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Scope:  Minimal-level cataloging (MLC) is an abbreviated form of cataloging that reflects gives limited bibliographic description, subject analysis and (in most cases) authority work. Materials eligible for MLC include low-need and/or low research value titles.

Contact:Sarah Ross  Pam Stansbury / Laura Daniels

Unit: Cataloging

Date last updated: 10/3012/20142023

Date of next review: October 2016 2024

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Inputting
Guidelines for LC Call Numbers
Guidelines for Access Points
Guidelines for Subject Access (FAST)
Guidelines for Added Entries
LTS Statistics Code for Minimal Level Records
Historical Background and Policy
Eligibility for MLC
Exclusions from MLC
Definitions
Interpreting the Minimal Level Standards

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Any record input by LTS should be described according to RDA.  If the record is based on AACR2 copy input as MLC (Encoding level not blank) by LC, it is acceptable to leave the record as AACR2.  Modify the in-process record in Voyager to OCLC to bring it up to the LTS minimal level standard, as defined below.

Fixed Field Values

All other fixed field positions are optional at minimal level.  Catalogers may fill in such fields as Contents or Literary Form at their discretion, as long as they do no not agonize over the choice.

Variable Fields

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• Focus on the data elements spelled out in this procedure as mandatory or mandatory if applicable.
• Accept what is present on DLC records to the extent possible. Do not delete or change DLC information unless it is clearly inaccurate or egregiously misleading.
• Do not agonize over data elements in a record. Make a quick decision in most cases.

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Classify items according to the LC classification schedules, unless one or more of the exceptional cases listed in LTS Procedure 11#11, "Shelflisting," apply. Use the schedules on the Catalogers Desktop. Add the call number to the bib record in the 050 field, 1st indicator blank, and 2nd indicator 4 (050: 4:).

If you find an actual LC cutter for an individual literary author, artist, geographic area, or subject, use it. Otherwise construct a cutter using Library of Congress practice for cuttering, as described in the LC Shelflisting Manual, available on Cataloger's Desktop.

In crowded places in the schedules, as may happen especially with literary authors, it may be better to keep an author together and a Cutter-Sanborn cutter, rather than splitting an author between the Cutter-Sanborn cutter and the LC cutter.  Use discretion.

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Access points should be consistent with the structure of the Voyager catalog.  NoteLC Name Authority File. Note: it is not necessary for every MLC access point to be represented by an authority record in the national file. 

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• If you find an authority record, use that form, which is the authorized access point, and control the heading.
• If you don't find an authority record, search Voyager search FOLIO (the public catalog search may be more effective) and use a form from a Voyager an existing bibliographic record. If several forms of the name or uniform title occur in Voyager, select a heading form in this order of preference: a full RDA or AACR2 record; another MLC minimal level record; an LC in-process (Encoding level 5) record. Use judgment to select one of them; make a quick decision in most cases.
• If the heading is new to Voyagerus, do a quick search of OCLC. If a form is found in other bibliographic records, use that form. Otherwise, formulate the heading using RDA, information from the item, and information you've discovered by searching Voyager.
• If the heading conflicts with a heading that already occurs in Voyagerour catalog, resolve the conflict by making additions to the MLC heading in your record.
  
• If the conflict cannot be resolved in this manner, create an RDA NACO authority record.

Note, the only instance in which you would make a NACO authority record is when the chosen access point conflicts with an access point that is already in Voyager our catalog and you cannot resolve the conflict without further research. 

   2.  Titles (130, 240).  If the item is a translation and the original title is known, supply the preferred title for the original + |l Language.  Follow the procedure in (1) above to find the preferred title or name/title combination.  Remember that RDA requires what we used to call “uniform titles” in two more situations:

• If the work is a complete compilation with one creator, RDA requires a conventional collective such as “Works. |k Selections” or “Short stories. |k Selections.”  NB: As of August 2013, CUL does not follow this rule See Chart #2.title.
  
• If the work is a compilation with more than one creator, you may need to devise a 130 if the title proper is in conflict with another title in the database. 
• Supply these titles if the choice is easy and quick.  You should check for an authority record for any name/title 100/240, but you do not need to create NARs in these situations.
  
  

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Starting on December 1, 2014, LTS exclusively uses FAST subject headings on minimal level records.  This change applies to minimal level (that is, encoding level 7) cataloging only and not to class-on-receipt (encoding level 3) or full cataloging.

Consult LTS Procedure #127, FAST Headings for Cataloging, http://lts.library.cornell.edu/lts/pp/cat/127FAST for guidance on the use of FAST.

If your book would not require LCSH headings, for example if it is a work of literature by an individual author, FAST should not be applied.  However, LTS is no longer relying on keywords for subject access: even if your book's title says exactly what the book is about, in English, you still need to apply FAST headings.

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You may assign added entries (7xx fields) if failure to do so would seriously impair access to the item. If necessary, assign up to two 7xx fields to cover the primary relationships associated with an item (e.g. an editor's name, the corporate sponsor of a symposium) or to bring out title access information judged to be important.

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Add a 948 field an instance administrative note for statistics tracking. Use first indicator 1 for cataloging transaction and subfield b o for This is considered original cataloging. Minimal level cataloging statistics are defined by the o (original cataloging) from the 948 structured note field and 7 from the encoding level field of the MARC Leader.

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It is important to remember that in using MLC, catalogers should seek a sound balance between the need for timely access to the material and the probable research value of the item.  Catalogers should consult with selectors generally about the kinds of materials that are high priorities in order to have a clear sense of when MLC might be appropriate for a given item or class of items.

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Low-need and/or low research value titles:

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In general, if an item has reached LTS with Library of Congress (DLC …  |c DLC) minimal-level cataloging, LTS catalogers are free to follow LC’s judgment and leave the cataloging at that level.

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The following types of materials should always be excluded from MLC:

1. All reference collection materials.
2. Materials requested by individual users.
3. Major publications (both primary and secondary sources).
4. Substantial publications that may or may not be of topical interest.   
   
   

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The source of these definitions is the Library of Congress Cataloging Service Bulletin, no. 84 (Spring 1999), pp. 27-32. CSB 84 is also the source of the definition of research value provided in section III.

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Substantial publications are those likely to be used for research purposes by a specialist and that do not meet the definition of either a major publication or a substantial publication of topical interest.

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