the publication of a work or collection of works or articles that are authored by others.

Publisher

The person, corporate body, or firm responsible for issuing printed matter.

Physical Description

The area of a bibliographic description, which includes a statement of the extent of an item, dimensions, and other physical details.

Series

A number of separate works, usually related in subject or form, that are issued successively. They are usually issued by the same publisher, distributor, etc. and in uniform style, with a collective title.

Descriptive Cataloging - Abbreviations of Interest

Used in instances where there are four or more individuals offered as primary contributors to an items intellectual creation.

ill.

Denotes illustration or illustrations.

pp.

Denotes page or pages.

no.

Denotes number or numbers.

pbk.

Refers to a monograph that is published in a paperback version.

pt.

Indicates that an item is appears in part(s).

s.l. - sino loco

Place of publication, distribution, etc., is unknown.

s.n. - sine nomine

Name of publisher, distributor, etc., is unknown.

v.

Denotes volume(s)

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