Almanacs and works on chronology project
- MSU TechServices
- Ruth-Ann Jones (Unlicensed)
Summary: Instructions for cataloging the William D. Chase Collection of Almanacs and Works on Chronology items for Special Collections. As with all SPC cataloging, retain dust jackets and make a note as needed. Refer to general Special Collections cataloging procedures for other rare book cataloging considerations.
Workflow
Drop off
Almanacs will be placed on the designated project shelves in Technical Services.
- All books will be placed in mylar sleeves before arriving on TS shelves.
Copy cataloging
Cathy will make a first pass through almanacs delivered from SPC, using streamers to make notes.
- Put duplicates on DUPLICATES shelf.
- If a title is an issue of a serial that we hold, place on ANALYTICS shelf; we will hold them until Folio functionality allows analytic work.
- For completed cataloging, save the record to the online save file, note save file number on the streamer, and place on the CATALOGED shelf.*
Original cataloging
Almanacs needing original monographic cataloging will be placed on the ORIGINAL shelf.
- Original catalogers will pull from here.
- Questions & review
- For questions, save the record to the online save file, note save file number on the streamer, and place on the Q's FOR TAD shelf
- For completed cataloging, save the record to the online save file, note save file number on the streamer, and place on the CATALOGED shelf.*
- Remember to check the RETURNED FROM TAD shelf periodically for answered questions, Tad's requested revisions, etc.
*After this workflow has been in place for a bit, Tad will no longer need to review completed cataloging and we'll update the procedure accordingly.
General notes
| Location | 1901 to present: 948 = sprrr 1701 to 1900: 948 = sprar 1700 and earlier go to the vault: 948 = sprar
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Treatment of dates | Without explicit evidence to the contrary, almanacs are assumed to have been published the year before their coverage. But, use the year of coverage for the call number and subject headings. Example: Pennsylvania Almanac 1865
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0xx to 3xx fields
Field | Content | Explanation | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
050 | Call number | Use year of almanac coverage | Pennsylvania almanac... 1865: AY81 .P3 $b N47 1865 |
090 | Local call number | Repeat 050.
| $f XX $a AY57 $b .P66 1732 |
245 | Title & statement of responsibility | Almanac title can be very long and hard to tell from typography where was meant to end. 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)" –At foot of title. |
264 | Publication statement | Use year before almanac coverage, in brackets | Pennsylvania almanac... 1865: 264 _1 Philadelphia : $b Publisher, $c [1864] |
5xx fields
Field | Content | Explanation | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
500 | Cover illustration note | Optional but desirable: a brief description of the cover illustration. This will aid future instruction and exhibit prep. | 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 presence of ads. Note other stuff on cover. As noted above, if title is very long or hard to tell where it ends, make 245 more readable by putting excess in a 500 note. | 500 _ _ Cover title. 500 _ _ Includes advertisements. 500 _ _ At head of title: "Our 77th year!" 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 | Name of donor or book dealer, gift or purchase, date in YYYYMMDD format, $5 MiEM Follow exact formatting in examples. Sometimes with gifts only the year is known. For purchases, use date item was received in Acquisitions. | 541 1 _ William D. Chase ; ǂc Gift ; ǂd 2016. ǂ5 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 Serial 541 notes: 541 1_ $c Gift; $a William Chase; $d 2016; $n (insert number of issues being added) $o issues. $5 MiEM |
546 | Language note | Specify if item is not in English. (041 $a eng not necessary for second example, IMO.) | 546 _ _ In German. 546 _ _ In German, except for two advertisements in English. |
561 | Accompanying material | Accompanying material: usually book dealer description, sometimes note from donor. After cataloging, these items are transferred to MSS 466. End with code $5 MiEM | 561 1 _ Bookdealer description transferred to MSS 466. $5 MiEM 561 1 _ Bookdealer catalog with description of this item transferred to MSS 466. $5 MiEM 561 1 _ Note from donor to MSU curator transferred to MSS 466. $5 MiEM |
561 | "Laid in" material | "Laid in" material is anything left in a book by a former owner. After cataloging, laid-in items are transferred to an archival collection established to hold them: "MSS 466." Note where material was found before moving it! End with code $5 MiEM | 561 1 _ New York Times article about the Hindenburg airship crash found between pages 15-16; has been transferred to MSS 466. $5 MiEM 561 1 _ A dried flower was pressed between pages 101-102; transferred to MSS 466. $5 MiEM 561 1 _ 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, signs of damage, and marks of ownership.
