Cataloging
Serials with DLC/CONSER Copy
This document is primarily a reference for serials
cataloging using DLC/CONSER copy. It takes into account national standards and
our local procedures. It will hopefully enable the reader to recognize and
understand the various important parts of a DLC/CONSER serial bibliographic
record to the extent that obvious errors could be identified and corrected or
brought to the attention of the serials supervisor. DLC/CONSER records are
generally of high quality, thus it is expected that little or no editing will
be necessary for most records. This document illustrates correctly applied
record data but does also indicate how to correctly add or edit fields when
necessary.
CONSER (Cooperative Online Serials)
DLC/CONSER (local transcription for derived LC
and/or CONSER cataloging copy)
CCM
(CONSER cataloging manual)
CEG
(CONSER editing guide)
AACR2
(Anglo American cataloging rules, 2nd ed., rev.)
LCRI (Library of Congress rule interpretations)
Nature of serials
AACR2 Definition of a serial: “A publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numeric or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely.”
The nature of a monograph is normally to be static, whereas the nature of a serial is to be fluid or changing. A single serial title in hand can potentially have related titles which precede, parallel, and continue it.
For the purposes of our work at HTML Technical Services, the Serials Dept. uses the notation: DLC/CONSER, which means either DLC or CONSER or both.
Fixed Fields:
The bibliographic level, OCLC fixed field “BLvl”, value for serials is “s”.
Encoding level, OCLC fixed field “Elvl”, value is # (i.e. blank)
Cataloging source code, OCLC fixed field “Srce”:
DLC #
CONSER member d
Variable fields:
Variable field 042 authentication codes:
DLC lc, or lcd
CONSER member lcd
Call numbers:
Authenticated DLC/CONSER records are not required to have a classification number except for government documents classification number, field 086. However, for the purposes of this document, a full level DLC/CONSER record will have a classification number identified by one of these fields and indicators:
050 00 (In the LC collection; assigned by LC)
050 04 (In LC collection; assigned by CONSER library)
050 #4 (Assigned by CONSER library)
050 14 (Not in LC; assigned by CONSER library)
Matching the title in hand with the correct record is extremely important and can, at times, be a challenge. For example, a journal title such as “World politics” lends itself for use by various entities wishing to publish on the topic. And, in the catalog record, there are several journals with that title. There are several criteria for matching the piece in hand with the correct bibliographic record, and normally they must be compared not as individual data elements, but in varying combinations. Related field tags and elements are listed in parenthesis following each potential matching element:
Title (245, 240, 130): The title should match; consider a change in title to have occurred if: “any word other than an article, preposition, or conjunction is added, deleted, or changed, or if the order of the first five words (the first six words if the title begins with an article) is changed”. For further information on title changes see: AACR2, 21.2A., LCRI 21.2A, 21.2C.
Statement(s) of responsibility (245 $c, 710, 700, 711, 100, 110, 111, 550): normally corporate bodies in the case of serial titles.
Imprint Information (260 $a, $b, $c; 500 “Description based on” notes which include publication or copyright dates; sometimes previous or current publishers are also given in 500 notes): unlike monographs, a change in publisher or place of publication does not prevent a match.
Coverage dates (362, 500 “Description based on” note, Fixed fields “Dates”) See below.
Publication status (Fixed field “DtSt”): If what you have in hand is a current subscription, it cannot match a record which has a publication status of ”d” (dead). See Publication Status below.
ISSN (022) (However, sometimes, when a title changes, a publisher will continue to use the same ISSN for the new title, and the old ISSN may be recorded in the 022, subfield $y, of the record for the new title. Many titles, especially those emanating from Latin American, do not bear an ISSN)
Edition (250) (Numbered edition statements normally apply to single issues; rarely, there are edition statements which apply to the entire title, such as “English ed.” or “Large print ed.”, etc.)
245, 440: 2nd indicator
No initial articles are input when formulating titles for these fields:
240: 2nd indicator always “0”.
