Scope: This document outlines special considerations for e-books during the fastcat procedure. It assumes that staff are already familiar with LTS Procedure #4, Fastcat and LTS Procedure #3c, Fast-cataloging. We strive to keep the e-fastcat procedure as close to our regular fastcat procedure as possible. The differences outlined below are largely due to either (a) additional/different cataloging fields required for an e-resource, or (b) the lack of a tangible item in the e-resource format.

Please note that this procedure covers only e-books, not e-journals, databases, or websites. Some fields in the MARC leader will indicate that the item is an e-book, however, the definition of an e-book is still fuzzy enough that we also employ the "You know it when you see it" rule of thumb; if an e-resource looks more like a website or a serial than an  e-book, please route it to Original Cataloging for a cataloger's analysis. 

Contact: Laura Daniels/You Lee Chun 

Unit: E-Resources Unit

Date last reviewed:  

Date of next review: February 2022

To fastcat an e-book, please refer to the LTS Fastcataloging procedure, with the following alterations/considerations:

Multivolume works may be cataloged either as one volume per bib, or multiple volumes on a single bib, depending on how the volumes are hosted and sold. Accept bibs that describe only a single volume; these are eligible for e-fastcat.

If any changes are required to the MARC bibliographic data other than adding/updating/deleting the following fields do not fastcat. Refer these to cataloging.

MARC fields that may be added, editer or deleted (using quickMARC): 506, 856, 899, 906
There is no need to edit the 040.

In the MARC record view, review and verify

  • Leader’s “Type of Record” and “Bibliographic Level” are “am”.
  • 006 correct: "o" for online; "d" for document.
  • 007 correct: "r" for remote.
  • 008 "Form of Item" correct: accept either "o" or "s". If incorrect, correct to "o".
  • 020: Verify that the ISBN in the book is also on the bib record. Accept any additional ISBNs on the record. 
  • Record must contain
    • RDA 33x fields for "computer" and "online resource":
      • 336 |a text |2 rdacontent
      • 337 |a computer |2 rdamedia
      • 338 |a online resource |2 rdacarrier
  • 245 |a should match the title as per the title page of the e-book itself. (This is not a divergence from print, but merits emphasis due to the increased number of places an e-book interface may denote some version of the title.) If 245|h exists on an RDA record, delete the 245|h.
  • Check the publication date. This should be truly the publication or copyright date, but sometimes it's written as the digitization date. Do not accept digitization date in the 260 or 264 field.
  • Pagination: accept "1 online resource", with or without pagination. Route to copy cataloging only if the pagination discrepancy is so seriously wrong that it may describe the wrong book.
  • Dimensions: accept the absence of a 300 |c. As intangible items, e-books do not have a size measurement. 

Editing the instance record:

  • Unsuppress the record if needed
  • Change the instance status to cataloged and add the appropriate cataloged date.
  • Add the Statistical code “Special format: ebk – Ebook”

  • Add a transaction data in Administrative note using the ,,f macro. It should read
    date:YYYYMMDD ttype:f userid:[netid] ploc:lts


Editing the holdings record:

  • Unsuppress the record if needed
  • Holdings type: Monograph
  • Permanent location: serv,remo
  • Call number: Type = Library of Congress classification, add ONLINE to the call number prefix