Compare the information in a MARC record or a catalog card with the actual item in hand to track where each piece of information originates. The cataloger must record a detailed description of the item such as number of pages, photographs or illustrations, indexes, or bibliographies. All these decisions are made using the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules. Using such a tool provides a standardized format for describing an item so a customer will find the information in a catalog record the same in most libraries throughout the world. This process helps the library manager attain the goal of helping library customers find what they need quickly and completely.
Catalogers begin the cataloging process with a technical reading of the item in hand.
Technical reading of a book consists of carefully examining the chief source of information, usually the title page in the case of a book. CIP is done at the Library of Congress where catalogers use a galley or pre-publication rough draft of a book to do descriptive cataloging and classification. Many publishers send books to the Library of Congress before publication so this service can be completed. Since the galley is in rough form, there is no binding, cover, or page numbers. That is why the CIP usually does not contain the number of pages or height of the book.