Polaris has two different ways to designate the format of items in a library collection: Material Type and Type of Material (TOM).
Material Type
Material Types are assigned at the item level and are defined using a list of terms defined by our libraries. For special formats, we are able to add Material Types to the database to allow catalogers to more accurately describe an item.
Material Types are used in many places in Polaris, including checkout limits, hold request limits, self-check settings and sometimes, for statistics.
Type of Material (TOM)
The Type of Material (often referred to as a "TOM") is assigned to the bibliographic MARC record and is calculated based on information in the fixed field tags (LDR, 006, 007, 008). Because the value is calculated from information in the MARC record, the list of TOMs is pre-defined and cannot be changed. Libraries can adjust an individual record's TOM by adjusting the values in the fixed fields. For specific calculation info, see this solution.
A bibliographic record's TOM determines the "format" that displays in the catalog and the icon that displays in the PowerPAC.
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