MARC records for eBook files

As a follow-up to the eReader training I observed on April 16, my local internship coordinator, Karen Angiolet, has me researching Machine-Readable Cataloging (MARC) records for eBooks. During the training, three Kindle Fire HD seven-inch tablets were added to the online catalogs of participating Medford schools.

The act of cataloging each eBook file as well as the devices that house them seem to be a consistent approach among librarians who blog about the procedure online.

In the eBook Educators Group on Ning, Patty McClune wrote circa Nov. 17, 2010:

“Each individual Kindle, 1 through 6, is cataloged as a copy under that MARC record with its barcode. Registration number is included in the copy info. 

“If a student wants to read ‘Looking for Alaska’ a title search will show it’s available in print AND also which Kindles have it loaded."

And circa Nov. 9 2010, the Unquiet Librarian wrote, “Today Roxanne and I unboxed our five new Kindles (more are coming) and began the process of setting them up for circulation.” An embedded Slideshare document includes procedures for cataloging eBooks.

Finally, Ask Ms. MARC, an advice column distributed by Follett Software, explains, that the general practice is to catalog the device using an “Equipment” template in Destiny, with a copy and barcode added for each individual device.

“Titles and authors may be made keyword searchable by adding a 505 Contents Note for each title/author. Additional tags need to be entered in order for the titles and authors to appear in their respective indexes. The author’s name will appear in the author index when a 700 tag with the author and title is added. Titles for each book will appear in the title index when a 740 tag is added for each title.”

There is no way in Destiny, according to Ms. MARC, to link bibliographic records for titles to item records for the Kindle or Nook.

“Individual title records will not work for the titles contained on the Kindle or Nook because each title would need a copy and a barcode and each barcode would need to be unique. … However if you have a title in print that is the same as the title on the Kindle or Nook, you could add a 530 tag in the MARC record for the print copy indicating that the same title is available on a Kindle or Nook.”

But in spite of there being no link between records for eBooks and reading devices, I think the notation in an eBook’s call number, of KIN-1, 2 or 3, is a viable way to indicate which device in the school site’s library where an eBook file will be found.

Cross-posted to an internship log for Cuesta College’s LIBT 214