GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT CATALOGUING CHEAT SHEET
J. McRee (Mac) Elrod 22 July 2008
Government publications present two major difficulties: when to
do corporate main entry, and what form the government main or added
entry should take. Otherwise, they are catalogued like any other
monograph or serial (see the monograph and serial cheat sheets).
SLC is very conservative with corporate main entry, reserving it to items
*about* the corporate body. You might want to reread AACR2 21.1B2 very
carefully, particularly categories a to c, which are common among
government documents.
In terms of form of entry, you are way ahead if LC has established an
entry for the body (which is more often than not the case). If you have
to create one yourself, start with the government jurisdiction, and end
with the smallest office/department. If the name of that
office/department is too general to be unique in that government, e.g.,
Accounting Office, Procurement Office, insert between the two the
smallest body in the hierarchy which stands a good chance of being
unique. In other words, a long string of departments within departments
should be reduced to three elements:
110/710 1 $aJurisdiction.$bSmallest Unique Dept.$bSmallest Office.
Contrary to AACR2, "Department" is abbreviated "Dept.", following LC
practice. Even I don't fuss about that one. Some software search keys
are too short to find long governmental corporate body entries, so the
shorter the better.
The current version of MARC used in North America, Australia and
increasingly in Europe is MARC21, a harmonization of USMARC. CANMARC
and UKMARC, with adaptations for Germany.
Fixed Fields
Only the most common fields and codes for documents are given. See the
MARC21 Manual for other fields and codes. See in particular 008/28.
Type (LDR/06):
a = language material (includes text in microform or as electronic
resource)
e = map
Bib lvl (LDR/07):
m = monograph
s = serial (see Serials Cataloguing Cheat Sheet)
Enc lvl (LDR/17):
blank = full record book in hand
1 = full record book not in hand
2 = less than full record
8 = CIP record (upgrade)
i = OCLC full record } Prefer MARC21
k = OCLC less than full } codes
Des cat form (LDR/18)
a = AACR/ISBD
Date type (008/06):
s = single date
r = reprint dates
c = continuation (see Serial Cataloguing Cheat Sheet)
d = dead serial (see Serial Cataloguing Cheat Sheet)
m = multiple dates
n = unknown (try to use q and guess decade)
q = date in question, e.g. 194u
t = publication & copyright dates
Date one (008/07-10):
year of publication (s,t), reprinting (r), or beginning (m)
Date two (008/11-14):
year of ending (m), original printing (r), or copyright (t)
use 9999 if still being published
Country (008/15-17)
at = Australia
enk = England
fr = France
States (U.S.):
alu aku azu aru cau cou ctu deu dcu flu gau
hiu idu ilu inu iau ksu kyu lau mau mdu meu
miu mnu mou msu mtu nbu ncu ndu nhu nju nmu
nvu nyu ohu oku oru pau riu scu sdu tnu txu
utu vau vtu wau wiu wvu wyu
xxu = United States, state unknown
Provinces (Canada):
abc bcc mbc nfc nbc nsc ntc nuc onc pic quc snc ykc
xxc = Canada, province unknown
Illus (008/18-21):
Up to four codes may be used for monographs.
a = illustrated
b = maps*
d = charts*
e = plans*
k = forms*
o = photographs
* use also in 300 field
Repr (008/23):
blank = can be read by naked eye
a = microfilm
b = microfiche
Cont 008/24-27):
b = bibliographies (with 504)
c = catalogs
f = handbooks
i = indexes
l = legislation
r = directories
s = statistics
Govt pub (008/28):
blank = not govt. pub.
i = international body (e.g. UNESCO)
f = federal
l = local (towns, counties)
s = state, province
Index (008/31):
0 = no index
1 = index
Lang (008/35-37):
language of text or predominate language
eng = English
fre = French
Source (008/39):
source of cataloging
blank = DLC
d = local library
Variable Fields
010
LC card order number. No usually printed in government documents,
particularly if you are doing original cataloguing for them.
020
International Standard Bibliographic Number (ISBN). Not often
found in government documents. In MARC record, key without
hyphens.
040
Field 040 says $a who catalogued; $b in which language (LAC records
only); $c who made it machine readable; and $d who finished the record.
Today originals are usually done in one operation online, but lie and use 040
$aCaBNvSL$cCaBNvSL$dCaBNvSL (substitute your NUC code for SLC's). For
derives, if the 110/710/830 are French, and have no English forms to
susbstitute, leave in $bfre language code (may be used by a Quebec
libary to determine display - aka print - constants generated by 246
indicators); remove $bfre if access points are changed to English;
remove $beng (since it is not added to DLC records); repeat the 040$a
code in $c if lacking; and add $dCaBNvSL (or your code) at the end.
MARC record checking software expects to find at least subfields $a
and $c.
