Uniform Titles: Policy

[   Introduction  |    Situations Where Uniform Titles Are Used  |    MARC Tags Used with Uniform Titles  |    Uniform Titles in the Voyager Indexes  |   
Uniform Titles: Cataloguing Procedures   Uniform Titles: Past Policy  
Table of Contents (Access Points)   Table of Contents (Top)]

Introduction

Uniform titles are used to bring together all catalogue entries for a work that has been published under variant titles. They may also be called "filing titles".

In some cases the variant titles are the result of translation into another language. In other cases, especially for older and anonymous works, there may be multiple forms in the original language.

Uniform titles are also used to distinguish between two works with the same title or two versions of the same work.

Uniform titles are created by cataloguers in accordance with AACR2r, chapter 25.

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Situations Where Uniform Titles Are Used

Uniform titles are used if:

• More than one work has the same title and a qualifier is needed to distinguish one from another;
• A work is known by more than one title, or is a translation, or there are translations of it in our catalogue;
• A heading for the work is set up according to special cataloguing rules;
• A work is a complicated one, divided into parts with titles of their own;
• A work is important for religious, historical, literary, or other reasons.

Queen's policy is to accept uniform titles in cataloguing copy. Uniform titles are added as required to original cataloguing for the following:

1. Serial titles
2. Computer programs
3. Classics and translations
4. Collective titles
5. Sacred scriptures, etc.
6. Manuscripts
7. Laws, treaties, liturgies, etc.
8. Collective artistic works
9. Music

For more information on using these types of headings in bibliographic records, click on the category in the above list. For more information on establishing uniform titles, see the Authorities Manual.

For an account of previous Queen's policies which may still be reflected in the catalogue, see Uniform Titles: Past Policy.

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MARC Tags Used with Uniform Titles

Uniform titles are entered in Marc tags 130 for translated, complex, or confusing works that do not have author main entries (including sacred scriptures, anonymous literary or historical works of various kinds, and serial titles).

If translated, complex, or confusing works do have author main entries, the uniform titles are entered in tags 240, (including works which have been translated or published in more than one form, and works which are grouped under general headings, including special headings for music and law).

A uniform title for any work with a title main entry, even if not translated or complicated in any way, may be used in a 630 field if it is a subject, or in a 730 field if it is considered to make a contribution to the book in hand. Likewise, a uniform title with an author main entry is used in a 600 |t or 610 |t if the work is a subject, or in a 700 |t or 710 |t if it makes a contribution, even if not translated or complicated.

In addition, a uniform title is the preferred form for use in linking tags (e.g. 776, 780, 785), since (at least in theory) it creates the best connection in the OPAC.

440, 830, and 800 |t series fields are also, strictly speaking, uniform titles. See Series Headings for more about constructing series headings.

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Uniform Titles in the Voyager Indexes

In Voyager, 130 type uniform titles are indexed in the Series and Uniform Title Headings indexes, both staff and public versions. More of a problem arises with 110 / 240 type headings, where the authority records appear not in the Name Headings but in the Name/Title Headings index, staff and public. This is especially problematic in the OPAC where clicking on a link to a Name/Title heading produces a search in the Name Headings index, which is often inefficient and sometimes a failure because the authority record is not found. It is possible to edit the OPAC search and do it again in the Name/Title Headings index, but probably few users do this.

Both types of uniform titles do file in the Subject Headings index, staff and public. Someone searching under the 110 form in the Subject Headings index may eventually find the right heading, but without any help from the authority record, which appears only in Name/Title Headings. Authorities for 130 headings do appear in Subject Headings.

This is a problem Cataloguing staff cannot fix, but it may help to be aware of it.

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Section 2a, Uniform Titles
Oct. 11 1991 by V. Taylor
Revised May 1, 1996 by E. Read
Revised June 9, 2004 by D. Rutherford

Page maintained by Elizabeth A. Read, readel@queensu.ca. Created: 01/05/96 Updated: 11-Jun-2004 02:40 PM