About Bibliographic Records

The primary goal of cataloging is to make items readily accessible to the user. Bibliographic (bib) records provide this access. However, a bib record by itself does not indicate that a specific item exists in your library. Item records—one for each item—must be attached to bib records to represent individual items on your shelves. You must have a bib record for each title and an item record for each item in your holdings. (For more information about item records, see Item and Copy Records.)

Horizon stores bib information in standard MARC format, though it can display special characters. (For more information, see Entering Special Characters.) You can either import existing bib records in MARC format, or create original records yourself in either MARC or non‑MARC format. (For instructions, see MARC Editing and Non‑MARC Editing.)

Before you create or update bib records in Horizon, your library should decide what standards to use. Your library is responsible for choosing and implementing a classification scheme, adopting cataloging rules and standards, and providing individualized quality controls. To help you, Horizon Cataloging has built‑in quality controls that ensure accuracy and consistency. You can customize some aspects of bib records to reflect your standards. (For more information, see the Cataloging Setup Guide.)

 


© 1998-2017 Sirsi Corporation