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Scope: Minimal-level cataloging (MLC) is an abbreviated form of cataloging that gives limited bibliographic description, subject analysis and (in most cases) authority work. Materials eligible for MLC include low-need and/or low research value titles.
Contact: Sarah RossPam Stansbury / Laura Daniels
Unit: Cataloging
Date last updated: 10/9/2019 October 6, 2025
Date of next review: October 20202026
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Inputting
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Use the following table to determine what data elements should appear in the record. All other MARC variable fields are optional for minimal level records defined by this procedure. If other fields appear in the Voyager local in-process record, use judgment to determine whether to revise or delete such fields. The guiding principles are these:
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MARC 21 Definition | Tag | LTS Minimal Level Requirement | ||
Library of Congress Control No. | 010 | Mandatory if applicable. Enter any DLC label mounted on the cover. | ||
ISBN | 020 | Enter |a if it appears on the item (|z if you know it can’t possibly be valid, for example if it’s not 10 or 13 digits long) | System Control Number | 035 |
Retain the OCLC control number if present. Do not include an OCLC control number for a different manifestation. Do not include an OCLC control number for a non-English record (that is, 040 |b must be blank or “eng”). | Cataloging Source | 040 | Subfields OCLC automatically supplies |a , and |d ; |b , |c mandatory; eng and |e rda and |d (if applicable) are mandatory | |
LC Call No. | 050 | |||
Authorized access point | 1xx | Mandatory if applicable (includes 100, 110, 111, 130) | ||
Preferred title | 240 | Enter a preferred title if known or readily inferred from the item; otherwise, omit. See Guidelines for Access Points, section 2, below | ||
Title area | 245 | Subfield |a is mandatory; |b and |c if applicable | ||
Varying form of title | 246 | Optional ; use judgment. Record parallel titles. | ||
Edition area | 250 | Mandatory if applicable | ||
Imprint | 264: 1: (RDA); 260 (usually AACR2) | Mandatory if applicable; |a, |b and |c should be present | ||
Physical description | 300 | Subfields |a and |c are mandatory; all other subfields are optional | ||
Content, Media, Carrier | 336, 337, 338 | Mandatory on RDA records, recommended for all records. Use macro #r1 for print monographsOCLC macro "Add33x" or Essentials macro "Check 33X" | ||
Series | 490:0 : | Transcribe series if present. Do not trace the series in an 830. Remove an 830 if one happens to be present on the in-process record. | ||
FAST subject access | 6xx | Mandatory if applicable; see Guidelines for Subject Access (FAST) | ||
Added entries | 7xx | All added entries are optional; see Guidelines for Added Entries |
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Guidelines for LC Call Numbers
Classify items according to the LC classification schedules, unless one or more of the exceptional cases listed in LTS Procedure #11, "Shelflisting," apply. Use the schedules on the Catalogers Desktopin ClassWeb. Add the call number to the bib record in the 050 field, 1st indicator blank, and 2nd indicator 4 (050: 4:).
If you find an actual LC cutter for an individual literary author, artist, geographic area, or subject, use it. Otherwise construct a cutter using Library of Congress practice for cuttering, as described in the LC Shelflisting Manual, available on Cataloger's Desktopin ClassWeb.
In crowded places in the schedules, as may happen especially with literary authors, it may be better to keep an author together and a Cutter-Sanborn cutter, rather than splitting an author between the Cutter-Sanborn cutter and the LC cutter. Use discretion.
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Guidelines for Access
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Points
Access points should be consistent with the structure of the Voyager catalog. NoteLC Name Authority File. Note: it is not necessary for every MLC access point to be represented by an authority record in the national file.
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- If you find an authority record, use that form, which is the authorized access point, and control the heading.
- If you don't find an authority record, search Voyager search FOLIO (the public catalog search may be more effective) and use a form from a Voyager an existing bibliographic record. If several forms of the name or uniform title occur in Voyager, select a heading form in this order of preference: a full RDA or AACR2 record; another MLC minimal level record; an LC in-process (Encoding level 5) record. Use judgment to select one of them; make a quick decision in most cases.