041
Language codes for translations and multilingual items, since
008/35-47 will only contain one language code. See MARC21.
050
Library of Congress call number (LCC). In MARC record key as
050 2nd indicator 0 (assigned at LC) or 4 (local), e.g.: 050 4
$aAB1234.5$b.D78 1998, or if two Cutters, 050 4 $aAB123.5.C6$bD78
1999. Note period for first Cutter, $b for second, both for one
Cutter, but only one of each.
060
National Library of Medicine call number.
082
Dewey Decimal call number (DDC). Second indicator 0 if
assigned by DLC, 4 if local. Omit Cutter. Use " / " to indicate
natural breaks. On OCLC locally assigned DDC numbers plus Cutter
are keyed in 092.
086
Government document classification number.
1st indicator blank = source in $2
0 = U.S. Superintendent of Documents
1 = Government of Canada
090
Local call number. MARC tag number varies with system. At SLC
coded with slashes for line breaks, e.g.:
090 0 $aAB/1234.5/C6/D78/1998$bMAIN$c1-2$d1-2 ($b = location,
$ccopies, $dvolumes)
On OCLC keyed like 050 and used for locally assigned LCC numbers.
092
See 082.
Choice of main entry
More often than not, government documents will have title main
entry. Only use corporate main entry (110) for works about the
agency such as annual reports (AACR2 21.1B2). Otherwise the agency
is 710. Few government documents have personal or conference main
entry, but it can happen.
100
Personal author main entry; if the work has three or fewer authors
(and that is authors, not compilers or editors) the first is given,
surname first. A compiler *is* the author of an index or
bibliography, however. In MARC records key 1st indicator 1 for
surname, e.g.: 100 1 $aSmith, Jones,$d1932- [This and all 1XX and
7XX fields are normally checked against the library's or LC's
authority file to achieve uniformity.]
110
If the work is the annual report of a government body, the report
of a government task force, or some such, that government body is
the author. There are fewer corporate bodies as author (main entry)
under current rules than earlier.
In MARC records, key 1st indicator 1 for a corporate body which
begins with a jurisdiction, 2 for direct order, e.g.: 110 1
$aCanada.$bDept. of State. vs, 110 2 $aLibrary of Congress.
In creating the 110 or 710, for a government agency not having a
stand alone name (e.g., Dept. of State as opposed to Library of
Congress), start with the jurisdiction. Then give the smallest
distinct name (unlikely to be another of the same name in the same
government), and lastly the smallest. This means normally one $a
and no more than two $b, or three elements in all.
If working with an Amicus derived record with 110/710 in French,
check LC online authorities to see if an English form exists. If
so, substitute the English form. (Some cusomters want the French
form in 910.)
111
If what you have is conference proceedings, the name of the conference
is the author. In a MARC record the name is followed by
$d(number :$ddate :$cPlace), or if no number, $d(date :$cPlace).
BUT 110$aCorporate Name.$bConference$n( ...
245
The title as on the title page; use a ":" before subtitles, (:$b in
MARC) "=" before a title in another language; followed by "/" and
up to three authors. If more than three, give the first followed
by "... [et al.]." (The title is the main entry in this case, i.e.,
no 100.) If they did different things, use a ";", e.g. /$cby John
Smith ; illustrated by Tim Jones. Only the first word and proper
names are capitalized. Names of Acts are proper names.
In a MARC record, use 1st indicator 0 for title main entry, 1
(for title added entry) if there is a 1XX; 2nd indicator for
number of spaces to be skipped in filing, e.g., A = 2, An = 3, and
The - 4, because of the space following the initial article, e.g.:
245 04 $aThe safe water resource manual /$cOntario Provincial Water
Resources Board.
245$h[gmd]
If the item is nonbook (microforms and maps are the most common), a
general material designation follows the first title proper. It is
enclosed in square brackets. (Some old OCLC records will be
found without the brackets.) Common ones are:
electronic resource (formerly computer file)
kit
map
microform
sound recording
videorecording
When there is a gmd, there is also an smd, a more specific term
in 300. For example, a microform might be reel or fiche. See
examples in AACR2 1998. Consult the index under the name of the
form.
Rules have the collation and smd omitted for remote resources. SLC
supplies it, e.g., 300 $a1 website :$bcol. ill.
Just what is the title proper is not always clear for government
documents. It is best to transcribe all title information in the
order found in the chief source (often the cover in the absence of a
title page), and repeat other phrases which might be considered as
title proper in 246 30 (see below). Having the phrase in 245 means
no note is required to justify the 246.
246
Alternate title which represents the whole work, e.g.:
246 30 $aPortion of title
246 31 $aParallel title
246 14 $aCover title
246 15 $aAdded title page title
246 1 $iAt head of title:$aPhrase at head of title
1st indicator 3 means added entry, no note; 1st indicator 1
means added entry and note; the second indicator says which print
constant to use for the note; if no print constant is available,
use $i$a as shown.
