Feature Films Cataloging
Feature Film & Television Cataloging Guidelines
Classification Guidelines
Subject Access Guidelines
Access Points Guidelines
Classification Guidelines:
Feature films (including motion pictures, made-for-television movies, cable movies, and miniseries with a running time of 40 minutes or more):
PN1995.9.xx (cutter by genre) xx (cutter by title to at least 3 digits)
Television programs (episodic television and cable series):
PN1992.8.xx (cutter by genre) xx (cutter by title to at least 3 digits)
Approved genre cutters for feature films and television programs:
Action/Adventure | .A3 |
Children's | .C44 |
Comedy | .C55 |
Detective/Mystery/Crime | .D4 |
Drama (those that do not fit into the other approved genres) | .D7 |
Horror | .H6 |
Musical | .M86 |
Reality (Television programs only) | .R43 |
Science Fiction/Fantasy | .S26 |
War | .W3 |
Western | .W4 |
Silent films (domestic or foreign)
PN1995.75.xx (cutter by title)
Foreign Films/Foreign Television Programs:
Feature films: PN1997.xx (cutter by original language) xx (cutter by title on
container)
Television programs: PN1992.8.xx (cutter by original language) xx (cutter by title on
container)
Foreign language cutters:
Language | Cutter | Red tape abbreviation |
Albanian | .A5 | AB |
Amharic | .A6 | AH |
Arabic | .A7 | AR |
Armenian | .A8 | AM |
Bambara | .B3 | BA |
Bengali | .B4 | BE |
Bosnian | .B6 | BO |
Catalan | .C3 | RU |
Chinese | .C5 | CH |
Criolo | .C7 | CR |
Czech | .C9 | CZ |
Danish | .D3 | DN |
Dutch | .D8 | DU |
Finnish | .F5 | FI |
French | .F7 | FR |
Georgian | .G3 | GO |
German | .G4 | GE |
Greek | .G8 | GR |
Hebrew | .H4 | HE |
Hindi | .H5 | HI |
Hungarian | .H9 | HU |
Indonesian | .I4 | ID |
Inuktitut | .I5 | IN |
Italian | .I7 | IT |
Japanese | .J3 | JP |
Jula | .J8 | JU |
Korean | .K6 | KO |
Kurdish | .K8 | KU |
Lapp (Sami) | .L3 | LA |
Macedonian | .M3 | MA |
Mongolian | .M6 | MN |
Mossi | .M7 | MO |
Norwegian | .N7 | NW |
Ojibwa (Chippewa) | .O5 | OJ |
Pashtu | .P3 | PA |
Persian (Farsi) | .P4 | PS |
Polish | .P5 | PO |
Portuguese | .P6 | PR |
Romanian | .R6 | RO |
Russian | .R8 | RU |
Serbo-Croatian | .S4 | SC |
Spanish | .S6 | SP |
Swedish | .S9 | SW |
Tagalog | .T3 | TA |
Tamil | .T4 | TM |
Thai | .T5 | TH |
Tibetan | .T6 | TI |
Turkish | .T8 | TU |
Ukrainian | .U4 | UK |
Urdu | .U7 | UR |
Vietnamese | .V5 | VT |
Wolof | .W6 | WO |
Yiddish | .Y5 | YI |
Yugoslav | .Y8 | YU |
Zulu (Tsotsitaal) | .Z8 | ZU |
Additional Guidelines:
-
If a title begins with a numeral, cutter the title using .A12-.A19 so that it will shelve before titles beginning with A. Construct such cutters to include the numeral so that titles file in numerical order. Examples in order in the Drama (.D7) section:
Film title Call number 3 Women PN1995.9.D7 A123 8 Mile PN1995.9.D7 A128 21 Grams PN1995.9.D7 A1321 187 PN1995.9.D7 A14187 3000 Miles to Graceland PN1995.9.D7 A16300 -
If a film is silent it will be classed under Silent Films, overriding any other genre choices.
-
Literary masterpieces will be interfiled in the appropriate genre (i.e., feature film adaptations of Jane Austen's or Shakespeare's works will not be shelved together by author, but by appropriate genre, such as Comedy, Drama, etc.). Theatrical or staged performances of literary masterpieces will remain in PR or PS etc. (i.e., theatrical performances of Shakespeare's plays still remain in PR2801 - PR2840.A2 xx (cuttered by director)).
-
-
The title in 245 |a is the prominent title on the title screen (usually the foreignlanguage title). The translated title is the parallel title in 245 |b.
-
Foreign films will be classed under the appropriate foreign language (i.e., PN1997.F7 xx for a French language film), overriding any other genre choices.
