Let’s say you take a book, close the cover, and jot down what you think you can learn about it from the cover. You might see a title, an author name, maybe a phrase under the title, and possibly a publisher name. Now, open the book and check your notes against the title page and the copyright page. You’ll notice the differences are subtle. Yet, that subtle difference may mean the difference between identifying the correct work, the right edition, the right editor, and more.
The cover of a book does serve a purpose, as it’s designed to be seen, advertised, and promoted. Sometimes it abbreviates the long title, omits the subtitle, expands the name of a famous editor, or may contain text that doesn’t belong in the title at all. So when you’re cataloging, take note of everything that says something like, ‘A complete, practical guide.’ Is that the subtitle? Or is it just a phrase on the cover? Entering ‘A complete, practical guide’ as part of the title without checking may result in a title that will not match other records.
Another item you have to take into account is the name. The most prominent name on the cover is not always the author. Sometimes that person is the compiler, editor, or translator. Sometimes the book has a company name. On the title page of a book, there will be a statement of responsibility, and it’s best to record who did what when you record names. That can make a difference if the catalog record doesn’t contain the right author and you want to search by author or create another similar work in the same library and have duplicate issues.
Another reason you have to look beyond the cover is that there is a lot of information in the copyright page. Information like edition statement, the year of publication, publisher info, printing info, ISBN, copyright holder, etc. is typically not included on the cover. It’s essential information, however, to be included in the catalog record. The edition and the printing of a book can often look the same, but the revised edition may include some changes that the newer printing did not. You need information found only on the copyright page to separate these instances.
Series can also complicate this. In some books, the series will show up above the book title on the front cover; in other books it appears in the text of the book. You don’t want to get your terms mixed up on your title page and series title page, so look in other places, like preliminary pages, to find out if a book is part of a series. When cataloging a series, you want to keep the series title and the book title as separate fields, so readers can search the title and browse in the series and have different results for both terms.
Now, try doing a three-source record (cover, title, copyright) with two books. You’ll have three columns, and your goal is to include all the info from each source into the proper field. Don’t include any information that is only on the cover (and don’t just use your memory of the cover; check for yourself to see whether to include it). You’ll then have a complete bibliographic record. Then you can decide if what you included was correct.
At least until you save the record, you have to be able to answer this question if another person were to pick up the same book, would he or she have the same result as you? If the title page is not the title you are using, then you’ll want to double-check the source of that info before you save it. Make sure to identify your author, your title, and everything else that the copyright page contains so you know that you’re identifying the correct edition. Your best rule of thumb here: The cover can tell you what the book is about; the title page and copyright page tell you what’s in the catalog.