This document covers the procedures for verifying and assigning specific classification and
call numbers for literary authors writing during the twentietch century. For general background
on such classification numbers, see also "Classifying Works by and about Individual Literary Authors of the
20th and 21st Centuries."
General procedures
When copy-cataloging literary works, it is necessary to confirm that the call number fits into proper alphabetical location in
Howard-Tilton’s shelf list. It is also important that the call number not conflict with the Library of Congress’s shelf
list. If a name authority record with an 053 field can be found in the Voyager database that was
created either by LC or by another OCLC member library (and in order to appear in OCLC’s Authority File it had to have
been approved, or at least used, by LC), the class number located in that 053 field can generally safely be used, unless you suspect a
problem. Whenever such is the case, the cataloger may proceed to steps 6 and 7 below.
The easiest way to check for the presence in Voyager of a name authority record is to click on the Record menu in
the upper left of the screen to pull down a list of commands, one of which is “Retrieve Authorities.” (The keyboard shortcut: Alt-R, A.)
If an authority record for the author’s name as it appears in the bibliographic record exists, then this command
should fetch it. (Be aware, however, that if your author’s name appears in a variant form that is not
cross-referenced in the authority record, the command will not retrieve it.)
On the other hand,
- if no name authority record for the author can be found in Voyager;
- OR
- if an authority record is found that lacks an 053 field;
- OR
- if an authority record is found, but it has only a
locally assigned class number in the 053 field,
- THEN
the first course of action is to look in OCLC for an authority record that matches the author of the piece
in hand (or the subject of the book, if it is a work of literary criticism).
Three possibilities present themselves at this point:
- A. If an authority record is found in OCLC, and it includes an 053 field with a
class number, then that class number is to be used, and the authority record is to be
exported intoVoyager (and used to overlay an earlier record in Voyager, if necessary) as per
instructions in the document Authority Record Importing from OCLC,
and the cataloger may then proceed to steps 6 and 7 below.
- B. If an authority record is found in OCLC, and it lacks an 053 field with a class number, then the record is to
be exported into Voyager as per instructions. At this point, an 053 field with a class number for the author must be
added to the record.
- C. If no authority record is found in OCLC, an authority record must be created in Voyager, including an 053
field with a class number for the author.
*A locally assigned class number that has not been verified will appear in the 053 field of an authority record
with only ‡5 HT after the class number.
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I. Verifying a literary class number
In the case of (B) and (C) above, the cataloger must
supply the class number for the authority record. The easiest way to do this is
to start with the class number found in the bibliographic record for the piece in
hand. However, it cannot be accepted as is without being verified by the
cataloger. This is not usually a difficult matter, so long as the following steps
are taken:
- 1.) Do a call number (shelf list) search. Type
the first part of the call number -- i.e., the first two alphabetic characters followed by the
number, followed by the third alphabetic character -- into the Voyager call
number search query. For instance, if the full call number in the 090 field is “PR6073.I4327 S34 1994,”
enter “PR6073.I” and see what the search turns up. You will usually get a list of works (possibly including other
works by your author, but maybe not) by authors of the same nationality, and whose last names begin with the same letter
as your author. A rough-and-ready test of the accuracy of the classification number given in the bibliographic record
of your piece is to call up one or two of the records in the list before you (preferably a fairly recent record) and check
the place of publication. While not an infallible guide to the nationality of the author in question, this check may at
least illuminate any obvious classification error by the original cataloger.
[For a more detailed account of possible
problems, see Classifying Works by and about Individual Literary Authors of the
20th and 21st Centuries, section III: “Evaluating a literary author’s class number.”]
- 2.) Verify the number’s compatibility with Howard-Tilton’s shelf list. For instance, if
your author’s name is Jones, Lloyd Q., and the shelf list indicates in the Library’s collection the presence of a
Jones, Lisa and a Jones, Lola E. listed next to each other, the class number for your author must fit between the two by
means of the first cutter number. If the class number in the bibliographic record for the piece in hand does not fit into
the Library’s shelf list, the first cutter number must be adjusted accordingly. At this point it helps to
jot down onto the bib record printout the names and call numbers of authors located alphabetically to either side of your
author:
- E.g.
| Jones, Lisa | PS3560.O5144 |
| Jones, Lloyd Q. | PS3560.O5146? |
| Jones, Lola E. | PS3560.O515 |
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II. Assigning a literary class number
However, you must also make sure that a class number that fits into the Library’s shelf list also conforms to the Library of
Congress’s. LC’s shelf list can be searched online via LC’s Web site.
