Your Library Does Not Need to Choose
Cat & Class is a full library platform that works with whatever you already have
There is a question every library technology decision eventually comes down to: do we replace what we have, or do we keep working around it?
Cat & Class was built to make that question unnecessary.
A platform built for real library work
Cat & Class is a full Integrated Library System. Not a cataloging tool, not a plugin, not an add-on. A complete platform covering cataloging, discovery, circulation, patron management, acquisitions, interlibrary loan, analytics, and RFID integration.
It holds an official MARC organization code assigned by the Library of Congress: TxAuCCL. The same registry used by national libraries and major research institutions worldwide. Every record created in Cat & Class receives a Cat & Class Identifier, a permanent, globally unique bibliographic identifier recognized internationally.
The AI cataloging engine generates complete MARC21 records with real-time authority control against the Library of Congress Name Authority File and LC Subject Headings. A cataloger working on a title that has never appeared in any database can produce a full, standards-compliant, internationally credible record in minutes.
Three ways libraries use Cat & Class
Libraries come to Cat & Class from different starting points. The platform meets them where they are.
Starting fresh. A library with no ILS, managing collections on spreadsheets or paper, gets a complete cloud-hosted platform from day one. No server. No IT department. No installation. Full cataloging, discovery, circulation, and patron management are available immediately.
Replacing a system that is not working. A library with an ILS that was never properly configured, that requires constant IT support, or that has become too expensive to maintain, makes Cat & Class its primary platform. All existing records migrate in. The team trains on a modern interface. The library keeps running without interruption.
Adding capability to what already works. A library with an existing ILS that handles certain workflows well but struggles with original cataloging of titles not in any bibliographic database uses Cat & Class for that specific work. Records created in Cat & Class export as MARCXML and ship directly into any system that accepts MARC21. The existing system gets a richer catalog. The cataloger gets a better tool. Nothing in the existing workflow changes.
The uncataloged problem is global
Every library has them. Titles that exist in the collection but not in any bibliographic database. A monograph from a regional publisher. A dissertation from an institution that never contributed to international bibliographic networks. A government report. A textbook used by thousands of students but unknown to global discovery systems. A collection in a language or script for which international databases have limited coverage.
These titles sit uncataloged or poorly cataloged, not because catalogers do not care, but because the tools available assume a record already exists somewhere and just needs to be copied. When it does not exist anywhere, the work starts from scratch. And for most libraries, there are not enough hours in the cataloging day.
Cat & Class was built specifically for this work. The AI cataloging engine handles the retrieval and structure so the cataloger can focus on the intellectual work of description. Authority control runs in real time. The result is a full, standards-compliant MARC21 record that carries the same bibliographic credibility as a record from any major cataloging institution.
Records that travel
A record created in Cat & Class does not stay in Cat & Class unless the library wants it to.
Cat & Class exports MARCXML. Any system that accepts MARC21 can receive it. A library can catalog in Cat & Class and import those records into any other platform they operate. The records are fully formed, authority-controlled, and carry a Library of Congress MARC identifier.
The CCI serves as the local identifier. The 035 system control number carries the LOC MARC code. Records are ready to be contributed to any international bibliographic network a library participates in. A record that began as original cataloging in Cat & Class can join the world's bibliographic infrastructure without any reformatting.
The CatShare Bibliographic Commons works on the same principle within the Cat & Class network. A record created by a cataloger at one institution is immediately available to every other library in the network. They adopt it, their holdings grow, and the original cataloging work is never duplicated.
82 libraries across different countries
They came from university libraries, government libraries, law libraries, and special collections. From institutions starting from nothing, and institutions with existing systems looking for something better. From 3 continents.
None of them was asked to replace what they had. They found Cat & Class because it solved a problem their existing tools did not.
That is the model. Use Cat & Class as your complete platform. Use it alongside whatever you already have. Use it for one specific collection. The tool should fit the work.
Ready to see it for yourself
Cat & Class is live and being used by libraries doing real cataloging and library work today. If your library has a backlog of uncataloged titles, a system that is not serving you well, or a collection that needs a modern platform, we would like to show you what is possible.
Request a demo at catandclass.com
Cat & Class LLC holds MARC organization code TxAuCCL, assigned by the Library of Congress catandclass.com
