Standards/Levels of Cataloguing

[ Brief Records |  Intermediate Records |  Full Records |  Information Records |  Authorities |  Table of Contents (General Guidelines) |  Table of Contents (Top)]

Brief Records (usually provisional)

Applied to:

• Cataloguing backlog: INVs, PREs, current receipts in process for which cataloguing copy has not been found
  (Please note that the PREs have been almost completely processed)
• Newspapers
• Some Special collections**

Content:

1. Brief bibliographical information: author(s), title, imprint, series, no subjects
2. Shelf no. or receipt date access, location/holdings information.

[Top | Table of Contents (General Guidelines) | Table of Contents (Top)]

Intermediate Level Records (permanent designation)

Applied to items for which complete cataloguing copy was not found, which belong to one of the following categories:

• all Gift and Shastri fund items for locations other than Special Collections
• books in the following class nos. (if not Special Collections):

L
M (scores only)
P
Q
R
S
T
Z

• all SL Reference books (unless A/C for location requiring full cataloguing)
• Education Library items (unless A/C for location requiring full cataloguing)
• some Special Collections**

Content:

1. 245: No AUTHOR STATEMENT, if form of the author is same as 1XX and there are no joint authors.
2. 300: omit pre-paging, pages/leaves of plates; only use: ill., col. ill. or maps; omit size, unless unusual (over 30 cm. or very small)
3. 5XX: limit notes (judgement call)
4. 504: omit bibliography note, unless a substantial part of publication
5. 590: do not omit notes re: provenance, gifts.
6. 6XX and 7XX: limit no. (judgment)

[Top | Table of Contents (General Guidelines) | Table of Contents (Top)]

Full Records (permanent designation)

Applied to:

• most Special Collections, especially the dated collection**
• books in classes

A - K
N
U
V

• all non-book formats (unless designated as Brief or Information level)

Content:

1. Full bibliographical description:
2. 300: detailed collation, illustration statement, size
3. 5XX: detailed notes re the edition, as appropriate
4. 590: "copy specific" information re binding, provenance, etc.
5. 6XX/7XX: Subjects and name/title added entries, as required

[Top | Table of Contents (General Guidelines) | Table of Contents (Top)]

Information records (usually permanent, may be provisional)

Applied to:
Collections of similar items currently assigned a low-priority for cataloguing as separates, e.g. Sheet music in Special Collections; Research reports or CSA publications Douglas Library

Content:

1. Bibliographical description of the collection.; 5XX: notes on contents of collection, arrangement, indexing tools, etc.
2. Subject access -- collective subject headings-- class no. (without author no./cutter)
3. Location, public note (if required)
4. One item record per collection

See also the section on: Information Records.

[Top | Table of Contents (General Guidelines) | Table of Contents (Top)]

Authorities:

Names, with no references or notes:

• check the headings in the catalogue
• if not found, do NOT make a local authority record -- wait for the national agencies to establish it.

Series
Make authority records for all series as each record requires information about how we treat the series at Queen's.

Subject and Name Added entries:

• when adding access points, use judgement, considering the needs of the users, amount of authority work required, and the keyword/Boolean indexing of the record.

See also: Subject Authorities and Headings Revision; and: Streamlining Authorities.

Cataloguer's judgment:

• The above guidelines may be overridden on a case-by-case basis. If in doubt, consult others, but do not spend excessive time determining the cataloguing level. Err on the side of fullness.

As we are currently behind in loading the LC name authorities, if you need to resolve a problem, you may also search the LC Authorities on the web. It is possible to download a single record to load into the database. Please use this option sparingly, as we are working on bringing the records up-to-date in our catalogue. For more information, see Saving LC Authority records on the Web.

** A detailed listing of Special Collections cataloguing priorities will be compiled separately.

[Top | Table of Contents (General Guidelines) | Table of Contents (Top)]

Section 1, Subsection D
created Sept. 23, 1992, by V. Taylor
Included in new index.

Page maintained by Elizabeth A. Read, readel@queensu.ca. Created: 11/10/95 Updated: 30-Sep-2003 04:58 PM