Washington University Libraries
Department of Special Collections
Manuscript Division

MARC CATALOGING GUIDELINES


Introduction

This is a set of guidelines for writing USMARC records directly from finding-aids.

Following the practices of many archives throughout the country, we catalog all of our materials as mixed materials (record type = p). Format integration literature instructs us to use type p for "Collections of mixed types of materials (textual materials, photographs, and ephemera) grouped together by virtue of having been accumulated by or about a person or body. The intended purpose of which is other than for instructional purposes (i.e., other than educational kits. No one type of material in the group predominates."

For the purposes of manuscripts division cataloging here at Washington University, any group of materials that we handle is a collection "mixed materials." That covers everything we catalog. Even a one-item "collection." Justifications for our mixed materials stance include:

Become familiar with Bibliographic Formats and Standards (http://www.oclc.org/oclc/bib/toc.htm): be sure to learn how to navigate this one because it's the cataloger's best friend.

For new MARC records, we use OCLC's Connexion (http://www.oclc.org/connexion/). For revisions to existing records, we usually catalog using Connexion, then immediately export into III.

Follow the links below. Compare information from the Meltzer finding aid and the USMARC record.
   Link to Meltzer Finding-Aid
   Link to Meltzer Papers III record
In our library catalog, use the green "MARC Display" button at the top of the screen to see the record in tagged MARC format.

For ease of reference, the tagged MARC record for the Meltzer papers is also duplicated in full below. Fields from the record are linked with explanations below.


001    28419683
003    OCoLC
005    20020422143131.0
008    910312i19551971mou                 eng dcpc1a
010    91797375
040    WTU|eappm|cWTU|dDLC|dOCL|dWTU
049    WTUU
100 1  Meltzer, David.
245 00 |kPapers,|f1955-1971.
300    ca. 345 items.
510 2  Described in: A Guide to
       the Modern Literary Manuscripts Collection in the Special Collections
       of the Washington University Libraries (1985).
520 8  Correspondence, mss., editorial material, and taped
       interviews, relating to Meltzer's book The San Francisco
       Poets (1971) about Richard Brautigan, William Everson,
       Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Michael McClure, Kenneth Rexroth,
       and Lew Welch; drafts, galleys, and other material,
       relating to his unpublished book Rock Tao; and mss. and
       editorial matter relating to his other publications
       including Yesod (1969) and Letters & Numbers (1970) and
       his essays and columns for the Los Angeles Free Press.
       Includes correspondence and taped interviews with William
       Everson, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Philip Lamantia, Michael
       McClure, Kenneth Rexroth, Gary Snyder, and Lew Welch.
520    The Meltzer papers consist of a variety of material.
       Included are Meltzer's own manuscripts of poems and essays,
       material toward books such as Yesod, Yehudal (1969) and
       Letters and numbers (1970), and a substantial amount of
       material relating to Meltzer's collection of interviews
       with Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Kenneth Rexroth, Lew Welch,
       Michael McClure, Richard Brautigan, and William Everson
       published as The San Francisco Poets (1971).  Material
       relating to Philip Lamantia and Gary Snyder is also
       present, as is a  small correspondence with small press
       editors.
545    American author and poet; b. 1937.
555 8  Finding aid in the repository.
561    Purchase and gift, 1969-1971.
600 10 Everson, William,|d1912-|xInterviews.
600 10 Ferlinghetti, Lawrence|xInterviews.
600 10 Lamantia, Philip,|d1927-|xInterviews.
600 10 McClure, Michael|xInterviews.
600 10 Rexroth, Kenneth,|d1905-|xInterviews.
600 10 Snyder, Gary,|d1930-|xInterviews.
600 10 Welch, Lew|xInterviews.
600 10 Brautigan, Richard.
630 04 Los Angeles free press (Los Angeles, Calif. : Newspaper)
650  0 Poets, American|zCalifornia.
650  0 American poetry|y20th century.
650  0 American newspapers|zCalifornia.
650  0 Newspapers|xSections, columns, etc.
650  0 American literature|y20th century.
651  4 San Francisco (Calif.)|xCultural affairs|xLiterature.
651  4 California|xCultural affairs|xLiterature.
651  4 Los Angeles (Calif.)|xNewspapers, periodicals, and
       journalism.
651  4 California|xNewspapers, periodicals, and journalism.
655  7 Galley proofs.|2ftamc
655  7 Essays.|2ftamc
655  7 Interviews.|2ftamc
655  7 Audio tapes.|2aat
656   7 Poets, American.|2lcsh
656  7 Authors, American.|2lcsh
856 42 |3Finding aid and author index
			|uhttp://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/manuscripts/mlc/index.html

Fixed Field Elements

This is what a fixed field looks like.

