Collections Services staff catalogue materials in all formats for the 15 libraries that comprise the McGill University Library. We also catalogue materials for two affiliated libraries: the Polish Institute Library and the Presbyterian College Library. Collection Services does most of McGill's cataloguing; and the Music Library catalogues music sound recordings and videos.

Bibliographic records are created according to the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, Second Edition, 2002 Revision with 2005 Update. We follow the Library of Congress Rule Interpretations and other special rules in the following approved manuals of the AACR2 cataloguing community:

• Cataloging Internet Resources: A Manual and Practical Guide. 2nd ed. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC, 1997.
• Cataloging Rules for the Description of Looseleaf Publications: with Special Emphasis on Legal Materials. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Office for Descriptive Cataloging Policy, Library of Congress, 1989.
• CONSER Cataloging Manual. Washington, D.C.: Serial Record Division, Library of Congress, 1993-
• Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Books. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 1991.
• LC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials: Topical Terms for Subject Access. Washington, D.C.: Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 1987.
• Cartographic Materials: a Manual of Interpretation for AACR2, 2002 Revision. 2nd ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 2003.
• Music Cataloging Decisions as Issued by the Music Section, Special Materials Cataloging Division, Library of Congress in the Music Cataloging Bulletin, through December 1991. Canton, MA: Music Library Association, 1992.
• Music Cataloging Bulletin: a monthly publication of the Music Library Association. Middleton, WI: Music Library Association, 1970-

Cataloguers generally create Core bibliographic records, applying the full level of description on a case-by-case basis. Collection Services uses MARC 21 and has updated the tag chart to this standard.

Most of the McGill Library switched from Cutter to the Library of Congress Classification in 1967. Parts of the Life Sciences Library and the Osler Library use the National Library of Medicine Classification. The Government Documents Department uses CODOC (except for reference materials). In addition, some special rare collections, some journal collections, and some video collections at McGill have unique classification systems or are not classified.

We use Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) for all the McGill Libraries, except parts of the Life Sciences Library and the Osler Library, which require Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). MeSH headings are retained if they appear on the non-medical libraries' records, and, conversely, LCSH headings are retained if they appear on the medical libraries' records.

Questions about cataloguing at McGill may be addressed to Chris Oliver, Coordinator, Cataloguing, Tel.: 514-398-4777 or any of the supervisors listed under Contact us.

Written by: Karen Jensen
Last revised: November 19, 2008