We are currently cataloging all almanacs as monographs, even if there's an existing serial record for issues already owned. 

This is because Tad wants more thorough documentation of the physical condition of the piece than is possible in a serial record.

Unless you have explicit evidence to the contrary, almanacs are assumed to have been published the year before their coverage. But we use the year of coverage for the call number and subject headings.

Example: Pennsylvania Almanac 1865 

• Dates in the fixed fields: 1864, _ _ _ _

• 050: call number ends with 1865

• 245: $c [1864]

• 655: $y 1865

(These instrux are repeated in the tables below.)

Most almanacs were acquired as part of the William Chase gift, but Tad is also purchasing smaller batches from various bookdealers. (Maybe have Ruth Ann do all non-Chase almanacs, so these instrux can be streamlined?)

We use LCSH and RBMS genre terms. See 6xx fields below.

Type

a

Language material

BLVL

m

Monograph

Elvl

blank

Full record by PCC library

Form 

blank

Not microform, large print, etc.

Cont 

blank

Not a bibliography, catalog, etc.

Ills

blank or a, b, d

Blank = no illustrations at all – a = drawings, photos, etc. – b = maps – d = charts

Srce

d

Cataloging agency other than LC etc

Conf 

0

Not a conference proceeding

Fest

0

Not a festschrift

Audn

0

Age level not specified 

Biog

0

Not a biography

LitF

0

Literary form is not fiction

DtSt

s

Single date 

Ctrl

blank

No 'archival control' (that is, a nested description as in an archival finding aid)

MRec

blank

Not modified for machine-readable entry

Dates

_ _ _ _

Use the year before the almanac coverage (an 1870 almanac was published in 1869)

Lang

_ _ _

eng for English

Ctry

_ _ _

Country of publication: 

For U.S. states, use postal abbreviation + u. (Michigan = miu, New York = nyu, etc.)

All others use https://www.loc.gov/marc/countries/countries_name.html

040

Language of cataloging

Add $b eng to new records

041

Language of material if other than English

1st indicator 0 if not a translation

1st indicator 1 if includes translated material

Code from https://www.loc.gov/marc/languages/

An bilingual almanac in German and English:

ger $a eng

043

Geographic area, if indicated 

Code from https://www.loc.gov/marc/languages/

Pennsylvania almanac... 1865:

n-us-pa

050

Call number

Use year of almanac coverage at end of call #

Pennsylvania almanac... 1865:

AY81 .P3 $b N47 1865

090

Local call number

Repeat the 050. Precede call number with $f Folio or $f XX if appropriate

$f XX $a AY57 $b .P66 1732

1xx

Author main entry: seldom used in almanacs

245

Title & statement of responsibility

Almanac titles can be long, and hard to tell from the typography where the title ends! Okay to use first portion in 245 and quote remainder in 500. Always cite where quoted material comes from.

245 04 The New England farmer's almanac for the year of the Christian era 1850 : $b being the second after bissextile, or leap year, and the seventy-fourth of the American independence.

500 00 "Containing, besides the usual astronomical calculations..." (blah blah blah)

246

Varying form of title

Supply if appropriate

250

Edition statement

Seldom seen in almanacs but supply if appropriate

264 

Publication statement

For pub date, use the year before the almanac's coverage in brackets

Pennsylvania almanac... 1865:

264 _1  Philadelphia : $b Publisher name, $c [1864]

300  

Physical description

If pages are unnumbered, count them

Indicate the illustration types you noted in the fixed field Ills

300 _ _  32 unnumbered pages : $b illustrations, charts ; $c 22 cm   or

300 _ _  [32] pages :  $b illustrations, charts ; $c 22 cm

500

Cover illustration note

Optional, but desirable: a brief description of the cover illustration.

This would be a big help for future instruction and exhibit prep.

Many agricultural themes here! 

500 _ _  Cover illustration shows an eagle holding a shield in its talons. The shield has a ship, a plow, and three sheaves of wheat.

500 _ _  Cover illustration shows a woman in ancient dress, holding a scythe and seated near a plow. 

500 _ _  Cover illustration shows a kneeling man, holding the Earth on his shoulders.

500 _ _  Cover illustration shows a man plowing a field, with a farmhouse and orchard in the background.

500

Other general notes

Almanacs almost always have the title on the cover.

Note the presence of advertisements.

The cover may have other interesting stuff.

And as noted above, if a title is extremely long or you can't tell from the typography where the title is supposed to end, you can make the 245 more readable by putting the excess in a 500 note. 

500 _ _  Cover title.

500 _ _  Includes advertisements.

500 _ _  At head of title: "Our 77th year!"

500 _ _  "50 cents."–Below title.

500 00 "Containing, besides the usual astronomical calculations, a great variety of curious, useful, and entertaining matter; fitted to the latitude and longitude of Concord, N.H., but will serve, without sensible variation, for all the adjacent states."–Below title.

541

Immediate source of acquisition

Record name of donor or bookdealer; Gift or Purchase; date in format YYYYMMDD; and institution code MiEM.

Follow exact formatting in examples. 

Sometimes with gifts only the year is known.

Date is when the item was received in Acquisitions, not the P.O. date.

541 1 _  William Chase ; $c Gift ; $d 2016. $5 MiEM

Other examples:

541 1 _  Ian Brabner Rare Americana ; $c Purchase ; $d 20230415. $5 MiEM

541 1 _  DeWolfe & Wood Rare Books ; $c Purchase ; $d 20220926. $5 MiEM

541 1 _  Arie Koelewyn ; $c Gift ; $d 2019. $5 MiEM

546

Language note

Specify if item is not in English. 

(With second example, I would not include $a eng in the 041 field.) 

546 _ _  In German.

546 _ _  In German, except for two advertisements in English.

