About creating bibliographic records

About original cataloging in WorldCat

• Standards - Please review the guidelines found in chapter 4, When to Input a New Record, of OCLC Bibliographic Formats and Standards.
• Quality control - Always search WorldCat for the item you are cataloging before creating a bibliographic record and then again just before adding an original record to WorldCat to prevent duplicate records.
• Exporting records you create - When you create a record and add it to WorldCat, the system assigns a unique OCLC control number. You can export records you create only after you add them to WorldCat. Records must have an OCLC control number to be exported.

How to create records

Create original records using one of the following methods:

• Derive a record from an existing bibliographic record
• Create a workform and enter data
• Import records from your local system
• Retrieve a record from your local system using a Z39.50 connection in the Connexion client. The client imports a retrieved record as a workform.

Create records for the following MARC formats:

• Books
• Computer files
• Continuing resources (previously called Serials; includes both serials and integrating resources material types)
• Maps
• Mixed materials
• Scores
• Sound recordings
• Visual materials

 Note: To change the MARC format of the record at any time, select a format from the drop-down list at the top of the fixed field. The list is available only when you have the fixed field display option set to Top or Bottom (View > OCLC Fixed Field).

Alternative: Set an option to use RDA-based workforms to create bibliographic records instead of using the default workforms based on AACR2 in Tools > Options > RDA.

No minimum authorization level is required to create records.

Online or offline cataloging

Create original records online or offline. To create a bibliographic record from a workform when you are logged off, you must define a holding library code and institution symbol for fields 040 and 049. When you create a bibliographic record from a workform while you are logged on, the client uses the holding library code and institution symbol associated with your logon authorization.

Non-Latin scripts

The Connexion client supports using these non-Latin scripts for cataloging: Arabic, Armenian, Bengali, Chinese, Cyrillic, Devanagari, Ethiopic, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Syriac, Tamil, and Thai.

See Work with international records for more information.