Type:	p	ELvl:	I	Srce:	d	Ctrl:	a	Lang:		eng
BLvl:	d	Form:				MRec:		Ctry:		xxu
Desc:	a					DtSt:	i	Dates:	1822,1888

These fields can be found at the top of the Connexion web-form.
Here's how to fill them in correctly:

Type (Type of record)
Type = p:  (see above).

ELvl (Encoding Level)
	ELvl = I:  Full-level cataloging input by OCLC-participating library.

Srce (Cataloging Source Code)
	Srce = d:  Non-LC source.

Ctrl (Type of Control)
Ctrl = a:  Archival control.  Archival control usually involves special handling and
           may include restrictions on access to the item.

Lang (Language Code)
Three-character code for language of the work. Usually eng, but can be fre or ger or whatever.
Use the code for another language ONLY if the materials in the collection are PREDOMINATELY
in that language. See USMARC Code List for Languages (http://lcweb.loc.gov/marc/languages/)
for list of languages and their codes. If more than one language needs to be identified, enter
the code for the predominant language here, then list other codes in variable field 041.
If the language is other than eng. you'll also need to include a 546 note.

BLvl (Bibliographic Level)
	BLvl usually = c or d
	a	component, monographic (cannot use with p)
	b	component, serial
	c	collection
	d	subunit (use when there will be 580 and 773 linking entry fields)
	m	monograph
	s	serial

Form (Form of Item)
	Form = blank or a
	blank		original
	a		microfilm

MRec (Modified Record Code)
Mrec = blank:  Indicates whether bibliographic information was modified for entry into
machine-readable form (from something that wasn't machine readable).

Ctry (Country of publication, etc.)
Two- or three-character code that represents the state or country of publication, production,
or execution. Refer to USMARC Code List for Countries (http://lcweb.loc.gov/marc/countries/)
for list of country/location codes. Most of our collection were produced in the United States.
Thus, we use either two letters for the state + u (e.g., Missouri = mou; Virginia = vau)
or xxu for state unknown or several states. Use xx for unknown or general.

Desc (Descriptive Cataloging Form)
Desc = a:  Indicates materials cataloged according to AACR2, including material cataloged
according to APPM or DACS.

DtSt (Type of Date)
Dates (Date 1 and Date 2)
	DtSt usually = i
i	Inclusive dates of collections.
-	When completely unknown, use i and dates 1 and 2 = 1uuu.
-	For "one item collections," use i and same date in dates 1 and 2.
	r	Reprint or reissue of a single item (rarely used).
-	Use reprint or reissue date in Date 1.
-	Use date of original in Date 2.
	k	Range of years of bulk of collection (use i instead; treat bulk in variable field 245
		if necesary).
	m	Multiple dates (not good for materials in collections; therefore, don't use).
	n	Dates unknown (Bib lvl cannot = c; therefore, don't use).
	q	Questionable dates.
-	Use for a span of dates associated with a single item of uncertain dates.
		s	Single known or probable date (there are frequent error messages when you
			try to use this one; therefore, use i as described above)
		Dates usually = span dates, but see exceptions under DtSt above, and for collections
		with no ending date, use 9999 in Date 2 to indicate that the ending year
is not yet available; use u to substitute for unknown digits:  198u; 19uu; 1uuu; uuuu.

Variable Fields

Here is a variable field:
	245  00	|kPapers,|f1955-1971

Here are the components:
	245		field number
	00		indicators (there are two, the official terms being First Indicator and
			Second Indicator)
	‡		subfield delimiter
	k and f		subfields

Note that in the examples below, a blank indicator is indicated by the letter b. This is different from an indicator with the value of zero (0).

Also note that the following pages lay out only the fields and subfields that we use A LOT. There are many, many others available. For example, the field 007, which we've used only for collections that are ALL microforms, also can be used (with different subfields) if a collection is ALL motion pictures or video recordings or sound recordings or nonprojected graphics. That's why all catalogers should keep Bibliographic Formats and Standards at the ready (http://www.oclc.org/oclc/bib/toc.htm). Fields and especially subfields periodically get revised and even go in and out of favor. It's a good idea to check fields out in Bibliographic Formats and Standards once periodically, even if it's just to make sure that there's not some field/subfield that we've overlooked.

We don't want to implement a field or subfield before its time (as in when LC says it's good, but OCLC doesn't want it yet) or use a field or subfield just because it's there.