-
o The second cutter in the call number will be taken from the prominent title on the container. This may be the foreign title or the English title.
o Silent foreign films will be classed under Silent Films.
o English language films made outside the U.S. and foreign language films that have been dubbed into English are classed by appropriate genre, and not as Foreign films. Example: the Italian comedy Ieri, Oggi, Domain dubbed into English and retitled Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow is classed in PN1995.9.C55
o English language films that have been dubbed into another language are classed by appropriate genre, and not as Foreign films. Example: Babe dubbed into French is classed in PN1995.9.C44.
o Live action films made primarily for children/family rated G or PG (i.e., Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Free Willy)
o Animated films made for children/family rated G or PG (i.e., Shrek, The Aristocats). Note: animated films rated PG-13 or R are not classed under Children's films, but in the appropriate genre for the film.
o Children's literature adaptations (i.e., Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden)
-
Theatrical or staged Musical and Opera performances will be classed under:
M1527.xx (cutter by author/musician) xx (cutter by title)
-
Documentary films will continue to be classed under the appropriate A-Z section of the LC scheme, with enhanced subject access including the heading Documentary films.
Subject Access Guidelines:
For all Feature Films (domestic or foreign):
Use:
650 Feature films
650 Video recordings for the hearing impaired
For all Feature Films made in Wilmington:
Also Use:
650 Feature films |z North Carolina |z Wilmington
For all Foreign Films:
Also Use:
650 Foreign films
650 Motion pictures, country (use possessive form of country name)
e.g. Motion pictures, Spanish
Note: the country of origin and the language may not always correspond. For
example, most films produced in Brazil are in the Portuguese language. In this case the
film would have the subject heading "Motion pictures, Brazilian" but the call number
would be PN1997.P6.xx for the Portuguese language.
For all Silent Films:
Use:
650 Silent films
For Musical Films (i.e., Singin' in the Rain, Chicago, etc.)
Use:
650 Musical films
Note: Do not use 650 Musicals (this heading is for music for theatrical
productions, not for feature film musicals)
For all Television Programs:
Use:
650 Television programs
For all Foreign Television Programs:
Use:
650 Foreign television programs
Use:
650 Reality television programs
For all Television Programs made in Wilmington:
Use:
650 Television programs |z North Carolina |z Wilmington
For all DVDs:
Use:
690 DVD [local heading]
[Note: we do not currently use a local 690 heading for VHS.]
For all Documentary Films:
Use:
650 Documentary films
For all Documentary Television Programs:
Use:
650 Documentary television programs
Approved genre subject headings for Feature Films:
650 Adventure films |
650 Children's films |
650 Comedy films |
650 Detective and mystery films |
650 Horror films |
650 Musical films |
650 Science fiction films |
650 War films |
650 Western films |
Sample subject headings for Television Programs:
Animated television programs |
Detective and mystery television programs |
Fantasy television programs |
Foreign television programs |
Horror television programs |
Reality television programs |
Science television programs |
Science fiction television programs |
Spy television programs |
Television comedies |
True crime television programs |
Western television programs |
See more headings under LCSH headings:
Motion Pictures, NT
Television programs, NT
To be established according to the main topic(s) of a feature film using |v Drama,
such as:
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
650 0 Race relations |v Drama
650 0 Intermarriage |v Drama
Lawrence of Arabia
600 10 Lawrence, T.E. |q (Thomas Edward), |d 1888-1935 |v Drama
650 0 World War, 1914-1918 |z Arabian Peninsula |v Drama
Access Points Guidelines:
245 |c Statement of responsibility
Besides film production companies, the following persons with "overall responsibility" for the creation of the film go into 245 |c:
- director(s)
- producer(s)
- screenwriter(s)
These individuals' names need to be traced in 700 fields. If there is no OCLC authority record for the person, mark the name in the bib. record for Susannah. She will try to create a name authority record for this person.
511 Cast members
List prominent cast members found in the chief source of information (title frames and container). Prominent cast members' names need to be traced in 700 fields if authority records are available in the OCLC Authority File. If there is no authority record for a well-known film actor/actress, mark the name(s) and give the record Susannah.
508 Creation/production credits
List these major contributors to the artistic or technical production of a feature film:
-
cinematographer(s)
-
music composer(s)
-
film editor(s)
Trace their names in 700 fields if authority records are available in OCLC Authority File.
There is no need to add the names of other contributors if they are not already listed in the bib. record. Other contributors include production managers; production designers; art director; costume designers; visual effects; assistants or associates; executive producers etc. Also do not trace these contributors' names in 700 fields.
500 Adaptation Information
If applicable, make a note indicating the literary work that the item is based on. Trace the author's name in an analytical 700 field with author and title access.
650 Subject Added Entry
Compare the record being cataloged with other bib. records for the same title in our catalog and add subject headings where necessary so that all records are consistent.
700 Added Entry -- personal names
Summary of the contributors and cast members whose name need to be traced in 700 fields:
-
director(s)
-
producer(s)
-
screenwriter(s)
-
prominent cast members
-
story/book author (analytical entry for both the author and title)
-
cinematographer(s)
-
music composer(s)
-
film editor(s)
Last Update: November 2, 2021