Search for an existing bibliographic record - best practices

When you are trying to add an item to Next Search Catalog, the first thing you want to do is to search to see if a copy already exists in the catalog. The steps below outline the best practices for searching Next Search Catalog thouroughly.

1. Search by ISBN

  1. Select “Home > More > Cataloging”

    Where to click for "Home > Cataloging"

  2. Search for the item by ISBN or or UPC number (you can usually do this simply by scanning the UPC label on the item)

    Where to find "Cataloging search" box - inlcudes sample ISBN input

  3. If you find results, verify that the items actually match by verifying the ISBN in the 020$a, or the UPC number in the 024$a but also verify that the title, author, year, publisher, physical description (page numbers, large print, etc.) match

    Where to find cataloging information and "MARC preview" controls

    Where Marc fields display on preview

  4. If you have a match, add your item to the existing record

2. Search by author/title

  1. If you do not find a match on the ISBN or UPC number, you should then do a search by title/author. It is possible that a copy exists that matches in every way except ISBN or UPC number. This can especially be true for items that are quite old or have been self-published

    Where to find "Cataloging search" box - includes sample title and author input

  2. If you find a match based on title/author, go to step C above and verify that the year, publisher, physical description (page numbers, large print, etc.) match

  3. If you have a match, you can just add the item you’re cataloging to the existing record

3. Look for records to copy from outside of Next

If you do not find a match already in Next Search Catalog, your next step in adding an item to Next Search Catalog is to look to other cataloging resources.