A simple strategy for writing a useful catalog description. “An old, pretty book on plants, with illustrations” can seem perfectly fine in a casual conversation, but it is no way to describe an item in a catalog. It mixes up judgment, vague labeling, and doesn’t help anyone much in finding the book they are looking for. A good description should say: what the item is, by whom, of which edition, when and where published, and what the item looks like.
Take any of the books in front of you, and set down beside it a paper form or template, without any full sentences. Before writing any complete phrase, make clear spaces for Title, Statement of Responsibility, Edition, Imprint, Physical Description, Series, Identifiers and Subjects. Now read the Title and Copyright pages. Next, fill in each space with the information taken from those pages. In this way, you avoid writing one long sentence containing the author, publisher, place and date, with bits of your own personal thoughts about the book in it as well.
The title should say what the work is called as it is in the book, and also include subtitle as needed. The statement of responsibility shows the person or persons responsible for the work, and their role, so don’t always assume that the first name that appears is the author. If there is an editor, translator, photographer, illustrator, or other, make sure to note that the person is not the primary author. Knowing who did what helps the reader make sense of the names listed in the record.
The imprint needs the same division. The imprint does not equal the printer, nor does a copyright date equal the edition of your copy. You will often be tempted to include every place and company name and date you find on the copyright page because they all look official. But if you look at the title and copyright page, and the statement of edition, and use the information appropriate for the exercise, then you will be on the right track. If you are not sure, write the question mark. Don’t make it up.
The physical description should be factual and short. Just record the page count and note any additional content like illustrations or the size and binding of the book as necessary. Don’t describe whether a book is beautiful or readable or old-fashioned or interesting or for children, unless those things belong in a special field and there’s good reason for doing so. If a book has torn pages or an ex libris or a dirty cover, usually those things belong in a separate note or the field for book condition and not the bibliographic description proper.
Look at two practice records and see if you can make sense of the work. In one, write as fast as you can from memory, closing the book while you work. The other, keep the book open and check the record against each page as you write, looking at all the pages and the spine label and the book itself. The second will usually have less guessing, clearer responsibility of the persons, and better punctuation. See where you made your original assumptions wrong because you could now check it on the actual record.
Writing a good catalog description needn’t be so long. Instead its value lies in being separated from everything else, factual and reliable. If another person can read the record and know exactly which edition was described, understand who was responsible, what size the item is, and search the record without trying to figure out what the original writer thought, then the description is successful.