X30, 740: 1st indicator always “0”.
Linking fields:76X-78X (There are no filing indicators for these fields)
245: 1st indicator (regulated the generation of a title added entry) is set to “1” whenever there is a name main entry or whenever there is a uniform title for a translation. Other wise, the 1st indicator is set to “0”.
Coverage v. publication dates
Dates in the 362 (Designations) fields are chronological designations and represent coverage dates. These dates are normally reflected in the “Dates” fixed fields. Imprint dates (260 $c), represent only publication or copyright dates.
Dates: 1990, 9999
260 London : $b London Historical Society, $c 1989-
362 0 1990-
[In this case, vol. 1 indicates that it was published in 1989; often annuals are actually published the year previous to which they claim to provide coverage]
When no beginning or ending publication or copyright date can be found on a 1st/last issue of a serial , they can be inferred from the chronological designations/coverage dates.
Dates: 2000, 9999
260 London : $b Cambridge University Press, $c [2000-
362 0 No. 1 (2000)-
If the 1st or last issues are not in hand, incomplete dates are often used in the “Dates” fixed fields (i.e. to indicate probable decade or century, when it is a reasonable assumption). Incomplete dates are never used in the imprint date field (260 $c), but instead would be left blank after the comma, when beginning or ending dates are not certain (i.e., when 1st./last issue is not in hand).
Description based on notes (500) are used to record the earliest issue in hand, including when the last issue is in hand.
Dates: 199u, 9999
310 Annual
260 New York : $b Elsevier,
500 Description based on: No. 3 (1997).
Dates: 19uu, 1990
260 London : $b Royal Society of Chemistry, $c -1990.
Description based on: Vol. 12, no. 4 (Oct.-Nov.-Dec. 1980)
Publication or copyright dates are used in 500 (Description based on) notes, if no chronological/coverage date is present:
500 Description based on: Bd. 12, published in 1998; title from cover. [source of title is given in the Description based on note when it is present].
For a good summary of the 362/500 relationship, see CCM, 8.1.1, c.
.
These are the publication status codes for the fixed field “DtSt”:
c= currently published (Use when an issue has been published within the last three calendar years)
d= dead (Use only when the publication is known to have ceased or has been continued by a different entry)
u= unknown (Use when there is no evidence that the serial has been published within the last three calendar years, and there is no clear indication that the serial has ceased)
See CEG, Section E., Leader/006/008, Publication status
Variable fields:
310 (current frequency)/321 (former frequency). 310/321 ‚b indicates applicable dates of frequency. 310/321 are not always present in the bibliographic record.
See CCM, 13.3
Fixed fields:
There are two fixed fields which pertain to the notion of frequency: “Freq” (frequency) and “Regl” (regularity). “Freq” will normally have a value indicating the known frequency of a title, such as “q” (quarterly) or “m” (monthly), and “Regl” will indicate the regularity of issuance. Possible regularity codes:
r Regular
n Normalized irregular
x Completely irregular
u Unknown
Examples:
310 ## Monthly
FREQ: m
REGL: r
310 ## Monthly (except July and Aug.)
FREQ: m
REGL: n
310 ## Irregular
FREQ: #
REGL: x
[No 310 field]
FREQ: u
REGL: u
See CEG, Section E., Leader 006/008, Frequency.
The Type of serial code indicates the nature of the serial.
Possible codes:
# None of the following
m Monographic series
n Newspaper
p Periodical
The most commonly used codes are “#” (i.e. blank) and “p” (periodical). “p” is the most common code, which indicates the serial contains separate articles, stories, etc. and is issued more frequently than annual. Many journals conform to this definition. “#” is used for most often for yearbooks or annual reports.
See CEG, Section E., Leader 006/008, Type of serial.
The most common notes that are more unique to print serials are the following:
500
Source of title note: This note is always given whenever the title is taken from outside the chief source of information (i.e., the title page)
500 ## Title from cover.
