Cataloguing sounds like specialist work, and in a university library it is. But a small school or community library doesn’t need MARC records or subject heading lists. It needs every book recorded once, consistently, so it can be found, lent and counted. This guide shows how.
Step 1: Understand titles and copies
The single most useful idea in cataloguing is the difference between a title and a copy.
- A title is the work: Muna Madan by Laxmi Prasad Devkota. You describe it once.
- A copy is one physical book on your shelf. It gets its own number, because it’s the copy that is borrowed, lost or damaged.
If you own three copies of Muna Madan, that’s one title record and three copy records. Keeping them apart means you describe the book once, can see at a glance how many copies are in, and can lend each one separately.
Step 2: Decide what to record
A small library needs a short, consistent list of fields.
| Field | Recorded on | Example | Needed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Title | मुनामदन | Yes |
| Author | Title | लक्ष्मीप्रसाद देवकोटा | Yes |
| Publisher, year, edition | Title | As printed in the book | Useful |
| ISBN | Title | 978-… | If it has one |
| Language and format | Title | Nepali, book | Useful for reports |
| Shelf mark | Title or copy | 891.495 DEV | Yes, to find it |
| Accession number | Copy | 001245 | Yes |
Take the title and author from the title page, not the cover: covers often shorten titles or add series names.
Step 3: Number every copy
Each copy gets an accession number, given in the order books arrive and never reused, even after a book is lost. Write it on the back of the title page in pencil, and on a spine or cover label.
If you’re starting from nothing, begin at 1 (or a prefix such as LIB-0001). If you already have
an accession register, keep its numbers: they’re part of your library’s history, and they may
already be written in the books.
Step 4: Give each book a shelf mark
A shelf mark (or call number) tells a reader where the book lives. For a small library:
- Non-fiction: the Dewey Decimal class plus the first three letters of the author’s name,
such as
595.7 SHR. See our simple guide to Dewey Decimal. - Fiction:
Fplus the author’s first three letters, such asF DEV. - Picture books:
EorPICplus the author’s letters.
Use the same shelf mark on the label, in the catalogue and on the shelf sign.
Step 5: Label the books
Stick a label on the spine with the shelf mark, and a barcode label with the accession number if you’ll use a scanner. Library software can print both on standard A4 label sheets, straight from the catalogue.
Step 6: Catalogue a shelf at a time
Don’t close the library to catalogue it. Start with the books that are borrowed most (new fiction, popular children’s books, exam guides) and work outwards. Books that haven’t been catalogued yet can still be lent on paper; add each one to the catalogue when it comes back across the desk.
Step 7: Keep the rules written down
Write a one-page cataloguing guide: which fields you fill in, how you write authors’ names, how you build shelf marks. The next librarian, or the volunteer who helps on Saturdays, will catalogue the same way, and your catalogue stays searchable.
Cataloguing with software
A spreadsheet can hold a catalogue, but it doesn’t understand titles and copies, can’t lend, and breaks easily when several people edit it. Library software is built around this model.
In Khulla, you add a title once, then add copies to it. Leave a copy’s barcode blank and it gets the next number with your chosen prefix, or type your existing accession number. Then queue copies on the labels screen and print their barcode spine labels. Search finds a book from three letters of its title, author, ISBN, publisher or shelf mark. It’s open source, works offline, and runs on Windows, Linux and Android.
Summary
- Record each title once and each copy separately.
- Keep a short, fixed list of fields, taken from the title page.
- Give every copy a unique accession number that is never reused.
- Add a shelf mark so readers can find the book.
- Label the books, catalogue a shelf at a time, and write your rules down.
Questions
What information should I record when cataloguing a book?
At minimum: title, author, and a unique accession number for each copy. Add the publisher, year, edition, ISBN if there is one, language, format and a shelf mark, and the book becomes much easier to find and report on.
What is the difference between a title and a copy?
A title is the work, recorded once: Muna Madan by Laxmi Prasad Devkota. A copy is one physical book on the shelf, with its own accession number. Three copies of the same title are one title record and three copy records.
How long does it take to catalogue a small library?
With a simple system and practice, a few minutes per new title and seconds per extra copy. A library of 3,000 books is a few weeks of steady work, which is why it's best done a shelf at a time while the library stays open.
Do I need MARC to catalogue a small library?
No. MARC is a standard for sharing records between libraries. A small school or community library that doesn't exchange records can catalogue with simple fields and a consistent set of rules.
Try Khulla in two minutes
Open the demo in a browser: nothing to install, no account to create. When it fits, download Khulla for Windows, Linux or Android.
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