[MinervaCats] 520 field

[Rebecca Francis]

The "25 words or less" that Ellen suggested is a guideline, not a rule! 
(as she pointed out).  It gives catalogers a helpful goal to aim for when 
they aren't sure what to do with a really gargantuan summary or when they 
need to create a summary statement from scratch. 

Limiting the summary to "meaningful content" as Melora mentioned is an 
important  concept to keep in mind.  Too much information can be just as 
annoying for OPAC users as too little. 

I don't think anyone needs to worry too much about having their 520 fields 
altered by another cataloger, as long as any judgments on the quality of 
the work (usually superlatives--"the only guide you'll need to..." "the 
best book on..." "An excellent review of...") are taken out, and it 
doesn't go on for more than a sentence or two.  Nobody has time to 
actually count the number of words, and as long as there isn't anything 
really egregious about the summary field it will probably be left alone. 
But those who are concerned should try to keep an eye on their records 
somehow.  Maybe keep a file of printouts of certain records and check them 
again a few weeks or months later.  If there is a significant problem, it 
will be easier to address that way. 

Rebecca

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Rebecca Francis
Coordinator of Technical Services
Curtis Memorial Library
23 Pleasant St.
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 725-5242 x218
rfrancis at curtislibrary.com
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