[MinervaCats] Cataloging Tip

[Ellen Conway]

Dear Minerva catalogers,

This week's Cataloging Tip involves the 504 field in bib records.  This is
the correct place to note the presence of a bibliography in print
materials.

Very often when a record is imported from a remote site it is a
"prepublication" record that lacks specific physical characteristics such as
pagination and size.  It is assumed that when the material is finally in
hand, the cataloger will insert this information into the 300 field.  In
many cases these prepub records will also include a 504 note that states
"Includes bibliographical references..."  If a bibliography is present, it
is the responsibility of the cataloger to determine where it is and to add
this information to the note if it is missing.  So, if your new book has a
bibliography on pages 349 through 353, your note should read "504 _ _
 Includes bibliographical references (p. 349-353)."

If the book has a bibliography *and* an index, it should read "504 _ _
 Includes bibliographical references (p. 349-353) and index."  If you should
discover that there is no bibliography even though the prepub record says
one is there, you can delete this field altogether, and note the presence of
an index in a 500 note.

I have noticed that too often this is not being done.  Catalogers should be
attentive to this detail, so please remember that if you find that this
information is missing it is your responsibility to improve the record, even
if you are not the person who originally brought the bib record in.

Please contact me if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Ellen

Ellen M. Conway
Maine InfoNet Cataloging Consultant
797-9464, cell ph. 329-5443
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