Cataloging tips: Movies and Music CDs
Many music CDs and videos (especially older VHSs and DVDs) don’t have ISBNs, the identifier that goes into the 020 field of the MARC record. However, there is another numeric identifier for audio and video items that can go into MARC records as unique identifiers: UPC codes.
If you see a UPC code on the CD, VHS or DVD packaging, you can put that into the 024 field of the MARC record. It is an excellent, unique identifier when no ISBN is present. Even if an ISBN is present, it’s not a bad idea to put the UPC into the MARC record, too.
UPCs look like the one below. They generally appear somewhere on the item’s outer package. UPC codes have exactly 12 digits. The number includes the two digits “outside” the frame. So the UPC for this item should be entered 036000291452. If you have the packaging with the UPC code available, just scan that into the 024 field of the record.… Read the rest