Upgrading of cataloging-in-publication (CIP) records
CIP records are bibliographic data created pre-publication by the Library of Congress in the United States and by national cataloging agencies in other countries. Those records are supplied to publishers for printing in the book and are also loaded into WorldCat. Because physical description and other elements required in a complete cataloging record are not available prior to publication and the title or other elements may be different when the book is published, all CIP records require upgrading for accuracy and completeness.
For additional information
OCLC CIP Record Upgrade Project Specifications
(Microsoft Word, 33 KB)
Drastically reducing the number of CIP records
OCLC established a CIP upgrade program in 1995 in response to requests from users of PromptCat (now known as WorldCat Cataloging Partners). Libraries desire full-level records through this offline cataloging record service when possible to minimize handling by their staff. When the PromptCat service began, nearly half of the records delivered were CIP records. Since the establishment of the CIP program, less than 10 percent of records that arrive are CIP.
OCLC established the CIP upgrade program to save libraries time and make cataloging more efficient. Before this program, routine CIP upgrading within WorldCat by anyone other than the Library of Congress was nonexistent. Each library needed to upgrade the record each time a CIP book was received.
Who can perform upgrading?
Now, any user of OCLC cataloging products with Full or higher authorization can add 300 field data as database enrichment. Also, as part of the Expert Community functionality, the same users may edit and/or upgrade any other aspect of a CIP record (that is not coded as PCC) except for the Encoding Level. Encoding Level can be changed only by Enhance participants at the National level. OCLC member libraries with National level Enhance authorization may upgrade the master record to make it a full-level record.
OCLC continues to load Library of Congress upgrades as soon as they are available. Once a record is upgraded, the libraries that eventually receive the book are free of the upgrading burden.
Additional program components
To supplement member upgrading, OCLC's CIP upgrade program consists of two distinct components. In November 1995, OCLC undertook the first component by starting a CIP Upgrade Unit at Academic Book Center in Portland, Oregon. Academic Book Center became a Blackwell company in 1999, and Academic Book Center's operations merged with Blackwell's Book Services in late 2003. In January 2004, the OCLC CIP Upgrade Unit relocated to Blackwell's Book Services warehouse in Blackwood, New Jersey. That unit was closed in December 2010 when the Blackwell operation was consolidated into the YBP Library services warehouse. CIP upgrades are currently being done by OCLC's LTS office in Winnipeg, Canada, LC, Library and Archives Canada, and UK MARC CIP records are upgraded with book in hand.
The second component involves contributions from other library material vendors. YBP Library Services, Ingram Library Services, and Quality Books submit batches of their LC CIP upgrades to OCLC. OCLC loads these upgrades within one working day of receiving the files. Additionally, BWI (Book Wholesalers Inc.) staff members work online to upgrade CIP records.
The numbers
With all of these partners, approximately 34,000 records per year are currently being upgraded. With LC producing between 50,000 and 60,000 CIP records per year, OCLC's upgrade program provides upgrades for more than half the LC records.
OCLC CIP upgrade partners
Last revised: 03 May 2011
| Symbol | Institution | Format and/or Notes |
|---|---|---|
| BKX | BWI (Book Wholesalers, Inc.) | Working online |
| C#P | OCLC CIP Upgrade Service | BKS  Used for OCLC CIP Upgrade Service |
| IG# | Ingram Library Services | No online Enhance authorizations Batch contributions only, as part of Vendor CIP Upgrade Project |
| QBX | Quality Books, Inc. | No online Enhance authorizations Batch contributions only, as part of Vendor CIP Upgrade Project |
| YDX | YBP Library Services | No online Enhance authorizations Batch contributions only, as part of Vendor CIP Upgrade Project |