A Consortium Serving Maine's Town, School, and Academic libraries
Cataloging – Copy Cataloging – Instructions
Adding local items to the Balsam Evergreen catalog
Step by Step Instructions
Before you begin – Preparation to catalog – steps to be set up by local or Balsam administrator:
- Workstation setup to catalog
- Your user name, password, and permission to catalog
- Templates set up in copy editor
- Items to catalog with barcodes (on item or knowledge of where to put it)
- Call number of item
- Locations for your materials
- Have the default search set to “Balsam Libraries”
1. Search for an existing record in Balsam libraries (See Notes) 2. Enter the title and/or the author (See Notes) (Don’t bother to enter articles, prepositions, etc. (“A”, “The”, etc.). Also no need to capitalize any words. However spelling counts).
3. Choose the “Search” button under the Search input area. Note, you can use the Search Filters to narrow the search. For instance “Language material” returns only books.
IF no entries found, try “Refine My Search”: Check spelling – punctuation marks can be an issue Try author’s name:: (You can use just the last name), If the last name is a common name (Smith, Paulsen…), add first name. You can enter as James Patterson. If still no entries found, set item aside for “Import Record” work. Click “Clear form” and start over with the next item.
4. Look for the exact format of your item. (See Notes)
5. Choose the best match – if you find more than one item for the correct format. (See Notes.)
6. Click on item title 
7. Choose “Add Copies”” (top right side of screen).
8. Enter the Call Number and the Bar Code 
9.Fill in the Holdings Detail 
This information is unique to your library. Most libraries, at a minimum, fill in the Status (“Available”); the Shelving location, and the Price. Whenever possible use copy templates to make this job as easy and accurate as possible. When all of the data is filled in, press “Save & Exit” 10. Confirm that the item is added. 
Note: NEVER catalog without using copy templates (too easy to miss things). Make all the changes needed (If you use Copy Templates, you should only need to change the price.) (see Note on picking prices) 11. Done!
| Notes |
1a. 1a. Search catalog – may choose one of four places to start:
 “Search Catalog” in the Tool Bar |
 From the Top Menu “Cataloging” |
 Advanced Search on a New Tab |
Or Simply Press the F3 Function Key |
They all take you to the same search page If you just choose the “Search box”, Evergreen makes a “keyword search” – returns a lot of items besides just the title. We do not recommend using that option. BE sure to choose Balsam Libraries before searching 
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2a. 2a. For search terms you have choices of key word, title, and author (plus menus for more choices). 
Using the title box is often quickest, as many authors have multiple titles and most titles are unique. Series can be an issue: start with the title of that book in the series For long titles, may use just 1-2-3 key words, in the title line Back
4a. 4a. Ways to narrow the list of titles shown: If you have more than 40ish+ titles, try “Refine my original search” and add author, add more title works or key words. (The more terms you add, the fewer results will return) IF you have 10-40ish titles, use the “sort by relevance to organize” list Use Search Filters to further narrow your search:
 Filter for Books |
 Filter for Large Print Books |
 Filter for Audience |
 Filter for DVD |
What is the FORMAT of the item? Is it a book, audio book, ebook, DVD, VHS, CD, Large Print, multimedia kit, journal, graphic novel, abridged version Back
5. 5. For help choosing the best match: Ignore the call numbers – these are individual libraries choices Do NOT add another record if the only difference is the call number Remember to choose the one with the same title and author The record with the most “copies” is the best choice! If there are two choices with the same amount of copies, choose in this order: 1.CMMC, 2.COA, 3.Hartland Public If none these libraries have a copy, look at both titles and choose the one with the most information: record details, content description, subjects. If you are unsure, set the item aside for the Level 2 cataloging work Back
15a. 15. Price is a local library decision. For “Price” you can enter just the number (i.e. the number 9 for $9.00) or you can leave this field blank. Some libraries use a standard $5, $10, $15 or $20 price for all books. Or $5 for paperbacks and $20 for hardcovers. Back
