Cataloging in Publication

In publishing and library science, Cataloging in Publication (CIP, or Cataloguing in Publication) is basic cataloging data for a work, prepared in advance of publication by the national library of the country where the work is principally published or by the library of a publishing organisation such as a government department. The name reflects the usual practice of including that information in the corresponding publication -- in the case of books, near the bottom of the copyright page, and can be very useful for less experienced cataloguers when adding such items to their collections. The national libraries' CIP staffs restrict the range of publications that CIP will be prepared for, for instance requiring access to assistance from the publisher's staff.

An all too frequent problem with CIP is when publishers change bibliographic details, such as the wording of a title, after receiving the CIP data. The CIP data as published in the item will be incorrect and not able to be used by subsequent cataloguing agencies and if a pre-publication record has been entered onto a database it can be difficult to locate and edit to match the details on the item itself.

Each national library maintains a database of the entries it writes.

External links

* [http://cip.loc.gov/ Cataloging in Publication Program] of the LOC
* [http://www.bl.uk/services/bibliographic/cip.html Cataloguing-in-Publication Programme] of the British Library
* [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/cip/index-e.html Cataloguing in Publication Program] of the Library and Archives Canada