Documenting provenance would allow us to prove a stolen item belongs to MSU. If in doubt, just record it. End with code $5 MiEM | Sample notes for writing in book: 561 1 _ Front paste-down has pencil inscription "Louisa Elliot" on upper left corner. $5 MiEM 561 1 _ Pencil inscription "For my dear Albert" at head of title on front wrapper. $5 MiEM 561 1 _ Child's pencil scribbling on front paste-down and flyleaf. $5 MiEM 561 1 _ Margin notes on astronomical tables for September to December. $5 MiEM 561 1 _ August 14 has pencil note "Terrible hailstorm" in the margin. $5 MiEM 561 1 _ Unread inscription on upper right corner of flyleaf. $5 MiEM ("Unread" means illegible to you, but someone else might decipher?) |
561 | Provenance continued | 561 records damage to existing content, but use 590 to note entire missing pages. That way you can use copy with a 300 field showing the full page count. A 561 may only be visible in staff view but 590 should always be displayed. | Sample notes for damage 561 1 _ Pages 15-16 and 17-18 have lower corner torn away, with loss of text. $5 MiEM 561 1 _ Page 22 has dark stains, possibly ink blots, slightly obscuring the text. $5 MiEM |
561 | Provenance continued | Evidence of ownership: besides inscriptions, you may see book plates, ownership stamps, etc. Take special note of ads printed on the back covers of almanacs: usually means almanac publisher did special print run for that customer. (This is why WorldCat may have multiple similar records for an almanac: back-cover ads are different.) | Sample notes for ownership and distribution 561 1 _ Embossed ownership stamp for Western Reserve Historical Society on front wrapper. $5 MiEM 561 1 _ Bookplate of former owner, Joseph Higgins, on inside front wrapper. $5 MiEM 561 1 _ Ink stamp in blank area at bottom of back wrapper: "A free gift for you from Hankins Drugstore, Hinckley, Minn." $5 MiEM 561 1 _ Back wrapper printed with ad for James Wilder & Sons, Dayton, Ohio. $5 MiEM |
563 | Binding note | Use term "printed paper wrappers" for front and back cover. Specify how pages are secured:
Watch out paper strips applied to reinforce the spine, sometimes with stab stitch attaching it to the text block. Note holes drilled through the upper left corner for hanging. Note loops of string through the hanging hole. End with $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. When we do serial analytics in future, will need to specify which issues give note pertains to. | 590 _ _ MSU: Gift of William D. and Helen M. Chase. 590 for serials: 590_ _ MSU: SPC 1994/95 issue gift of William D. Chase (2016). For serials: if gift only encompasses part of the issues owned, adjust the 590 language to refer to a specific copy or issue. |
6xx to 9xx fields
| Field | Content | Explanation | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 600 | Personal name heading | Use if there's significant content about a person. | 600 1 0 Washington, George, $d 1732-1799 |
| 650 | Topical subject heading | Distinguish between language and nationality: Almanacs, German = almanacs in German Almanacs $z Germany = almanacs from Germany EXCEPTION: Almanacs, American refers to nationality. | Almanac for German-Americans, in German language, published in Pennsylvania: 650 _ 0 Almanacs, German $z Pennsylvania $z Lancaster $y 19th century Almanac published in Germany: 650 _ 0 Almanacs $z Germany $z Berlin $y 19th century |
| 650 | Topical subject heading | As appropriate. | 650 _ 0 Patent medicines 650 _ 0 Agricultural machinery 650 _ 0 Socialism |
| 655 | Genre term | Use 655, 2nd indicator 7 for genre terms, and actual year of almanac coverage (instead of century.) End with $2 rbgenr. | 655 _ 7 Almanacs $z Pennsylvania $z Lancaster $y 1865 $2 rbgenr |
| 700 | Added entry, personal name | Calculator of astronomical data is often identified. | 700 1 _ Perkins, George R., $d 1812-1876, $e contributor. |
| 710 | Added entry, corporate name | Note publisher name in 710, with relator term $e publisher. | 700 2 _ John Baer & Sons, $e publisher. 700 2 _ Socialist Party, $b National Lettish Organization, $e publisher. |
| 830 | Uniform title | Used for Chase Collection: | 830 _0 William D. and Helen M. Chase Collection. $5 MiEM |
| 947 | Instance record | Seldom for almanacs | |
| 948 | Location | Per date of coverage |
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| 949 | Item record | 949 Printed Material $d Non-circulating $f workstat $g Restricted |