Bibliographic and Item Records

There are an overwhelming number of terms used in libraryland. However, the two I use the most are "bib record" and "item record."

Bib Records
A bib record, or bibliographic record, is an entry in our catalog containing information about a specific resource such as a book or DVD. Here is an example of the bib record for a movie called Hero. In this case, the bib record displays title, subject, additional title, upc, performers, genre, language, description, and more. In our catalog, each edition of a resource receives its own bib record. For example, we have multiple bib records for The Da Vinci Code that include an unabridged audio book, mass market paperback, large print, hardcover 1st edition, special illustrated edition, and more.

Our catalog may display three different views of a bib record. The first is a summary screen that shows multiple bib records on one page. For example, here are the results for a title keyword search for The Da Vinci Code. On this screen you see only partial bib information that includes the title, author, publisher, and publication date. The second bib record view is called the "full bib record." Here is an example of a full bib record for a mass market edition of The Da Vinci Code. This is where you see much more extensive information about the book such as the subjects and any additional note fields. The final bib record view is called the MARC Display. You can access this view by going into the full bib record for any resource, scrolling down to the bottom of the page, and clicking the MARC Display link. Most people don't need the detail that the MARC display reveals which is why it is hidden by default.

Item Records
An item record contains information about one physical copy of a resource. In our catalog, this includes information about where to find a specific item such as which library it's at, what part of the library it should be shelved in, the call number, and whether or not it is currently on the shelf.

If you search our catalog using a keyword search, you will retrieve the bib summary view of the resources that match your search. In addition, you will see up to two items per title. However, the library may actually own significantly more than two copies. To see a complete list of libraries that own this book, you must click on the record's title to retrieve the full bib view and scroll down to the Copy/Holding information section toward the bottom of the page. For example, the paperback version of It Happened One Autumn is owned by the Farr, Lincoln Park, Erie, Ft Lupton Public and School, and Carbon Valley libraries. However, our initial search result only displayed Farr and Lincoln Park's items.

In my next post, I'll discuss how the catalog determines what order the bib and item records appear.