Create custom book covers

You can use the 856 tag to create custom book cover images for library materials that may not have a book cover available from Syndetics Unbound or other configured enrichment providers.

If your library has a local database of images, or if you want to link to images stored in another location, follow these metadata requirements to create a custom book cover image:

  • The 856 tag of the material contains a $u that contains an HTTPS formatted link to a .jpg or .png image.
  • The 856 tag of the material contains a $3 with the words "cover image" (case insensitive: Cover Image, COVER IMAGE, and Cover Image are all acceptable).
  • A link to the image is accessible to the public.

You can either create a new custom book cover, or if you have links to cover images in your cataloged records, you might only need to run a batch update to add $3 tags or update existing $3 tags to add the words "cover image".

The maximum size of the image is 175 pixels high and 112 pixels wide. If the image is larger, the system resizes it proportionally to fit these measurements.

  1. In the cataloging module of your Sierra or Polaris ILS, edit the desired MARC record by adding or modifying an existing 856 tag.
  1. In the 856 tag, choose a first indicator of 4 and a second indicator of 0, 1, or 2.
    • For custom cover images on physical materials or materials with existing 856 access links, use 2.
    • For custom cover image links that are also access links, such as PDFs or photographs, use 0 or 1.
  1. Add a $3 to the 856 tag with the words "cover image".

    2. This field is not case-sensitive. Letters in this phrase can be uppercase or lowercase.

  2. Add a $u to the 856 tag that contains an HTTPS formatted link to the image that you want to display as the cover image for the material. This link should be publicly accessible and can be hosted on an internal database, a digital repository, or anywhere else on the web.
  3. Save the MARC record in your ILS cataloging module.
  1. In the Vega administration system, run a MARC extraction to update the records that you modified, or wait until your nightly extraction updates the data.

    2. Note that it might take a few minutes for the full extraction, ingest, and index of new data.

  2. Search for your record in Vega to view the custom book cover image.
  • Use your ILS's preferred method for batch updating to apply any needed changes to your existing records.

    • Remember that older cataloging may contain URLs that use the HTTP protocol. You must update all older URLs to use HTTPS in order to generate a cover image.