Library of Congress Guidance – Stison

A Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) helps to improve how your book is classified in databases and library systems. It is a unique number created by the Library of Congress, and is particularly relevant if you are looking to sell in the US library market.

You cannot apply for an LCCN if you are outside the US without a US based publishing address. If you are not a US publisher, but you do have an office in the U.S. then you can apply through any of the LCCN programmes.

Here are some key acronyms:

CIP = Cataloging-in-Publication

PCN = Preassigned Control Number

LCCN = Library of Congress Control Number

PPBL – PrePub Book Link

Applying for an LCCN Pre-Publication

To acquire an LCCN before you publish your product, you can either apply through the CIP programme, or the PCN programme.

The CIP Programme

Eligibility for the CIP scheme is limited to:

Titles that are most likely to be widely acquired by the nation's libraries
Forthcoming monographs that include a U.S. place of publication on the title page or the copyright page
Titles published by a U.S. publisher that maintains editorial and production offices in a U.S. city with a staff capable of answering substantive bibliographic questions that may arise during the cataloguing process

In order to obtain CIP data sufficiently in advance of publication, the LOC asks publishers to submit their CIP requests at least 6 months before print deadlines. It is sometimes necessary to undertake developmental work to establish subject or name authority records, and this can take additional time.

In order to submit a CIP Data Request, publishers must use the PrePub Book Link (PPBL). This submission must contain a completed CIP request, as well as the full text or, at minimum, core required materials to the LOC.

A CIP Program staff member will then review the application and text for completeness and eligibility. They will then assign a LCCN, and forward the application to the appropriate cataloging section.

A cataloger will then:

Complete descriptive cataloging
Assign subject headings
Assign full Library of Congress Classification and Dewey Decimal Classification

The publisher will then receive completed CIP data and print this on the copyright page of the published book. At the same time, a machine-readable version of the record is distributed to large libraries, bibliographic utilities, and book vendors around the world.

The PCN Program

This programme is open to a wider array of publishers and author/self-publishers

Eligibility is limited to:

Publishers that list a U.S. place of publication on the title page or copyright page of their books and maintain editorial and production offices in a U.S. city with a staff capable of answering substantive bibliographic questions that may arise during the cataloguing process
Authors that list a U.S. place of publication on the title page or copyright page of their books and have a U.S. phone number that can be easily reached to answer any bibliographic questions.

A PCN is obtained by submitting a LCCN Request through the PPBL (rather than a CIP Request). Based on the information provided, Library staff assign a preassigned LCCN to each title. This information will then be printed on the back of the title page (i.e. the copyright page) in the following manner:

Library of Congress Control Number: XXXXXXXXXX

Applying for an LCCN Post-Publication

Post publication, a title may receive an LCCN if the publisher did not participate in either program but their title was received by the Library and subsequently selected to be added to the collection.

It is important to note that if you are applying for an LCCN post-publication, the requirement to have a publishing presence in the U.S. does not apply. In short, anyone can apply for an LCCN post-publication.

Sharing Metadata with the LOC

The LOC will only accept Onix feeds as a means of enhancing the data submitted by a publisher when they fill out the CIP Request Form. The catalogers will then use this data to create the full CIP Data Record.

Publishers can send an Onix file to the Library using sftp protocol. It is then ingested into the PPBL system. When a publisher begins the CIP Request process, there is an option available to search for an ISBN in the PPBL system. If there is a match between the data in the PPBL system and the ISBN provided, then any supplied data will appear in the form, thus making the form quicker and easier to fill out.

Onix transfers cannot be used for LCCN requests.

What about eBooks?

Ebooks can receive a separate LCCN to their print counterpart. However, this only occurs through a CIP request where the publisher has requested to have a Combined CIP Data Block, which assigns a print LCCN and an eBook LCCN and two separate bibliographic records are created. See here for more information.