561 

Accompanying material 

Accompanying material is usually a bookdealer description, price list, or catalog. 

Occasionally, there's a note from a donor.

After cataloging, these items are separated from the book and placed in MSS 466, a manuscript collection created to organize them.

Start note with MSU: and end with our institution code $5 MiEM

561 1 _  MSU: Bookdealer description transferred to MSS 466. $5 MiEM

561 1 _  MSU: Bookdealer catalog with description of this item transferred to MSS 466. $5 MiEM

561 1 _  MSU: Note from donor to MSU curator transferred to MSS 466. $5 MiEM

561

"Laid in" material

"Laid in" material means anything that was left in the book by a former owner.

After cataloging, these items are separated from the book and transferred to MSS 466.

Note where the material was found before moving it! 

Start note with MSU: and end with our institution code $5 MiEM

561 1 _  MSU: New York Times article about the Hindenburg airship crash found between pages 15-16; has been transferred to MSS 466. $5 MiEM

561 1 _  MSU: A dried flower was pressed between pages 101-102; transferred to MSS 466. $5 MiEM

561 1 _  MSU: Entry ticket for Edgewater Amusement Park in Detroit, found between pages 225-226. Transferred to MSS 466. $5 MiEM

561 

Provenance 

Provenance information is evidence of use,  damage suffered by the book, and marks of ownership. 

• Anything written in book

• Significant damage, and minor damage if it obscures text

• Bookplate, ownership stamp, etc.

Security is one reason for documenting provenance – if we need to prove a stolen item is ours – so please don't feel you are being pedantic to note small things! 

Start note with MSU: and end with our institution code $5 MiEM

Sample notes for writing in book

561 1 _  MSU: Front paste-down has pencil inscription "Louisa Elliot" on upper left corner. $5 MiEM

561 1 _  MSU: Pencil inscription "For my dear Albert" at head of title on front wrapper. $5 MiEM

561 1 _  MSU: Child's pencil scribbling on front paste-down and flyleaf. $5 MiEM

561 1 _  MSU: Margin notes on the astronomical tables for September to December. $5 MiEM

561 1 _  MSU: August 14 has pencil note "Terrible hailstorm" in the margin. $5 MiEM

561 1 _  MSU: Unread inscription on upper right corner of flyleaf. $5 MiEM  ("Unread" means you can't read the inscription!)

561

Provenance continued

We use the 561 for damage that we want to note for security purposes. But we use the 590 to note entire missing pages. 

That way, if you find copy with a 300 field showing the full page count, you can use it and note the missing material in a field that should always be displayed in public view. A 561 may only be visible in staff view.

Sample notes for damage

561 1 _  MSU: Pages 15-16 and 17-18 have lower corner torn away, with loss of text. $5 MiEM

561 1 _  MSU: Page 22 has dark stains, possibly ink blots, slightly obscuring the text. $5 MiEM

561

Provenance continued

There may be evidence of ownership and use other than a person writing their name in a book: bookplates, ownership stamps, etc.

We take special note of ads printed on the back covers of almanacs because that usually means the almanac publisher did a special print run for that customer to give away in their store.

This is why you may see many similar records in WorldCat for the same almanac. The cataloger noticed that the back-cover ad described in an existing record was different from the piece they had in hand.

Sample notes for ownership and distribution

561 1 _  MSU: Embossed ownership stamp for Western Reserve Historical Society on front wrapper. $5 MiEM

561 1 _  MSU: Bookplate of former owner, Joseph Higgins, on inside front wrapper. $5 MiEM

561 1 _  MSU: Ink stamp in blank area at bottom of back wrapper: "A free gift for you from Hankins Drugstore, Hinckley, Minn." $5 MiEM

561 1 _  MSU: Back wrapper printed with ad for James Wilder & Sons, Dayton, Ohio. $5 MiEM

563 

Binding note

Tad wants us to use the phrase "paper wrappers" to refer to front and back cover. In almost all cases these are printed, so we say "Printed paper wrappers."

Specify whether the pages are secured with staples, pamphlet stitch, stab stitch, or a combination.

You may see a strip of paper used to reinforce the spine, often with stab stitch attaching it to the text block.

Note when you see a hole drilled through the upper left corner for hanging. Note loops of string through this hole.

Always end with our institution code,  $5 MiEM.

563 _ _  Printed paper wrappers, staple bound. $5 MiEM

563 _ _  Printed paper wrappers with pamphlet stitch binding. $5 MiEM

563 _ _  Printed paper wrappers with pamphlet stitch binding. Spine reinforced with strip of paper, attached with adhesive, over the pamphlet stitch. $5 MiEM

563 _ _  Printed paper wrappers with pamphlet stitch binding. Spine reinforced with strip of paper, which is attached to the text block with stab stitches. $5 MiEM

563 _ _  Printed paper wrappers, staple bound, with hole drilled at head of spine for hanging. $5 MiEM

563 _ _  Printed paper wrappers, staple bound, with hole drilled at head of spine and loop of string for hanging. $5 MiEM  

590

Gift note

If applicable.

590 _ _  MSU: Gift of William D. Chase (2016). 

590 _ _  MSU: Gift of Arie Koelewyn, 2021.

541 1_ $c Purchase; $a Ian Brabner, Rare Americana; $d 2020; $n (insert number of issues being added) $o issues. $5 MiEM

541 1_ $c Gift; $a William Chase; $d 2016; $n (insert number of issues being added) $o issues. $5 MiEM

Staple binding

Pamphlet stitch binding

Stab stitch binding

655_7 Almanacs $z [Country of publication] $z [City of publication] $y [Year covered by almanac] $2 rbgenr

• Do not include date for serials.
• Date in $y should reflect year covered by the almanac, not the date of publication, if different.