Library Lingo

[Richard]

I am currently editing a book and verifying accuracy of information. I looked up the book info on LOC and have questions about the following part of the line:

Description: lxxxi, 2157, I18 p., : ill. (some col.) ; 24 cm.

I get the lxxxi (the foremost part of the book before the main read), the 2157, but wath is 'I18 p.,' and '; 24 cm.'

ref links:
http://lccn.loc.gov/2005037529

[Scott]

Well, the last would be the height I imagine.

[Kim]

I think it means there are 18 plates of illustrations, some in colour.

[Natalie]

@Richard,

In the description field for a bibliographic record for a book what you see is: first the book's extent (how many pages, etc), then physical details, then dimensions, then info about any accompanying materials.

In the case of this text book, I think there is a color insert that the I18p is describing.

And Scott's right, the 24cm is how tall the spine is.

Here's a link to the OCLC Bibliographic Formats and Standards -OCLC's guide to the rules for the MARC 300 aka physical description field.

It describes the order of the info that goes in the description field and some examples from different media.

If you want to delve deeper then, the other part of the explanation for what you see is in Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules: 2002 Revision/2005 Update which describes the rules for abbreviating, etc.

If that book is too techie, try Michael Gorman's The Concise AACR2 .

All that techie stuff aside, check the publisher's site too and sometimes their descriptions can help you figure out what the catalog records are referring to!

[Cait]

Pretty cool, Natalie!

[Richard]

Yes! Thanks Natalie.

[Natalie]

@Richard,
Do you actually have the book? I am just curious, does it have an insert? How many pages is the insert? It is probably pictures of paintings or art?

Richard wrote: "Yes! Thanks Natalie."

[Richard]

what do you mean by insert?

[Richard]

In the very middle of the book there is 18 pages of just pictures. Labeled I-1 thru I-18.

[Richard]

So I would conclude that the I18p is what is being refereed to the I-1 thru I-18

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Richard wrote: "In the very middle of the book there is 18 pages of just pictures."

That's an insert.

[Natalie]

Yes, Rivka's right: Those 18p of just pictures are the insert, likely bcs those pages are printed on coated paper and/or in full color unlike the rest of the book's pages?

Here's a description of inserts and their role in the printing process from Richard Hollick, formerly of Cambridge Univ. Press, currently Oxford Univ. Press USA's print-on-demand manager in NYC.

His description is nifty because it describes how legacy words like inserts and plates are still used to describe parts of books even when the old printing process they were once part of is no-longer in vogue in the printing of many of today's books.

rivka wrote: "Richard wrote: "In the very middle of the book there is 18 pages of just pictures."

That's an insert."