Cataloging guidelines

1. The golden rule

Describe the copy in your hand. Everything on a release page should be something you can see on the item: on the case, box, insert, label, disc, tape or record. If you're working from memory, a store listing or another website, say so in the edit note, and prefer leaving a field empty to guessing.

2. Titles and releases

DiscRecord has two levels:

• A title is the work: the book, the course, the tutorial series. The History of Ancient Rome is one title.
• A release is one physical product of that work, the thing a collector holds. Part 1 of that course on audio CD is one release; the same course on cassette is another.

2.1 When to add a new release

Add a new release, under the existing title, when any of these differ from releases already there:

• the format (cassette, CD, MP3-CD, DVD…)
• an ISBN, barcode or product code
• the publisher or imprint
• the part of a set (see 3)
• what's in the package, such as a reissue that dropped the guidebook
• abridged versus unabridged, or a different reader

Use the "Is it already in DiscRecord?" search on the add form to find the title first, so new releases join it rather than starting a duplicate title.

2.2 When not to

Your copy of a release that's already here is not a new release. Choose Add to my collection on its page instead. Things about your particular copy (its condition, an ex-library stamp, a missing disc, what you paid) go with your copy, not on the release.

3. Multi-part sets

Courses and long audiobooks were often sold in parts, each in its own case.

• Each part sold separately is its own release. Put "Part 1" in Edition label, and fill in Part and of (1 of 4).
• All parts belong to the same title.
• Parts often share an ISBN or barcode. That's normal; the product code (PC340-01, PC340-02…) usually tells them apart, so record it.
• A complete set sold as one box with one code is a single release. List the discs inside under What's in the package.

4. The work: title, kind and people

4.1 Title

• Write the title as it appears on the front cover, in normal capitalization: The Nazi Hunters, not THE NAZI HUNTERS.
• Keep "The", "A" or "An" at the start, where it's printed.
• A subtitle goes after a colon: Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise.
• Leave out format, part and edition words ("Unabridged", "Part 2", "MP3-CD"); they have their own fields.
• A series name ("The Great Courses") goes in Series, not in the title.

4.2 Kind

Audiobook for a book read aloud. Lecture course for a course of lectures, including language courses. Software tutorial for training on a computer program or language. Video tutorial for how-to video. Other for anything else.

4.3 Author, lecturer or instructor

• Write names as credited, but without titles or affiliations: Garrett G. Fagan, not Professor Garrett G. Fagan, Pennsylvania State University. An affiliation worth keeping can go in the release notes.
• Separate several people with commas. Keep suffixes with the name: L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
• Pick the matching Role: Author, Taught by, Instructor, Read by.

4.4 Credits

Narrators, performers, translators and others go under Credits, one person per row, with their role. Use Full cast for a dramatization with many voices, and list the main ones if they're credited.

4.5 Language taught

Only for language courses: the language the course teaches. The language it's spoken in goes in the release's Language. A Spanish course taught in English has Language "English" and Language taught "Spanish".

5. The release

5.1 Format

The physical format. An MP3-CD (one disc of MP3 files, playable on a computer or MP3-capable player) is not an Audio CD; the case usually says "MP3-CD" or "MP3 CD". For video, DVD-Video plays in a DVD player and DVD-ROM needs a computer.

5.2 Publisher

As printed on this release. When it reads like "Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio", type it that way: DiscRecord files the release under both companies. Leave off "Inc." and "LLC".

5.3 Year

The year this release was published, from the ℗ (sound recording) or © line on the item. If they differ, use the ℗ year for audio and mention the other in the notes. Leave it empty rather than guess.

5.4 Abridgement, language, country, running time

• Abridgement only when the item says so. "Not stated" is a perfectly good answer.
• Language spoken on the recording.
• Country where this edition was published, if printed (often in the publisher's address).
• Running time as printed: "12 hours 30 minutes" can be typed as 12:30.

5.5 Edition

Tick only what the item states: Library edition when it says "Library Edition" (often a sturdier case), Book club edition, Reissue, and so on. These describe every copy of the release, not just yours.

5.6 Packaging

Describe the container plainly: "Jewel case", "Double album case with wraparound insert", "Slipcase holding four cases", "Library clamshell".

6. Identifiers

Identifiers are how one release is told apart from another, so they're the most valuable thing you can add.

• Copy each one exactly as printed, dashes and all. Don't convert an ISBN-10 into an ISBN-13, or add one that isn't printed.
• Say where it's printed: "Back of insert, above the barcode", "Spine", "Disc label". The same number in a different place can mean a different product.
• Pick the right type: ISBN-10 or ISBN-13 for numbers marked ISBN; Barcode (EAN-13) for the 13 digits under a barcode; Barcode (UPC-A) for 12 digits; Product code for a publisher's own code such as PC340-01.
• One identifier per row. If a barcode's digits and the ISBN are the same number, record both: they're printed in two places.
• Scanning: after scanning, compare the result with the digits printed under the bars. Worn or badly printed barcodes can scan as the wrong number; if they disagree, type the printed digits.
• Matrix / runout codes are the small numbers molded or etched in the clear ring around a disc's hole. Type them as they appear and say which disc they're on.

7. What's in the package

• One row per kind of item: "6 × audio cd", "1 × book: Course Guidebook".
• Name books and booklets as printed on them.
• If an item carries its own code (a guidebook marked 340-01), put it in Code printed on it.
• Describe what the release came with when new. If your copy is missing something, record that on your copy, not here.

8. Lectures, chapters and tracks

One per line, numbered as printed, with minutes if given: 12. Carthage and the First Punic War (30). Use the wording on the insert or disc. For a set in parts, list only the lectures in this part.

9. Images

• Scan or photograph your own copy. Don't use images from stores, publishers or other websites.
• Front, back and spine; a flat scan of the whole insert; and the disc itself. Scan at 300 dpi or more if you can.
• Keep every code readable. Don't crop off barcodes or product codes.
• No watermarks, frames or added text. Blur or leave out anything personal, like a name written inside.
• Replace an image only with a clearer one of the same thing.

10. Notes

For facts that don't fit a field: an affiliation, a printing difference from another release, a misprint, where a detail came from. Keep opinions, reviews, prices and the condition of your copy out of release notes.

11. Editing and history

• Anyone with an account can correct a release. Every change is kept in its History, with who made it and what changed.
• Write an edit note saying what you changed and how you know: "Added product code from my copy's insert".
• Don't remove information unless it's wrong. If you're not sure, add a note instead of deleting.
• Releases imported from Open Library are a starting point and often incomplete. Check them against a copy and fill them in.
• Changes that damage the catalog are undone, and accounts that keep making them are suspended.

12. What belongs on DiscRecord

Recordings made to teach or to be read aloud, published to the public on any physical format: audiobooks, lecture and language courses, skills and self-improvement programs, software tutorials and video lessons, on disc, tape, record or floppy disk. That includes editions made for libraries and schools.

Music, films and games belong on other sites, unless they were made to teach. Home recordings, copies of commercial releases and recordings of broadcasts aren't catalogued. See The philosophy of DiscRecord for more.