CIP programmes assist publishers and libraries.

  • For publishers the programme acts as a bridge to the library book buying market
  • For libraries it is an alerting service enabling selectors to identify books of interest to the user community.

CIP programmes commonly work in the following way:

  1. The NBA determines the data elements to be supplied for the programme and makes a printed information sheet or web form available for completion by publishers together with current contact information for queries etc.
  2. Several months in advance of publication publishers provide detailed information about forthcoming publications to the NBA .
  3. This information is used to create a preliminary or "CIP" record.
  4. The preliminary record is published in the national bibliography.
  5. A copy of the CIP record may be provided to the publisher who prints it on the book in order to makes it easier for libraries to catalogue the book. In some cases the record is not printed, but the publisher prints a declaration that a CIP record is available from the national bibliographic agency.
  6. When the resource is received by the bibliographic agency, the preliminary record is updated to reflect the item in hand
  7. The final "upgraded CIP" record is published in the national bibliography.