- 3.) Verify the number’s compatibility with LC’s shelf list. A class number search of LC’s
shelf list may turn up the names of these three Joneses, and others as well; in any case, the class number you decide to
assign to your author must, whenever possible, fit alphabetically into both Howard-Tilton’s and LC’s shelflists. Again, you
may find it useful to write down the names and class numbers of authors in the LC shelf list located alphabetically to either
side of your author.
- 4.) Comparing the two shelf lists, adjust the first cutter as necessary. If the class number
as given in the bib record for your piece conforms to the Howard-Tilton and LC shelf lists, you may proceed to Step 6
below. If the number does not so conform, adjust the first cutter so that it does.
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III. When class number conflicts occur
- 5.) In case of a conflict between shelf lists, resolve it in favor of LC.
Occasionally it may be impossible to adjust a class number so that it fits in correct alphabetical order into both shelf lists; in
that case, it must be made to conform to LC’s. As a result, the position of your author’s class number may be
alphabetically out of order in Howard-Tilton’s shelf list, but that cannot be helped. It is more important that any locally
assigned class number avoid potential conflicts with LC’s practice. Once in a while you will find in the LC
shelf list a class number for an author for which there is no name authority record in the OCLC database. Again, that
number should normally be used in preference to any other that may have been assigned either locally or by an OCLC
member library.
- 6.) Check to see that other works by the same author have the correct class
number. If other works by your author are found in Howard-Tilton’s collection with a class number
varying from the one you have just verified and assigned, these other works must be recataloged with the new number.
For instructions regarding recats, see section VI below.
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IV. Completing the call number
- 7.) Complete the call number for the piece. Usually the second
cutter for a literary work is assigned based on the title, or (if it is a work of criticism) on the main entry, according to
standard LC practice. [For details concerning the second cutter, see the document
Classifying Works by and about Individual Literary Authors of the 20th and 21st Centuries,
section II.D, "Second cutter," or consult Table P-PZ40.] Make sure that the second cutter inserts your call number
into alphabetical order with any other titles by the same author beginning with the same letter as the title of your piece.
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V. Authority record creation and editing
- 8a.) Edit the name authority record for your author. If an
authority record (whether locally created or not) for the author of your piece already exists in Voyager, but lacks an 053
field with a class number, add that field with the class number you have assigned, according to the instructions in the document
Voyager Authority Records for Literary Cataloging
. If it is a locally created authority record (i.e.,
one with only LRU in the 040 field) with an 053 field, make sure the class number is correct (or
change it if it is not), and add a ‡5 HT at the end of the number. This indicates that the class number has
been locally assigned and has been verified by a check of LC’s shelf list. If an authority record does not exist in
Voyager, and none can be found in OCLC, then
- 8b.) Create a name authority record for your author. If no
authority record exists, and no record can be found in OCLC, a new authority record with an 053 field must be created
according to the instructions in the document Voyager Authority
Records for Literary Cataloging
.
*670 and 675 fields*
You must add either a 670 or a 675 field to any created or edited name authority record, depending on what you have
found in your search of LC’s shelf list. If you have found in the LC shelf list a call number for an author for which
there is no name authority record in the OCLC database, add a 670 field with the following information: LC Cat.
online <date of your search> ‡5 HT. If you have found nothing by your author in LC’s shelf list, add a 675
field with LCSL ‡5 HT. The relevant fields, therefore, should look something like the following:
| [Tag] | [Ind 1] | [Ind 2] | [Field Data] |
| 670 | | | ‡a LC Cat. online <date: month abbrev. day, year; or: day month abbrev. year> ‡5 HT |
| or |
| 675 | | | ‡a LC Cat. online <date> ‡5 HT |
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VI. Recats
If there are other works in the Library’s collection by the author to whom you have just assigned a class number, and those
other works have a class number that varies from yours, they will (eventually) have to be recataloged using the new
class number. For now, all you need to do is call up the Holdings record of the offending work(s), and add a
subfield “‡x” with the following:
- ‡x recat: [new class no. as given in 053 field of authority record]
Then print the Holdings record and place it in a folder for Database Maintenance review.
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5 May 2000
HTML document last reviewed: 14 July 2010