[DCRM-L] Question: Local notes in OCLC master records

[Robert Maxwell]

I thought one of the reasons for creating the ability to have institution records in OCLC was so that such notes could be recorded in the institution record rather than the master record. I gather putting such notes in the master record leaves them vulnerable to deletion by later catalogers. At least we are advised on OCLC-CAT by OCLC personnel that local information such as this found in master records can be deleted.

Bob

Robert L. Maxwell
Special Collections and Ancient Languages Catalog Librarian
Genre/Form Authorities Librarian
6728 Harold B. Lee Library
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
(801)422-5568

From: dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu [mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu] On Behalf Of McCallum, Rebecca
Sent: Monday, November 16, 2009 11:38 AM
To: dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu
Subject: [DCRM-L] Question: Local notes in OCLC master records

My colleagues and I are currently debating when to add copy-specific local notes and related tracings to an OCLC master record, and when to simply leave them in our local catalog only.

At one end of the spectrum are notes that would definitely be of interest to researchers searching in WorldCat (eg. "500 _ _ $a Wesleyan copy: Heavily annotated and corrected by the author. $5 CtW").

At the other end of the spectrum are notes that would not be as useful to those outside our institution (eg. "500 _ _ $a Wesleyan copy: From the Kallir Family Collection, Given in Honor of Barbara Kallir (Class of 1983). $5 CtW").

But what about cases in between?  We're trying to find a balance point between providing useful information and avoiding cluttering up OCLC records unnecessarily.

Do you have parameters for when to add a copy-specific note to an OCLC master record?  If so, would you be willing to share those guidelines?

Thank you very much.

Rebecca McCallum
Cataloging Librarian
Wesleyan University
252 Church Street
Middletown, CT  06459
(860) 685-3839
rmccallum at wesleyan.edu
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