Scope: This procedure identifies the added tracings that CMS rare materials staff use to make rare books readily searchable by publication date, publisher and/or printer, and provenance (former owner). It also describes our policies concerning when to add these tracings.
Contact: Margaret Nichols
Unit: Cataloging & Metadata Services
Date last updated: 05/12/2015
Date of next review: March 2016
For pre-1800 European imprints and pre-1821 American imprints, we trace the publication date, printer, and publisher. For History of Science and Icelandic materials, we trace the date, printer, and publisher for all pre-1900 imprints.
650 _4 [Date] for publication date
651 _4 [Place]$vImprints (printer/publisher's name)
Examples:
650 _4 1793
651 _4 London (England)$vImprints (Millar, Andrew)
For imprints of any date, we trace provenance, i.e. the names of former owners of the book, using appropriate MARC relator terms in $e to designate their relation to the book.
700 1_ (or 710 2_) for provenance
If the person signed the book: ",$e former owner" at the end
If the person put a bookplate or stamp in the book: ",$e former owner" at the end
If the book was inscribed to someone else by the person: ",$e inscriber" at the end
If the book was inscribed to the person: ",$e former owner" at the end
Example:
700 1_ White, Andrew Dickson,$d1832-1918, $e former owner $5 NIC.
The provenance note itself goes in 852 $z (a public note) on the MARC holdings record.
Example:
852 00 $brmc $kRare Books $hBX1673 $i.L62 $zProvenance: Andrew Dickson White (bookplate).
For imprints of any date, we also trace a significant binder or a private press, using the appropriate MARC relator term.
For a binder: 700 1_ (or 710 2_) with ", $e binder" at the end
For a private press: 710 2_ with ",$e publisher" at the end
Examples:
700 1_ Zaehnsdorf, $e binder
710 2_ Black Sparrow Press, $e publisher.
We do not trace donors. (When we traced them in the past, confusion resulted when patrons searched under authors who were also donors.) Instead, we make a 541 note for a donor (with 1st indicator 1), unless s/he wishes to remain anonymous. Although it is copy-specific, this note is included in the bibliographic record (instead of the holdings record) in order to enable donors or Alumni Affairs staff to retrieve all the books given by a particular donor, by doing a simple keyword search.
Example:
541 1 $aRare copy 1: Gift of M.H. Abrams. $5NIC