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Title-related

Title
The main title of the book

Take the title of the book from the title page or the cover. Remove initial articles not used in sorting, and place those in "title prefix"

Title Prefix
An article at the beginning of the title, not used for sorting

Remove any parts of speech at the beginning of the title that are not to be used when sorting the title in alphabetical order. Include a blank character at the end if the prefix stands alone as a word.

Subtitle
An extension of the title that is not the main title

The subtitle is usually distinguished by using different or smaller type than the main title. Record the subtitle without beginning or ending punctuation.

Other Title(s)
Other titles for the same book

Enter alternate titles that are found on the same book. In some cases, this can occur when the cover title and the title page title are different. There can also be titles in different languages, especially in publications by international agencies.

Work Title
A title that represents the original work

Work titles are assigned to the original work and serve to bring together different editions and translations of the work. Record the work title only if you are able to determine the original work.

About Authors

Author(s)
Author name in natural order

Author names are recorded in natural order, as found on the book. As you type the author's name a list will appear of existing authors from which you can choose. To correct an author's name, make edits in the author field of any type, then select the correct name. To create a new author, select "Create new author" at the bottom of the list.

By Statement(s)
Statement following a title giving author and other contributors

This statement is usually derived from library catalog records that have a statement following the title and prefixed with a forward slash

Contribution(s)
Any creators other than the main author

Contributors can be secondary authors, other types of creators like illustrators or translators, or corporations that are listed as responsible for the work.

Publishing

Publisher
The name of the publisher of the book

Input the name of the publisher of the book. Generally, the name of the publisher is taken from the title page of the book, if that is available.

Publish Date
Date of publication

Generally the year of publication of the book. If it's a recent publication, there may also be a month or even day of the month.

Place Published
Place of publication

The city in which the book was published. Optionally, the country may also be included if the city alone is ambiguous.

Series
The name of the series the book is part of

This field is for named publishers' series. Series are published over time and may be ongoing or have a defined ending point. The series name is generally found on the cover and/or the title page of the book, and may be numbered.

Copyright Date
The date of copyright

The date of copyright is generally given as a year following the copyright symbol or the statement "Copyrighted by John Smith, 1987"

What's the book about?

Description
A description of the work or its contents

A paragraph that describes the content of the work.

First Sentence
The first sentence of the main text

Take the first sentence from the main text, not from a preface or other materials included in the book.

Language(s)
Language of the text

Begin typing the language and select the correct one from the pull-down list that appears. Create additional language fields for books with more than one significant language.

Notes
Notes about the book

Include here any notes about the book that may be of interest.

Subject(s)
What topics the book is about

List here all of the topics the book covers. Use specific terms. Topics can include persons, places, and events.

Table of Contents
A list of sections and/or chapters in the book

Record the titles of sections and chapters. If they have numbers, place those numbers in the "label" field. If the chapters have individual authors, include these after the title using "by" or " / ".

Edition Name
A named edition

A named edition that is found on the book itself.

Various identifiers

ISBN 10
Ten-digit ISBN

Please record the ISBN without hyphens. Include all ten characters, including an "X" that appears at the end of the number.

ISBN 13
13-character ISBN

13-character ISBNs often start with "978" or "979". Input the 13 characters without hyphens, and include the "X" if it appears at the end of the number.

Dewey Decimal Number
The Dewey Decimal number assigned to this book

Often found in library records, the Dewey Decimal number provides both a shelf location and a place in a classified view of information. Include here a DDC number associated with the book.

LC
Library of Congress classification number

This number is assigned by libraries to book to determine their place on the shelf related to the subject of the book. It can be copied from library records, or from the numbers that appear on scanned books. These numbers generally begin with one or two upper case letters followed by a combination of numbers and letters.

LCCN
Library of Congress Catalog Number

The LCCN is an identifier assigned to catalog records in the Library of Congress Database. They can be found in the 010 field of the MARC record, both in LC's catalog and often in catalogs of other libraries. It will be either 8 or 10 digits in length.

IA
Internet Archive identifier for scanned book

The Internet Archive identifier can be found on the IA record for the scanned book. It is the right-most part of the URL given as "Identifier-access", such as: Identifier-access: http://www.archive.org/details/mother00gorkgoog

OCLC
OCLC catalog identifier

The number that identifies the bibliographic record in the OCLC database.

Purchase URL
A URL for a site where the book can be purchased

The Open Library links automatically to common booksellers. This field holds a URL for a personal or lesser known site from which the book can be purchased.

About the physical object

Weight
The weight of the book

Give the weight and the unit of measure.

Size
The physical size of the book

Give size as height x depth x width. Include the unit of measure.

Physical format
Physical format of the book

Record the type of binding or special physical characteristics of the publication.

Physical dimensions
The physical dimensions of the book

Most commonly, the book's height is given in centimeters, but width and depth may also be included.

Pagination
Pagination statement

The pagination statement gives the highest numbered page of each pagination pattern used in the book. This often consists of of front matter with Roman numerals followed by the main book section using Arabic numbers.

Pages
The number of pages in the book

Input only numbers indicating the total number of pages in the book or the highest numbered page.