MRBC Local Cataloging Guidelines - smith-special-collections/sc-documentation GitHub Wiki

New bibliographic material accessioned into the Mortimer Rare Book Collection must be entered into Smith’s catalog. Individual manuscripts and objects, such as games, are also entered into the catalog.

Some editing may be done in OCLC's Connexion or in Worldshare Record Manager. Records should either be updated (or created) to meet RDA and DCRM(B) standards. See the RBMS website for further guidance.

Local notes receive a “$5 MNS” at the end of their field.

Provenance of all materials, whether donated, purchased, or transferred, is noted in each record.

Once you've found the record that matches the item in hand, or created an original record in OCLC, update the holdings to show that it's held by Smith, then copy the OCLC number. In FOLIO Inventory, go to Actions > Import to bring in the newly found/created record.

Local Information Provided in Catalog Records

MARC field Entry Mandatory/Optional Notes
040 [creator] $b eng $e rda $e dcrmb $c [system supplied] Mandatory
300 $c [size] (format) Optional Records pertaining to books before 1801 should note the book's bibliographic format. Follow DCRM(B) 5D1.3 for noting this appropriately in the 300 field.
501 $a SC/MRBC copy bound [first/second, etc.] with: [title] : $b [publication information] Optional Use only for bound-withs.
541 $c [Type of acquisition]; $a [Name] (Class of [year]) OR ([name of vendor]); $d [year accessioned]; $e Accession [accession #]. $5 MNS Mandatory For the type of acquisition, use one of these terms: Gift, Purchase, or Transfer.
500 $a SC/MRBC: [note]. $5 MNS Optional
650 \0 $a Women [contribution type]. $2 local/mns Mandatory when applicable Women who have contributed to the creation of the work or previously owned the work are credited in this field. Contribution types could include: booksellers, book artists, collectors, publishers, and binders.
710 2\ $a [Title of Named Book Collection]. $5 MNS Mandatory when applicable When donors stipulate as part of their donation that their book collection must be called something specific, this field is used for the collection name as a means of collocating the titles in their donation.

Local Holdings Records Information

Holdings records in FOLIO require the following fields to be filled in:

  • Location > Permanent : SC Rare Book Collection
  • Location > Call number type: Library of Congress classification
  • Location > Call number
  • If applicable Location > Call number prefix: If book is Oversize, Flat, or Mini, put that prefix here.

Item Records Information

Item records in FOLIO require the following fields to be filled in:

  • Administrative data > Item barcode
  • Administrative data > Accession number
  • Loan and availability > Permanent loan type: Non-circulating

Determining the location of a book on the basis of its size

Items that do not fit into the standard shelving size should be designated to a particular size category in the Holdings record.

These size and location names must be followed:

  • Books that are 13 cm or less (with a depth of 13 cm or less): Mini

  • Books that are between 14 cm and 28 cm should be placed into the regular-sized stacks with no location note. ("Mini" books that have a depth greater than 13 cm should also be placed in this category.)

  • Books that are 29 cm or greater and less than 45 cm: Oversize

  • Books that 45 cm or greater: Flat

  • A book’s depth should be noted in the catalog record if it is larger in size than its height, as this may affect the location. If a book’s height is only 18 cm, but its depth is 42 cm, then it should be placed in Flat in order to fully support the book.

Occasionally, there will be books too fragile to stand upright that may be under 45 cm in height. If this is the case, mark them as “Flat” and shelve accordingly.

Named Book Collections

As of April 2024 there are 19 distinct named book collections in the MRBC. These include:

  • Beatrice Oenslager Chace Collection of Ernest Hemingway
  • Beatrice Oenslager Chace Collection of Willa Cather
  • Beatrice Oenslager Chace Collection of William Faulkner
  • Charles E. Skaggs Collection
  • Constance Morrow Morgan Collection of Sir Kenelm Digby Books and Manuscripts
  • Elizabeth Power Richardson Bloomsbury Iconography Collection
  • Frances Hooper Collection of Virginia Woolf Books and Manuscripts
  • Frank H. Ellis Collection
  • George Salter Collection
  • Gundersheimer Collection of Italian Travel
  • Isabel Bruce Baldwin Nichols deKay Collection of J. Ross Browne
  • Judith Raymo Collection of Sylvia Plath at Smith College
  • Leonore Lane Paneyko Collection of Vladimir Nabokov
  • Mortimer Frankenstein Collection
  • Myrtle and Harvey Finison Collection
  • Professor Stone Class Selections
  • Sally Taft Duplaix Collection
  • Susan Silliman Pearson Collection
  • Willard A. Baldwin Collection of George Bernard Shaw
  • Robert and Judith Raymo Chaucer Collection at Smith College

For details on the Summer 2019 Named Book Collections Project see the detailed documentation.

Class Selections from a specific professor

Certain classes select books or other materials for addition to the MRBC, and they must contain specific notes and subject headings:

MARC field Entry
500 $a SC/MRBC: This item was selected by Smith College students in a course taught by Professor [name] ([Semester] [Year]). $5 MNS
710 2\ $a Professor [LastName] Class Selections. $5 MNS