- If the heading is new to Voyagerus, do a quick search of OCLC. If a form is found in other bibliographic records, use that form. Otherwise, formulate the heading using RDA, information from the item, and information you've discovered by searching Voyager.
- If the heading conflicts with a heading that already occurs in Voyagerour catalog, resolve the conflict by making additions to the MLC heading in your record.
- If the conflict cannot be resolved in this manner, we need to create an RDA a NACO authority record.
Note, the only instance in which you would make a NACO authority record is when the chosen access point conflicts with an access point that is already in Voyager our catalog and you cannot resolve the conflict without further research.
2. Titles (130, 240). If the item is a translation and the original title is known, supply the preferred title for the original + |l Language. Follow the procedure in (1) above to find the preferred title or name/title combination. Remember that RDA requires what we used to call “uniform titles” in two more situations:
- If the work is a complete compilation with one creator, RDA requires a conventional collective such as “Works. |k Selections” or “Short stories. |k Selections.” NB: As of August 2013, CUL does not follow this rule. See Chart #2title.
- If the work is a compilation with more than one creator, you may need to devise a 130 if the title proper is in conflict with another title in the database.
- Supply these titles if the choice is easy and quick. You should check for an authority record for any name/title 100/240, but you do not need to create NARs in these situations.
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Guidelines for Subject Access (FAST)
Starting on December 1, 2014, LTS exclusively uses FAST subject headings on minimal level records. This change applies to minimal level (that is, encoding level 7) cataloging only and not to full cataloging.
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If your book would not require LCSH headings, for example if it is a work of literature by an individual author, FAST should not be applied. However, LTS is no longer relying on keywords for subject access: even if your book's title says exactly what the book is about, in English, you still need to apply FAST headings.
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Guidelines for Added Entries
You may assign added entries (7xx fields) if failure to do so would seriously impair access to the item. If necessary, assign up to two 7xx fields to cover the primary relationships associated with an item (e.g. an editor's name, the corporate sponsor of a symposium) or to bring out title access information judged to be important.Anchor
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LTS Statistics Code for Minimal Level Records
Add a 948 field the appropriate instance administrative note for statistics tracking. Use first indicator 1 for cataloging transaction and subfield b o for original cataloging. Minimal level cataloging statistics are defined by the o (original cataloging) from the 948 field and 7 from the encoding level field of the Leader.Anchor
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Historical Background and Policy
This procedure is based on the Library of Congress Minimal Level Cataloging, Monographs, Basic Procedures (CSB 42); Guidelines for Applying Field 653 to MLC Records (CSB 50); and MARC 21 Bibliographic Format National Level Full and Minimal Requirements, as modified for use in LTS.
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It is important to remember that in using MLC, catalogers should seek a sound balance between the need for timely access to the material and the probable research value of the item. Catalogers should consult with selectors generally about the kinds of materials that are high priorities in order to have a clear sense of when MLC might be appropriate for a given item or class of items.
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Eligibility for MLC
Low-need and/or low research value titles:
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In general, if an item has reached LTS with Library of Congress (DLC … |c DLC) minimal-level cataloging, LTS catalogers are free to follow LC’s judgment and leave the cataloging at that level.
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Exclusions from MLC
The following types of materials should always be excluded from MLC:
- All reference collection materials.
- Materials requested by individual users.
- Major publications (both primary and secondary sources).
- Substantial publications that may or may not be of topical interest.
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Definitions
The source of these definitions is the Library of Congress Cataloging Service Bulletin, no. 84 (Spring 1999), pp. 27-32. CSB 84 is also the source of the definition of research value provided in section III.
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Substantial publications are those likely to be used for research purposes by a specialist and that do not meet the definition of either a major publication or a substantial publication of topical interest.
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Interpreting the Minimal Level Standards
MARC21 and the tables above use three levels to differentiate between data elements (1) that must always be present, (2) that should be present if the information is available, and (3) that are optional. The levels are:
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Optional: A data element that does not need to be present in any record, but that may be present if local library policy calls for it or if the cataloger deems it essential for the item in hand.