BU Law Library Technical Services Procedures:
Cataloging Internet Resources

These are guidelines to be followed when the law library decides that a particular resource will be cataloged. It is by no means a directive that any (or all) electronic resources should be cataloged. Material not in electronic form which is related to an electronic resource may include the MARC fields for the related electronic resource or not, according to the decisions made by the purchasing library. The cataloger need not verify the physical existence of the non-electronic version or whether it has been cataloged. Similarly, when cataloging a non-electronic version, the cataloger need not verify whether or not an electronic version exists if not included in the record.

References:

Boston University Cataloging Task Force Recommendations: Internet Resources on INNOPAC
Cataloging Electronic Resources - OCLC-MARC Coding Guidelines (12/01)
Cataloging Internet Resources (2^nd ed.) / Nancy Olsen

STRUCTURE for INTERNET MATERIAL

Bibliographic and item records will be used. We will continue to use check-in records for paper and other physical media; there will not be check records for Internet resources. Where the library owns the title in print or microfiche and the title CONTINUES in that format, we will "piggyback" electronic resources onto bibliographic records that were originally created for another medium. However, when the print or microformat has ceased publication and the title is ONLY available in electronic format, we will close the cataloging for the discontinued format and catalog the electronic version in a new record. This decision may or may not match decisions made by other BU libraries.

The following fields may be used in a record for an electronic resource:

Bibliographic records:

Item Records:

CLASSES of ELECTRONIC and RELATED MATERIAL

1. Electronic Resource, i.e., the web site.

This is published or subscribed to by BU solely on the web. We do not have this information in any other format. The bibliographic record will describe the web site, where it can be accessed and by whom, system requirements, and the URL. The bib record will also have the subject Electronic resources. The item record will show access and restriction. The item record will also be coded as an electronic resource (Icode2=e).

2. Non-Electronic with Some Related Material on the Web.

BU has bought a non-web title but someone has put something related to this title on the web. The bibliographic record will describe the non-web title, express the existence of a web site and give the web address. The item record will be a normal item record for the non-electronic title. This is done on a very limited basis, since the related material on the web often is available only for short periods of time.

3. Non-Electronic with Some Accompanying Material on the Web.

The Accompanying material is an integral part of the whole (collation includes "+accompanying material") or has a note describing such, e.g. supplementation. The bibliographic record will describe the combination of both formats including web site, where it can be accessed and by whom, system requirements, the URL, and the subject Electronic resources. The item record will show access and restriction. The item record will also be coded as an electronic resource (Icode2=e).

4. Electronic Resource Plus the Identical Item in Another Format, published or owned/subscribed to by BUSL in both web and another format.

There will be one cataloging record used, following #3 above, i.e.: The accompanying material is an integral part of the whole, requiring an 006 field. The bibliographic record will describe the combination of both formats, including web site, where it can be accessed and by whom, system requirements and the URL. The bib record will also have the subject Electronic resources. The item record will show access and restriction. The item record will also be coded as an electronic resource (Icode2=e).

Return to Technical Services Procedures