Guidelines for Dust Jackets on Books

Guidelines for Dust Jackets on Books

Scope: Describes practices for including and discarding dust jackets during receiving, cataloging, and shelf preparation processing.

Contact: @Natalie Sommerville

Unit: Resource Description

Date last reviewed: Sep 26, 2025

Date of next review: Mar 31, 2026


Guidelines for Books with Dust Jackets*


Please follow the instructions below for handling dust jackets on books.


1. Leave dust jacket on book, apply barcode to dust jacket, and insert appropriate flag for the following:

  • New and Noteworthy

  • Lilly Current Literature

  • Duke Authors

  • Conservation O.Ref. (always insert Colibri flag)

2. Remove and place dust jacket inside book for:

  • Lilly

  • Music

  • IAS Reference

  • Duke Marine Lab

3. Remove and discard all dust jackets for remaining locations


*Follow special instructions for Duke University Press books processed for the Rubenstein Library.