CiP Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Is there a legal requirement to include a CiP record in a book?
  2. How does the CiP program relate to Copyright?
  3. How can I get a catalogue record for a book that is already published?
  4. How do I get an ISBN?
  5. Why is only one author’s name shown at the top of the CiP entry when the book has two or more authors?
  6. The title on the book begins each word with a capital letter. Why does the CiP entry begin each title word, except the first word, with a lower case letter?
  7. Do I need CIP data in order to obtain a barcode?
  8. Why do you use American spelling in your CiP data?

1. Is there a legal requirement to include a CiP record in a book?

CiP is a free service offered by the National Library of Australia. There is no legal obligation to include a CiP record in any publication. The benefit of the service is CiP information is routinely used by libraries and the publishing sector for selection and to place advance orders for new publications.

2. How does the CiP program relate to Copyright?

There is no relationship between the CiP program and Copyright.

3. How can I get a catalogue record for a book that is already published?

CiP data is only available for works that are not yet published. Other publications receive full cataloguing once received by the National Library on Legal Deposit. Cataloguing data is included in the Australian National Bibliographic Database (ANBD) available on Libraries Australia.

4. How do I get an ISBN?

Apply to the ISBN agency at

ISBN Australia
Thorpe-Bowker
Level One, 607 St Kilda Road 
(PO Box 6509, St Kilda Road Central VIC 8008)
Melbourne VIC 3004

Tel: +61-3-8517-8333
Fax: +61-3-8517-8399
Email: isbn@thorpe.com.au

5. Why is only one author’s name shown at the top of the CiP entry when the book has two or more authors?

In cases where a book has two or more authors, library cataloguing rules state that the first author mentioned on the title page must be used as the “main entry” on the cataloguing record; the other authors are recorded as “added entries” When a catalogue record is printed the main entry displays at the top of the catalogue record and the added entries appear after the description of the book. However, this format of main and added entries is a convention for display purposes only; added entries can be searched as well as the main entry in catalogues.

6. The title on the book begins each word with a capital letter. Why does the CiP entry begin each title word, except the first word, with a lower case letter?

The capitalisation in the CiP entry follows the cataloguing rules used by libraries. In library cataloguing, only the initial letter of the title is capitalised. There are some exceptions to this practice but they are limited to certain cases specified in the cataloguing rules. Publishers should print the CiP cataloguing record in the form in which it was returned to them using the same capitalisation, punctuation and layout.

7. Do I need CIP data in order to obtain a barcode?

Cataloguing in Publication does not provide barcodes for publications, and it is not necessary to have a Cataloguing in Publication entry in order to obtain a barcode. If you wish to learn more about barcodes, contact

GS1 Australia
Ph. 1300 366 033

Or the ISBN agency at

ISBN Australia
Thorpe-Bowker
Level One, 607 St Kilda Road 
(PO Box 6509, St Kilda Road Central VIC 8008)
Melbourne VIC 3004

Tel: +61-3-8517-8333
Fax: +61-3-8517-8399
Email: isbn@thorpe.com.au

8. Why do you use American spelling in your Cataloguing in Publication data?

When we create CiP entries we use the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) thesaurus, which uses American spellings and terminology. The subject headings are uniform and standard in most Australian libraries.

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