Scope:  These are terms that CMS rare materials catalogers commonly apply as tracings (when appropriate) for rare books. Terms are from the RBMS Controlled Vocabulary on a website hosted by the Library of Congress. Other terms from the RBMS CV may also be used when called for.

Contact: Margaret Nichols  

Unit: Cataloging & Metadata Services

Date last updated:  

Date of next review: March 2025

Hosted by the Library of Congress Linked Data Service, the RBMS Controlled Vocabulary for Rare Materials Cataloging lists terms approved for use on catalog records for rare materials. RBMS CVRMC content is maintained by the Controlled Vocabularies Editorial Group (CVEG), a committee of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), which is a division of the American Library Association (ALA). New terms are added at the request of community members and vetted for inclusion by CVEG. The RBMS Controlled Vocabulary includes genre terms, and terms relating to bindings, type evidence, paper, printing and publishing evidence, and provenance evidence. The genre terms include terms for prejudicial works. (To see a list of those terms, do a search on "prejudicial works" and then click on that phrase.) All terms are coded 655 _7, with $2 rbmscv at the end. Subdivisions (such as by country and century) are no longer used. Do not go back and delete the subdivisions from catalog records created previously.

Note: Like other thesauri, the Controlled Vocabulary for Rare Materials Cataloging is a living entity, subject to change over time. It pays to check periodically, before using a given term, to see whether its authorized form has changed.

Genre terms we commonly use:

  • Addresses [i.e. speeches]
  • Auction catalogs
  • Broadsides
  • Dialogues
  • Diaries
  • Essays
  • Exhibition catalogs
  • Fables
  • Juvenile literature
  • Lectures
  • Legislative addresses
  • Novellas
  • Novels
  • Plays
  • Poems
  • Prospectuses
  • Publishers' catalogs
  • Satires
  • Screenplays
  • Sermons
  • Short stories
  • Songs
  • Theater programs
  • Three deckers
  • Volvelles (this one need not be subdivided)

Terms that apply to American works:

  • Fourth of July sermons
  • Fourth of July addresses
  • Thanksgiving sermons

Provenance terms we commonly use

  • Authors' presentation copies
  • Extra-illustrated copies
  • Presentation copies
  • Prize books
  • Publishers' copies

Binding terms we commonly use

  • Blind tooled bindings
  • Bosses
  • Clasps
  • Fore-edge paintings
  • Tree calf bindings
  • Vellum bindings

Printing or publishing terms we commonly use

  • Galley proofs
  • Printers' devices
  • Proofs
  • Review copies
  • Subscription lists

Prejudicial works terms we may find useful (but see the Vocabulary for more)

  • Anti-Asian works
  • Anti-Black works
  • Anti-Catholic works
  • Anti-clerical works
  • Anti-communist works
  • Anti-Jewish works
  • Anti-LGBTQ+ works
  • Anti-Masonic works
  • Fascist works
  • Misogynistic works
  • Racist works
  • Xenophobic works