At the NOAA Central Library we use the following standard cataloging tools to ensure complete and accurate bibliographic records.
Many of the LC-published resources are also through their Cataloger's Desktop product which is available online for a fee. You can order that service or any of the print versions through the Cataloging Distribution Service website at http://www.loc.gov/cds/. The OCLC products are free online and you can generally obtain one copy of the print for free. Go to their website (http://www.oclc.org/us/en/support/documentation/) for details.

Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, 2nd ed., 2002 rev. Published by the Canadian Library Association, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, and the American Library Assocation, 2002. 1 v. (loose-leaf)
Various committees of library organizations in English-speaking countries develop and publish in this work the rules catalogers should follow for bibliographic description, whether in MARC or on catalog cards. LC publishes interpretations of the rules in the LCRI, listed below. This 2002 revision makes important changes to existing rules--especially title changes for continuing resources (serials), and also introduces rules for cataloging electronic resources such as web pages and databases.

CONSER cataloging manual. 2002 ed. Published by the Library of Congress, Cataloging Distribution Service. 2 v. (loose-leaf)
The CONSER program develops these rules that apply to cataloging of serials. CONSER issues irregular updates as replacement pages.

Library of Congress Rule Interpretations. Published by the Library of Congress. 2 v. (loose-leaf)
The Library of Congress makes decisions about how to interpret ambiguities in the AACR2 or how to handle situations that the AACR2 does not cover. LC publishes these decisions quarterly in the Cataloging service bulletin and as replacement page updates to this publication.

Bibliographic Formats and Standards. 3rd ed. Published by the OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., 2002. 1 v. (loose-leaf).
This single publication details how to input bibliographic information in the OCLC MARC format, how to adhere to quality control standards for the OCLC database, and how to order offline products.

CONSER editing guide / prepared by the staff of the Serial Record Division ; Published by the Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress. 1 v. (loose-leaf).
This work details how to apply the rules from the CONSER Program in the MARC format for serials.

MARC code list for languages
MARC code list for countries
MARC code list for geographic areas
MARC code list for relators, sources, description conventions
MARC code list for organizations Published by the Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 2000-2002. [separate volumes for each code list]
These five separate MARC code lists show the valid codes that you must/may use in certain MARC fields, such as country of publication codes, geographic area codes, language codes, relator codes, and source codes.

MARC concise formats / prepared by Network Development and MARC Standards Office ; Published by the Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 2001.
This work provides a quick reference for each of the MARC formats. Useful if you do not need the exhaustive detail of the complete separate editions. If you have OCLC's Bibliographic format and standards you do not need this work.

MARC21 format for authority data / prepared by Network Development and MARC Standards Office. Published by the Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 1999. 1 v. (loose-leaf).
This publication details the MARC format for authority records that are found in the OCLC authority files, on tapes distributed from LC, and on local systems.

MARC21 format for bibliographic data / prepared by Network Development and MARC Standards Office ; Published by the Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 1999. 3 v. (loose-leaf).
This 3-volume set serves as the authority for coding bibliographic data in USMARC. Look to the OCLC publication, Bibliographic formats and standards for how to input on OCLC.

MARC 21 format for classification data / prepared by Network Development and MARC Standards Office. Published by the Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 2000. 1 v. (loose-leaf)
This book presents the MARC format for classification.

MARC21 format for community information / prepared by Network Development and MARC Standards Office ; Published by the Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 2000. 1 v. (loose-leaf).
MARBI developed this format to record community resource information ; not many vendors support it.

MARC21 format for holdings data / prepared by Network Development and MARC Standards Office ; Published by the Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 2000. 1 v. (loose-leaf).
This gives the format for a separate MARC Holdings Record or for holdings tags within the MARC Bibliographic Record.

MARC 21 Specifications for Record Structure, Character Sets, and Exchange Media / prepared by Network Development and MARC Standards Office ; Published by the Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 2000.
This publication presents technical details of how vendors should write records to tape, how MARC defines character sets, etc.

OCLC-MARC Code List. 2nd ed. Published by the OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., c1993.
This gives the same information as the MARC code lists. OCLC provides this for free so you don't need the LC publication.

Allen, C. G.A manual of European languages for librarians. 2nd ed. London ; New Providence, NJ : Bowker-Saur, c1999.
This work provides extensive notes on any language spoken (or written) in Europe. It includes discussion of general characteristics, bibliolinguistics, alphabet, phonetics, spelling, parts of speech, word formation and declension, and a glossary for each language. Invaluable if you do cataloging of European language materials.

Authorities user guide. Last updated 2001. Published by the OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., 1994.
OCLC guide to searching for and working with MARC authority records online.

Cataloging service user guide. 3rd ed. OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., 2000.
OCLC guide to using the Cataloging Subsystem to create, modify, and export MARC bibliographic records.

Diacritics and special characters. 2nd ed. OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., 1998.
This book tells you how to input diacritics and special characters, essential if you want to input a lot of foreign language records or titles with mathematical symbols, superscript/subscript, etc.

Free-floating subdivisions : an alphabetical index. 5th ed. Washington, D.C. : Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 1993.
This publication serves as an index to subject heading subdivisions listed in the Subject Cataloging Manual. Subject subdivision. If you have that publication, you really don't need this one, since the SCM contains an index.

Searching WorldCat user guide. 2nd ed. Published by the OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., 2002.
This publication tells you how to access OCLC, how to enter commands, how to construct search keys, how OCLC displays search results, etc.

Guidelines for bibliographic description of interactive multimedia. Published by the American Library Association, 1994.

Guidelines for bibliographic description of reproductions. Published by the American Library Association, 1995.

Library of Congress Classification. Published by the Library of Congress, [various dates].
These schedules provide the class numbers for constructing call numbers. They become out-of-date almost immediately and you must supplement with the LC Classification additions and changes.

Library of Congress Subject Headings. Published by the Library of Congress, [annual]. (The "Red Books")
The OCLC Online Authority File contains the most current version of these subject headings, but these books are useful as a reference.

LC Classification additions and changes. Published by the Library of Congress.
This quarterly publication updates the Library of Congress Classification schedules.

Library of Congress filing rules. Published by the Library of Congress, 1980.
The guide to filing headings in a card catalog. A handy reference.

Kao, Mary Liu. Cataloging and classification for library technicians. Published by Haworth Press, 1995.
A good general overview of the whole field of cataloging with terminology, tools, workflow tips, etc.

Subject cataloging manual. Classification. 1st ed. Published by the Library of Congress, 1992.
This publication tells how to construct call numbers using LC Classification schedules. It includes Cutter tables, geographic Cutter tables, and specific instructions for special situations such maps, translations, etc.