Sources for Cataloging Information 4

A fourth source of cataloging information is what is called CIP, or Cataloging In Publication. This is available only for books and is usually found on the reverse, or verso, of the title page. 

This information is the preliminary cataloging record from the Library of Congress. It is usually not complete, as the cataloger has not had the item in hand to create a physical description from. Sometimes the title or subtitle will have changed slightly from the preliminary proofs that the Library of Congress has worked from. Rarely are as many notes included as most libraries desire. While not always the most complete record, it at least gives subject headings, classifications numbers, and basic bibliographic information for the book. This source is probably the least helpful of these choices for copying cataloging from, but it is often better than having to do the work from scratch.

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