Library of Congress Rule Interpretations

Appendix B: Abbreviations

B.4. Titles and Statements of Responsibility

For a language whose final cataloging record is not in romanized form, use "i.e." and "et al." if there are no equivalents in the nonroman script.

B.9. Roman Alphabet Abbreviations

Department

Use also in headings the abbreviation "Dept." for the English word "Department" in the following situations:

1) the word refers to the name of the body represented by the heading rather than the name of another body;

2) the word means a division or section of a larger organization.

name:

United States Department of Defense

heading:

United States. Dept. of Defense

name:

Task Force on Evaluation of the Department of Defense

heading:

United States. Task Force on Evaluation of the Department of Defense

not:

United States. Task Force on Evaluation of the Dept. of Defense

name:

Emergency Department Nurses Association

heading:

Emergency Department Nurses Association (U.S.)

not:

Emergency Dept. Nurses Association (U.S.)

Consider headings containing "Dept." as AACR2 although appendix B.9 does not authorize the abbreviation for headings.

B.14. Names of Certain Countries, States, Provinces, Territories, Etc.

Use the abbreviation of state names recommended by the U.S. Postal Service only if they appear in the item along with the place that is being given in the publication, distribution, etc., area. Transcribe the U.S. Postal Service abbreviations as they appear whether in caps, in upper- and lowercase, with or without periods (i.e., Ca., Ca, CA., CA). In all other cases (e.g., when supplying the name of the state or abbreviating it when the full form appears), use the abbreviations for state names given in appendix B.14A.

Virgin Islands

Use the abbreviation "V.I." for "British Virgin Islands" and for "Virgin Islands of the United States."