Description based on (see above: Dates/Chronological designations/Volume designations, 1st/last issue not in hand).
500 ## Description based on: Bd. 2 (1998); title from caption. [source of titles note given in Description based on note when present]
500 ## Description based on: No. 33, copyrighted in 1999.
Current/ former publishers.
500 ## Publishers: J. Haway, <1842>; J. & W. Horne, <1847>
510 Citation/reference note: this note indicates where the serial is indexed or abstracted. These field are maintained only by NSDP and NLC.
515 Numbering peculiarities note: contains an unformatted note giving irregularities and peculiarities in numbering or publishing patterns. It may also be used to show that a publication is issued in parts or revised editions, or to express report year coverage.
515 ## Vols. 11-20 also called 2nd ser., v. 1-10; v. 21-28, 3rd ser., v. 1-8.
515 ## Some issues lack volume numbering.
515 ## No more published?
515 ## Suspended 1926-1929, 1936.
515 ## Report covers fiscal year.
525 Field 525 records the issuance of supplements or special issues not input as separate records (and, therefore, not recorded in field 770 (Supplement/special issue entry)).
530 Additional physical form available note: used to note the existence of one or more reproductions or versions in different physical formats. Often, the field 530 records notes relating to the 776 field (Additional physical form entry)
530 ## Also available in CD-ROM version.
530 ## Also available online.
530 ## Also available on microfiche by UMI.
550 Issuing body note: refers to current and former issuing bodies. Issuing bodies are normally traced in 7XX added entry fields. Notes relating to commercial publishers are tagged 500.
550 ## Issued by: Anthropos-Institut, 1935-
580 Linking entry complexity note: Used to explain complex relationships with related serial titles, which are indicated in various linking entry fields (most commonly, 780 (Preceding entry) and 785 (Succeeding entry), whenever the display constants are inadequate to explain the relationship or when there are two or more of the same linking entry field. (1st indicator of the linking fields are set to “1”; see section for 780/785). Some common instances when this note would be used:
When a title has split into 2 or more new titles.
When a title is the product of a merger of 2 or more titles.
When a title has merged with another tiles to form a new title.
When the physical format of the serial changes.
Linking entry fields (76X-78X)
According to present CONSER guidelines, linking entry fields provide machine links in the catalog between related serials, thus, they do not link to or from monographic records. Added entries (700-740) are sometimes provided for a related monographic title.
Subfield $t of a linking entry field contains the title from a title statement field 245 or uniform title field 130. Subfields $a, $n, and $p are all included in a single subfield $t of the linking entry field.
Example:
Related record: 245 00 Journal of polymer science. $n Part C, $p Polymer symposia.
Linking entry: [765-787] $t Journal of polymer science. Part C, Polymer symposia
When a related record has a corporate body main entry, subfield $a contains the corporate body, with the title in subfield $t
Example:
Related record: 110 2# Special Libraries Association. $b New York Chapter.
245 10 Special libraries of Greater New York.
Linking entry: 780 00 Special Libraries Association. New York Chapter. $t Special libraries of Greater New York
780/785
780 preceding entry: contains the entry for the serial immediately preceding the serial being cataloged.
Indicators:
1st indicator (Note controller)
0 Display note
1 Do not display note
2nd indicator (Type of relationship [i.e., note text])
0 Continues
1 Continues in part
4 Formed by the union of ... and ...
5 Absorbed
6 Absorbed in part
7 Separated from
785 succeeding entry: contains the entry of the serial immediately succeeding the serial being cataloged.
Indicators:
First indicator (Note controller)
0 Display note
1 Do not display note
Second indicator (Type of relationship)
0 Continued by
1 Continued in part by
4 Absorbed by
5 Absorbed in part by
6 Split into ... and ...
7 Merged with ... to form: ...
The 1st indicator is set to “1”, “Do not display note”, and the 580 (Linking entry complexity note) is used to explain the linking relationship whenever there are two or more 780s or 785s in a record. However, the 2nd indicator is always set to the appropriate value.
