Talk:Modern materials cataloging at the Folger

Barcode placement on modern books Traditional barcode placement has been on the lower right of the back cover. This has proved problematic because the lower right corner is the usual place for publishers to print the ISBN and other barcodes on soft-cover books, or on the book jacket for hard cover books. Current procedures require covering the printed barcode with a blank sticker and placing the Folger barcode on top, or if there is no sticker, covering the printed barcode with a finger so that the shallower Folger barcode will be scanned without interference.

At the moment there are no blank stickers to be had, so as an experiment I placed the barcode on the lower left back cover of a book, and so raise the question of preference. Can we consider switching to the lower left side as the normative location for barcoding open stack books?

  • The clear advantage is that there would be no need for (in my opinion) this awkward and inconvenient work-around, especially given that it conceals a scannable ISBN on the book
  • Is there a clear advantage to lower right-hand corner placement I haven't thought of that outweighs the inconvenience of extra stickers?
  • Books coming from YBP presumably have lower right side Folger barcodes. Would they be amenable to changing location if asked?
  • Would it confuse or hinder RS staff if the barcode is sometimes found on the right side and sometimes on the left?

DeborahLeslie (talk) 15:55, 5 April 2024 (EST)

Barcode placement on modern books: response

  • We determined that it would be highly problematic for RS staff to have barcodes placed in various locations on Open Stacks books. Nearly all Open Stacks books have barcodes stickers on the lower right corner and they wish to continue this practice.
  • While the ISBN on the back cover is scannable, it is not the only source of the ISBN. Having a scannable ISBN is a convenience to the cataloger at the time of cataloging, which typically only happens once. Having barcodes positioned in other locations on the cover is an inconvenience to circulation staff every time the item needs to be scanned.
  • A survey of recent publications on hand shows that it is not common practice for publishers to print the ISBN on the lower right corner. ISBNs are commonly printed on the right, left, or center of the back cover or dust jacket. Therefore, moving the Folger item barcode sticker to another location will not necessarily solve the issue raised in this idea.

JulieSwierczek (talk) 08:34, 15 August 2024 (EST)