Cataloger's Reference Shelf
Cataloging Rules for the Description of Looseleaf Publications with
Special Emphasis on Legal Materials
5D. Dimensions (Physical Description Area)
When the binder is one supplied by the publisher, measure the height of the binder. When a looseleaf is received and cataloged without a publisher’s binder, measure the height of the publication itself, not the binder supplied by a particular cataloging agency.
Give the height of a publication (based on the copy in hand) in centimeters, counting a fraction of a centimeter as a full centimeter (e.g., when a publication measures 24.1 centimeters, record it as 25 cm.).
If the width of a volume is greater than the height or less than half the height, give the height and the width separated by a multiplication sign.
If the volumes of a multivolume publication, including those with transfer or expanded volumes, or services, including subservice sets, differ in height, give the smallest or smaller and the largest or larger size, separated by a hyphen.
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