It is important to pay attention to the linking fields, especially the 780/785 fields, which are indicative of title changes. As defined in AACR2, 21.2A1, the title proper has changed “if any word other than an article, preposition, or conjunction is added, deleted, or changed, or if the order of the first five words (the first six words if the title begins with an article) is changed.” (See also this rule and LCRI 21.2A, for more on changes in title proper).
Thus, the linking entry fields are indicators of the present status of a serial title. The presence of:
a. 780 indicates the title is continuing a previous title or titles.
b. 785 indicates the title may be dead and/or is continued by another title or titles either in whole or in part.
c. 770 (Supplement/special issue entry) indicates the title has a separately cataloged supplement/772 (Parent record entry) indicates the title is itself a separately cataloged supplement.
d. 776 (Additional physical form entry) indicates the title is available in one or more different media, such as microform, CD-ROM, a Web version, etc. (Likewise, a non-print serial should have a 776 link to the other forms, including a link to the print version). Also, 530 (Additional physical form available) note is used in conjunction with 776.
e. 765 (Original language entry) indicates the title is a translation/767 (Translation entry) indicates the item has a translation.
Be aware that our local catalog may also contain the titles in the linking entry field for earlier, later or other related titles. If we have any of the related titles, it may be necessary to work with them for these reasons:
a. If the reciprocal linking entry has been omitted on our local record, which would link to the work being cataloged.
b. A title change (or possibly several) may have been missed in our catalog and various volume holdings have been attached to the incorrect bibliographic record.
If reciprocal links are missing, apply the following:
i. Search OCLC for updated DLC/CONSER copy.
ii. If updated DLC/CONSER copy is located with reciprocal links, download the record and overlay the record with the missing link(s).
iii. If no updated copy is located, add the appropriate reciprocal link (s) and note(s) to already cataloged record (s).
If a title change has been missed:
i. Search OCLC for DLC/CONSER copy for the earlier/later titles.
ii. If DLC/CONSER copy is found for these titles, download the records (do not forget to add our holdings to the OCLC records).
iii. Ensure that the correct volume holdings are attached to the correct bibliographic record.
iv. If no DLC/CONSER copy is found for these titles, inform the serials cataloging supervisor.
Sometimes a title change is not obvious. This is especially true with Latin American (LA) titles. For example, many LA annuals may have short titles such as Memoria anual. The title page title may change to Memoria, but the cover may still have Memoria anual. This would be a title change and could be easily missed.
For more information on linking entries, see:
CCM, 14
CEG, Section E., Variable Data Fields, 76X-78X Linking Entries
Caveat: For title changes, in most cases we use the same call number that was used on the previous title. Exceptions would be:
I. Whenever new titles have different subject emphasis (this often happens with splits and mergers
II. Whenever a title starts numbering from “1”, and the previous title was classified in Dewey, in which case a new LC class number is used.
LC/CONSER library assigned:
Accept without shelf-listing or changing:
050 00 (In the LC collection; assigned by LC)
Cutter according to our local shelf-list:
050 04 (In LC collection; assigned by CONSER library)
050 #4 (Assigned by CONSER library)
050 14 (Not in LC; assigned by CONSER library)
OCLC member library assigned:
Verify the call number in the appropriate classification schedule, and cutter according to our shelf-list.
090 ##
Some things to keep in mind:
A quick search in the local catalog can be a good starting point, as it ought to indicate early in the process of verifying a call number, whether or not the call number is reasonable for the serial’s subject matter.
Many LC call number schedules provide for assigning call numbers at the beginning of important topic sections which have form captions [headings] for “Periodicals”.
Many serials require a call number which is more subject-specific than the form caption call numbers provide for.
Return to:
Serials Cataloging Local Documentation Cataloging Department