Scope: This procedure identifies the added tracings that CMS rare materials staff use to make rare books in RMC readily searchable by provenance.
Contact: Margaret Nichols
Unit: Cataloging & Metadata Services
Date last updated: 07/12/2019
Date of next review: March 2020
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. Add $5NIC at the very end of the field, since the provenance tracing is copy-specific.
700 1_ (or 710 2_) for provenance
If the person signed the book: ",$e signer" 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. We use this phrasing: "Provenance: name of former owner (form of provenance evidence)." For a book inscribed to someone, use this phrasing: "Provenance: Inscribed to x by y, date." Other phrasing may be needed for a more complex situation.
Examples:
852 00 $b rmc $k Rare Books $h BX1673 $i .L62 $z Provenance: Andrew Dickson White (bookplate).
852 00 $b rmc $k Rare Books $h PR4076 $i. H63 1966 $z Provenance: Inscribed to James McLaughlin by the author, June 6, 1967.
852 00 $b rmc $k Rare Books $h BS1754 $I. M79 $z Provenance: Prize book presented to Aaron Bishop for perfect Sunday school attendance, First Presbyterian Church of Enfield (Massachusetts), May 25, 1876.
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 put a 541 field on the holdings record (with 1st indicator 1) for the donor's name, followed by $c Gift. If the donor wishes to remain anonymous, use 541 first indicator 0; this will prevent the information from displaying to the public.
Example:
541 1 $a M.H. Abrams $c Gift