SCILS

South Carolina Information and Library Services Consortium

SCILS Cataloging Policy

Approved 4/22/2008 

Bibliographic Record Editing Policy

 General Overview

Because errors in bibliographic records or poor quality cataloging may interfere with retrieving an item in SCILS, the following guidelines have been established for revising, enhancing or correcting elements of a bibliographic record.

 An accurate and complete MARC record is the basis for providing access to library holdings in SCILS.

• SCILS participants are encouraged to enhance and correct bibliographic records even if they were not the originator of the record.
•  SCILS participants are prohibited from deleting fields used by another participating institution to provide additional access to a record.
• SCILS participants are encouraged to add subject headings, added entries, and descriptive information such as contents notes, etc. to provide better access to a record.

Recommended Resources for improving cataloging knowledge

• AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, Second Edition)
• Library of Congress practice and heading information may be verified online or offline through the use of the appropriate Library of Congress documentation.
• If unsure about how to correct any of the specific elements in a MARC record, the cataloger should consult OCLC Bibliographic Formats and Standards at http://www.oclc.org/bibformats/default.htm or discuss options with the SCILS Systems Librarian.
• SOLINET offers one and two day sessions on a variety of cataloging issues. http://www.solinet.net/workshops/workshops_home.cfm

 Enhancements to Bibliographic Records

Typographical Errors.
Typographical errors found in our records should be corrected; typographical errors in access points should be verified against the item in hand before corrections are made. If we do not have the item in hand, or there is a question in regards to someone else’s record, send a message to the TAC committee member for the college(s) in question and the SCILS Systems Librarian. Websites such as http://librarytypos.blogspot.com/ may assist catalogers in locating and preventing common typographical errors.

Fixed Field.
These elements are vital if the search strategy used for retrieval is limited by the type of material, language, or date. Errors in the fixed field should be corrected and missing information should be entered.

Field tags and Subfield Codes.
All MARC field tag and subfield code errors should be corrected.

Indicators.
Errors in assigning indicators should be corrected. Particular attention should be paid to filing indicators used in title fields.

Call Numbers. (050 and 090 fields)

·         Must not be changed or deleted from an existing bibliographic record

·         Bibliographic records in SCILS may have multiple call numbers

·         Item-level call numbers can only be changed by the owning library

·         Additional call numbers may be added by adding call number fields

·         Missing LC call numbers may be added if available from an LC cataloging source in the 050 field

·         May enter a locally assigned call number in field 090 or field 050 with first indicator value blank or 1 and second indicator value 4

·         Use field 099 for classification numbers that are local modifications of LC class numbers

Name Headings.
The form of the heading may be changed to conform to AACR2 or a SCILS authority record. Choice of entry for a record is not to be corrected. Suspected errors for choice of entry can be reported via SCILS error report.

Titles.
Titles should be from the appropriate AACR2 defined chief source. (example: Title page for print material;  title frame for videos/DVDs) The h subfield needs to be formatted correctly. (examples: [videorecording] [sound recording] [electronic resource]. A link to list of all General Material Designators (GMDs) can be found at http://www.oclc.org/bibformats/en/onlinecataloging/default.shtm

Series Statements.
Series tracing status (traced (440) vs. untraced (490, 830)) may be changed to conform to LC tracing practice. If a series statement is in a 440, there is an authority record for that series. If there is no authority record for a series, then it is considered untraced and should have entries in 490 and 830. Untraced series (490 0) require minimum maintenance to preserve the descriptive nature of the heading. If there is a 490 on a record, there should be a matching 830. 

General Subject Heading Information.

·         Subject headings are sorted and indexed in SCILS using a report that looks at the MARC field and subfield.     

·         In a subject heading the second indicator is used to denote the source:

o   0=Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)

o   1=LC subject headings for children's literature contained in the "AC (Annotated Card) Subject Headings" section of LCSH

o   2=National Library of Medicine (NLM) authority files

o   3=National Agricultural Library (NAL) subject authority file

o   5=Library and Archives Canada (NLC) Canadian Subject Headings

o   6=Bibliothèque de l'Université de Laval subject headings

o   8=Sears List of Subject Headings

o   7=Locally defined thesauri or subject heading systems, required to be used with a |2 to indicate where it is from

·         The only subject headings in SCILS that should be used are Library of Congress (second indicator of “0”) Example:

·         For subject headings- an online authority file produced by MARCIVE is maintained only for Library of Congress headings.

·         Library of Congress subject headings (6XX, second indicator 0) may be corrected or changed to conform to Library of Congress practice. This is usually done by MARCIVE processing (outsourced).

·          Online authority files and LC documentation should be consulted for guidance.

·         All non-LCSH should be deleted.

·         All subject headings, excluding 69x's, may be corrected for typographical errors after verification.

·          No changes may be made to local subject headings (690's). Should one of these headings be identical to a valid LC subject heading, change the 69x field tag to 65x and the second indicator to a) so the associated bibliographic record will appear in the LC index list.

Names Used as Subject headings.
The form of the heading used is can be found in SCILS or LC authority file. If it is not in these files, formulate the heading according to AACR2 rules. Follow LC practice for the assignment of form and topical subdivisions. Geographic names include names of places and geographic features (mountains, lakes, etc.) and may appear in either the subject or the name authority file or in both files.

·       Personal names        use     MARC field 600

·       Corporate names      use     MARC field 610

·       Conference names use     MARC field 611

·       Geographic names   use     MARC field 651.

Index Terms
Do not change a MARC field tag of the above to a 650 or 651 tag.

·       654             Faceted Topical Terms       (rarely used in SCILS)         Not Indexed

·       655             Genre/Form                          May be used by SCILS       Indexed

·       656             Occupation                           (rarely used in SCILS)         Not Indexed

·       657             Function                                (rarely used in SCILS)         Not Indexed

Serial Records.
When titles change in serials, you must add preceding entries (780) to the new record if not already listed for previous title. You must add a successive entry (785) to the former title with new title information. Former title entry must also be closed by changing the date type from “c” to “d” and putting ending date in second date field. (example: changing 9999 to 2007). Do add a new serial record to reflect the availability of a variant format (example: paper vs. microfilm).

Cataloging-in-Publication Records (CIP).
SCILS participants should upgrade CIP records (encoding level 8) for all formats to full-level cataloging, to reflect information appearing on the item as published. Changes in title and/or other access points may occur when the record is upgraded because of differences between pre-publication and final publication information.

Partial or Minimal-level Records.
Inputting institutions should upgrade LC partial or minimal level cataloging records (encoding level 5 or 7) for all formats to full-level cataloging. Because the Library of Congress creates these records with a minimum of information, these records will require changes and additions to access points and descriptive elements. If your college does not have a trained cataloger, consult the SCILS Systems Librarian.

Moving Image Records (videotapes, motion pictures, videodiscs, etc.)
SCILS participants should always use the different MARC records for title in different formats even if it has been issued by the same distributor. Combined records cannot fully describe both formats in a way that easily understandable to a patron.

Electronic Resources
SCILS policy is that electronic versions of physical items owned by someone is SCILS should have a separate record, so that each record fully and clearly describes the item in question. Electronic resources such as web sites, databases, monographs, etc., may be cataloged or edited according to OCLC guidelines with are available online at http://www.oclc.org/support/documentation/worldcat/cataloging/electronicresources/default.htm

Cataloging Policy | Section 6