247
Former title for a loose-leaf service or website (integrating
entity) which changes title.
250
Edition, e.g., 2nd ed., Rev. ed. If a person other than the
original author prepared the edition, you would say so, e.g.,
2nd ed. /$bby Tim Jones.
260
Imprint, e.g.:
260 $aWashington, D.C. :$bU.S. Dept. of State,$c2001.
300
Collation, e.g.:
300 $ax, 100 p. :$bill. ;$c23 cm.
If multiple volumes, the number of volumes is given, e.g., 3 v.
:$bill. ;$c28 cm. If the volumes are numbered right through (as
opposed to each volume starting with page 1, then, 3 v. (300 p.)
:$bgraphs ;c26 cm. Other possible variations include 1 v. (various
pagings) ;$c28 cm., 1 v (unpaged) ; 28 cm., 1 v. (loose-leaf) ; 29
cm. (Loose-leaf is only used for material to be updated, not just
anything in a binder.)
SLC assigns 300 to remote electronic resources, e.g., 1 web site,
1 electronic text.
440 Series as on item and traced (obsolete)
If it has a number or year, that goes after ;$v. The ";"
before $v will often need to be inserted. Although 440 is obsolete,
continue to accept 440 in older records, and do not change to 490 1/
830.
490 Series as on item.
Beginning June 1, 2006, the US Library of Congress is coding all
series as 490 0.
It has been SLC policy since January of 1979 to have no 490 0 in
bibliographic records. (Some but not all SLC customers index 490
in their series and/or title indexes, making access uneven between
customers.) When you encounter a 490 0, and it contains no subject
word, or a responsible corporate body or person, e.g., "Penguin
books", change the 490 0 to a 500 quoted pseudo series statement.
If the 490 0 transcribed series statement contains a subject word,
e.g., "Studies in chemistry", change the 490 0 to 490 1, and enter
the series in 830 with 2nd filing indicator 0-4. If the series title
is generic, e.g., "Report" or "Works", and has been established in
either the LC or LAC authority files, add the name of the responsible
ody or person in curves.
Provide ";$v" issue number or year as relevant. Include ISSN in $x
if available.
All series changed from 490 0 will be under title. SLC will not
create 800/810/811. for current LC derived or original cataloguing.
Those headings in legacy and Amicus records will be left unchanged,
but 830 for the 8XX$t will be added for the benefit of customers who
do not index 8XX$t.
500
General notes. There are also specific notes. As a beginner, if
you see something which seems helpful on the title page which you
did not include in 245, just quote it, e.g., 500 $a"Reports the law
as of April 1, 1999."
504
Includes bibliographic references and index.
505
Contents, e.g., v. 1. Title one -- v. 2. Title two.
520
Summary. Our clients tell us that inclusion of summaries increases
use due to keyword searching. But if quoting with "--", we
attempt to screen out publisher's "puff" adjectives substitutomg
"...", and just include the parts which actually tell you something
about the item. When cataloguing an electroic resource from a pdf,
there is often a summary which can be cut and pasted.
525
How updated.
546
Language, e.g., Text in English and French on inverted pages.
Subjects. In MARC records, subject subdivisions have subfield codes
$xTopic$zPlace$yPeriod$vGenre.
600
Person as subject, in same format as person as author.
610
Corporate body as subject (including governments).
611
Conference as subject.
650
Topic as subject.
651
Place as subject (but not governments), e.g.:
651 0 $aCanada$xHistory$y1755-1763.
700
Person as added entry, e.g., the 2nd and 3rd of three authors, the
first of more than three, editors.
710
Corporate body as added entry. See 110 for form.
711
Conference as added entry.
730
Uniform title as main entry, i.e., the related item has an
authority record established for its title.
740
Analytical and related work title added entries. (Now in MARC
titles which represent the whole work are coded 246, while titles
which represent part of the work or a related work, are here.)
830
Series entered in catalogue differently than on item. Series as on
item is in 490 1st indicator 1, and series as entered in the
catalogue is here. If the from in 440/830 is French, and LC has
established the series in English only, enter the English form in
830, change 440 to 490 1, and if wished by the customer, move
the French form to 983.
910/983
If requested by customer, items in French with English forms
established by LC 110/710/830, have LAC French forms in 910/983.
If English forms are not established, and 650 6 RVM is provided,
040$b is coded "fre". Canadian federal government bodies usually
have English and French forms of name. Quebed government bodies
often have only French.
The GPO Cataloging Guidelines are helpful. You may be able to
adapt their policies for U.S. government publications to state,
local, and other government publications.
It's available on online at:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/cip/index.html
