[Michlib-l] Call numbers & labeling for music CDs compilation

[Don Priest]

Thanks to everyone who responded on my question last week about how to label music CDs, both physically and in the catalog. I appreciate the help! Answers attached, and compiled here. 




Ours look like this: 



M-CD CLASSICAL: Tsch 

M-CD COUNTRY: McGr 

M-CD ROCK: Eagl 



Yes, they match the call number exactly. Do your CDs still circ well? 



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 



Hi, 

Here at Waterford, our CDs are shelved with the jewel case “spines” facing out. We don’t have CD shelving or bins that allow for browsing where you can flip through and see the covers. 

We have our CDs separated into 12 genres (see attached) and are shelved alphabetically by genre first (the order is on the attached sign) and then alphabetically by artist, group, show, etc. within each genre group. 

We put a white label on the spine with the artist’s last name ( Mellencamp for John Mellencamp), first or only word for group name ( Foo for Foo Fighters, Metallica for Metallica), first word for show ( Phantom for Phantom of the Opera), or first word of the title if there are various artists ( Now for Now That’s What I Call Christmas). At the top and the bottom of the jewel case spine we put Avery dot labels or foil stars of varying colors that indicates the genre. We have the attached sign prominently displayed on the shelf to guide patrons. 

In the catalog, the Shelf Location would say CD POP/ROCK MELLENCAMP or CD HOLIDAY NOW, etc. 

I’ve attached pictures. 

Hope this helps. 







----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 



We do genre and first three letters of the artist. Pages shelve them by the artists full name. Like you would shelf fiction. 



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 



Hello, 

This is the Muskegon Area District Library. We put a label on our music CDs that goes like this: 

CD <GENRE> 

<GROUP NAME or ARTIST LAST NAME, ARTIST FIRST NAME> 

<TITLE> 

<# DISCS> 

We use Midwest Tape for our vendor and they do the labeling for us. They create a new insert with the original artwork and a 3/4-inch white band at the top that has the label, library logo, and barcode. We set aside a range of barcodes for Midwest Tape to use so they can generate working barcodes for us. We don't bother with spine labels on our CDs. The spines are too narrow to see much lettering. Having the artist and the title printed on the label is what we have settled on as the easiest way to deal with CD covers where the title isn't easy to read. 

Our call numbers are identical to the labels, except we only use the first word of the artist and omit the title. So our call numbers go CD <GENRE> <ARTIST LAST NAME OR FIRST NAME OF GROUP>. We file CDs by genre and then artist. Our collection is only about 4,600 CDs spread over 10 branches so our branch collections aren't that large. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 





…our collection is relatively small (about 6 shelves of CDs). We just don't get people taking out music that much. So take everything with a nice heaping pinch of salt. However, we label the top left of the CD cover and the side. For example, a cover label for a Katy Perry CD would say: 



CD 

POP/ROCK 

PERRY 



and on the side we have CD PER (2 lines). 



When the pages shelve them back they can see the front label with genre. The sections are marked for patrons and they would simply search by looking for Perry in the Pop Section. So they see CD PER. It works for our library. Some may hate the two label system but our section is never in disarray. Patrons find them with ease and pages shelve them with ease. We label our music sections so patrons can look by genre then look for artist name with call number. The sections we have our Classical, Country, Easy Listening, Folk, Holiday, Jazz, Pop/Rock, Rap/R&B, Religious, and Soundtrack. 



Lastly, depending on the cases you use for CDs it can limit how much you put on the call number. I find with a CD the first 3 letters of artist name are still large enough for anyone to read. 



You could also implement what Melvindale use to do….They used the color tape at the top of the side to denote genre. Each genre had a color and they simply put musician name on call number. Red was classical, blue was jazz, white was country, and so on...I would not go with it myself because it wears over time and peels off. Just thought I'd mention that system as well. 



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 



We label the front but we also have these dandy roll out shelves so we can shelve face out that make browsing a breeze. 

Out collection is right at about 1000 titles but they are getting checked out less and less as patrons steam and download more. 







----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 



At ALPK we color code by genre, then number in ascending order. The (empty) cases are shelved by genre, and the numbering system makes it easy for Circ staff to grab the correct disk(s). 



Donald Priest 
Director 
Southgate Veterans Memorial Library 
14680 Dix-Toledo Rd. 
Southgate MI 48195 
734-258-3002 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail3.mcls.org/pipermail/michlib-l/attachments/20210407/bef8412b/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: CD label compilation.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 1098055 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mail3.mcls.org/pipermail/michlib-l/attachments/20210407/bef8412b/attachment.pdf>