Category: The cat’s meow :|b cataloging tips

Drawing of a cat in the stacks.

Cataloging tips for library cats.

Maximizing Home Locations

Home Location is an important setting in the item record.  Home Location drives the location  message in the public catalog.  Combined with the Call Number, Home Location tells patrons where to find the item.  Call number tells the user where to look on the shelf, Home Location says where the shelf is in your library. To change Home Locations, select from the drop-down menu in the Call Number and Item ID wizard.  In this example, NEWJEASY is the choice that is expressed as “New Juvenile Easy Picture Book” in West Iron … read more Maximizing Home Locations→

Posted on June 10, 2026 in The cat's meow :|b cataloging tips

Dewey numbers – some background and a cool tool

(Tip:  scroll to boldface hyperlink toward end of this post to get to the linked tool directly.) Not everyone loves the Dewey system.  It was created by one person  and reflects that one person’s bias.  Melville Dewey built it quickly, it took him weeks.  Library of Congress, the system used by most universities, was built by a committee.  It took decades to complete it.   Because Dewey is strictly numerical, precise Dewey numbers can be very long and unwieldy.  LC is alpha-numeric.  Some libraries have experimented with other systems such as … read more Dewey numbers – some background and a cool tool→

Posted on February 13, 2026 in The cat's meow :|b cataloging tips

Anatomy of a title field

If you are interested in MaRC cataloging, the first field to master is the 245– also known as the title field.  When I started this blog, I imagined a nice, succinct post on the title field.  I no longer think this is possible.  I still think mastering the 245 makes for a good introduction to MaRC cataloging.  I just no longer believe it’s possible to be succinct when when discussing title fields (or anything else in a MaRC record).  Instead, I’m going to write a long post.  If you have … read more Anatomy of a title field→

Posted on December 26, 2025 in The cat's meow :|b cataloging tips