[DCRM-L] Cataloging a Manuscript Fragment That's Been Reunited with Its Original Codex

[Rebecca Flore]

Many thanks to those who responded! It’s helpful to get perspectives and see some examples—and to get confirmation that there’s a variety of reasonable ways to approach this. Maria, you make a very good point about data/metadata beyond just descriptive metadata. This makes me realize that I also need to check in with my library’s digitization department to see how they intended to treat this.

Best wishes,

Rebecca


Rebecca Flore, PhD
Special Collections Metadata Librarian
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
rflore at uchicago.edu<mailto:rflore at uchicago.edu>
773-702-7602
https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/scrc/

From: Maria Oldal <oldalm at themorgan.org>
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2023 5:18 PM
To: DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
Cc: Rebecca Flore <rflore at uchicago.edu>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] Cataloging a Manuscript Fragment That's Been Reunited with Its Original Codex

Rebecca,

You may want to consider the system(s) the record or records will live in, and all the practical uses the record(s) will satisfy down the line. A collection management system works much better with separate records. It will be able to handle acquisition, credit line, provenance, location tracking, conservation, exhibition, loans, etc. information much better, especially that the two items remain physically separate. Even though a library system can easily accommodate an extra item record and perform library transactions at the item level, once you need to move and use the record in a different system, it is difficult to tease out data elements that are for the codex and the ones for the leaf. Another consideration is the content of the leaf. If it is a full-page miniature, you may opt to describe it under the illuminator with a title for the content of the image, and elaborate on the connection to the codex in the notes and additional access points.

Enjoy this wonderful new acquisition!

Maria

--
Maria Oldal
Manager of Collections Information and Library Systems
The Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-590-0382
Email: oldalm at themorgan.org
<mailto:oldalm at themorgan.org>


On Mon, Jun 26, 2023 at 5:18 PM Rebecca Flore via DCRM-L <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>> wrote:
Hi all,

My library recently acquired a manuscript leaf that at some point in its history was removed from a codex manuscript that we hold. For anyone whose library has reunited two parts of the same manuscript like this, how did you handle the cataloging? Did you catalog them as two separate resources, or did you catalog them as a single resource with a note about how the number of physical units of the manuscript in hand differs from the number of units originally produced? In terms of physical arrangement, we plan to shelve the leaf and the codex next to each other, with the leaf in its own box.

Best wishes,

Rebecca


Rebecca Flore, PhD
Special Collections Metadata Librarian
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
rflore at uchicago.edu<mailto:rflore at uchicago.edu>
773-702-7602
https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/scrc/

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