[DCRM-L] Determining bibliographical format

Fri Jun 14 12:39:12 MDT 2019

I just want to second Richard's comment and offer my own institution,
Vassar, as an example. In Special Collections, we shelve books by three
sizes: folio, quarto, and octavo. These denote height and have only a
coincidental relationship to the printing format of the books. Further,
these distinctions don't appear in our records, except for "Folio" which
leads the call numbers for books of that size.

If I understand correctly Richard's remarks about the RDA 340 field, I'm
bothered by the possibility of this size information ending up in records
where it could be mistaken for printing format designations, which
traditionally appear in the 300.

Mark Seidl

On Fri, Jun 14, 2019 at 2:12 PM Noble, Richard <richard_noble at brown.edu>
wrote:

> Format = Spine height is not just in recon records. There seems to be a
> recently initiated program (centered I know not where) of wholesale
> insertion into OCLC records of 340 rda "format" fields, which are clearly a
> reversion to this ancient and (for rare catalogers) potentially highly
> misleading descriptive practice. It would seem to be a device for assigning
> shelving locations, which are in many places given as 12mo, 8vo , 4to,
> folio. This has nothing to do with the printing format, especially with
> respect to modern books which may really be e.g. 32mo in 8s or some such
> thing.
>
> RICHARD NOBLE :: RARE MATERIALS CATALOGUER :: JOHN HAY LIBRARY
> BROWN UNIVERSITY  ::  PROVIDENCE, R.I. 02912  ::  401-863-1187
> <Richard_Noble at Br <RICHARD_NOBLE at BROWN.EDU>own.edu>
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 14, 2019 at 2:00 PM Moody, Honor M. <honor_moody at harvard.edu>
> wrote:
>
>> It’s not uncommon to see a bibliographic format meaning spine height in
>> recon records in OCLC. If the only/primary difference between the OCLC
>> description and the piece in hand is a difference in bibliographic format,
>> and no height is given in cm, I’ve found it worthwhile to check the public
>> catalog of the creating library (in case they updated locally), or to
>> contact the library to confirm.
>>
>>
>>
>> Honor
>>
>> *From:* DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> *On Behalf Of *Erin Blake
>> *Sent:* Thursday, June 13, 2019 12:29 PM
>> *To:* DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
>> *Subject:* Re: [DCRM-L] Determining bibliographical format
>>
>>
>>
>> Something else to keep in mind is that the words used for bibliographic
>> format can also be used for spine height. One of my prized possessions is
>> an "old style" librarian's ruler that shows centimeters on the left edge
>> and spine high terms on the right. See the "Same words, different meanings"
>> section of the Folgerpedia article "Bibliographic format" for my attempted
>> explanation:  https://folgerpedia.folger.edu/Bibliographic_format
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__folgerpedia.folger.edu_Bibliographic-5Fformat&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=gfxDZP5m9KyeWhmono1ADELcLUOEQEwGHybTpd5N2Wk&m=u2kCy4rmLlifYSau3mLugGhb4QZPyPoOuPYelFoBCRw&s=D27RVllZjipF8kQnzyyb5LtZi6Fg6J4wpc_oLfyMcjU&e=>
>>
>>
>>
>> See attached for a photo of my beloved ruler!
>>
>>
>>
>> Erin.
>>
>> ----------------
>> Erin Blake, PhD (she/her) |  Senior Cataloger  |  Folger Shakespeare
>> Library  |  201 E. Capitol St. SE, Washington, DC, 20003  |
>> eblake at folger.edu  |  www.folger.edu
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jun 13, 2019 at 10:54 AM Mark Seidl <marseidl at vassar.edu> wrote:
>>
>> Dear June,
>>
>>
>>
>> Worry not--yours is absolutely and appropriate question!
>>
>>
>>
>> In my experience, dealers' catalogs/descriptions can be useful but also
>> misleading. Some are excellent, others hastily thrown together. In any
>> case, we catalogers need to treat dealer's descriptions with healthy
>> skepticism. I always compare dealers' descriptions with my own collations,
>> going with my own when I'm confident the dealer made a mistake. In short,
>> always verify.
>>
>>
>>
>> As for your question about the OCLC record for a copy that resembles
>> yours, I and, I think, others who post here would need to know a bit more
>> about the copy you have.
>>
>>
>>
>> Hope this helps some.
>>
>>
>>
>> All best,
>>
>>
>>
>> Mark Seidl
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jun 13, 2019 at 10:36 AM Rutkowski, June <
>> rutkowsk at fas.harvard.edu> wrote:
>>
>> I am fresh off of Deborah J. Leslie’s Rare Book Cataloging course at the
>> Rare Book School, and I have my first rare book sitting in front of me.
>> It’s a French book from 1679.
>>
>>
>>
>> One question I have is about determining format.  The book dealer says
>> it’s a 24mo.  The gatherings have 6 leaves each, the chain lines are
>> horizontal, and the height is 13 cm.
>>
>>
>>
>> According to my chart a 24mo with horizontal chain lines cannot have 6
>> leaves.  I’m thinking it’s a 12mo.
>>
>>
>>
>> There is a dcrmb record in OCLC for a 12mo copy that is very similar to
>> mine (signatures and number of preliminary pages are different). 973455836.
>>
>>
>>
>> So, my questions are: how much weight does a cataloger give to a dealer’s
>> description?  And, is the information I’ve provided here (gatherings of 6
>> leaves, horizontal chain lines, height 13 cm) enough evidence to determine
>> that my book is a 12mo?
>>
>>
>>
>> If this is an inappropriate question please be gentle with me.  I’m an
>> old cataloger, but a spanking new rare-book cataloger, eager to participate
>> in this community.
>>
>>
>>
>> Thank you,
>>
>> June Rutkowski
>>
>> Cataloger
>>
>> Harvard Library Information and Technical Services
>>
>> Cambridge, MA 02139
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>>
>> Mark Seidl
>> Special Collections Librarian/Cataloger
>> Vassar College Libraries
>> http://specialcollections.vassar.edu/
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__specialcollections.vassar.edu_&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=gfxDZP5m9KyeWhmono1ADELcLUOEQEwGHybTpd5N2Wk&m=u2kCy4rmLlifYSau3mLugGhb4QZPyPoOuPYelFoBCRw&s=COXzqK57kq0fL4kYieI6A0FmfDaxHgOkBNQWB_Xzj7o&e=>
>> Gargoyle Bulletin
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__pages.vassar.edu_library&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=gfxDZP5m9KyeWhmono1ADELcLUOEQEwGHybTpd5N2Wk&m=u2kCy4rmLlifYSau3mLugGhb4QZPyPoOuPYelFoBCRw&s=azrk0oLO2EM_LEwBA2MLxwToWdUWB08cFnuz_bGaqZM&e=>
>> http://pages.vassar.edu/library/
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__pages.vassar.edu_library_&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=gfxDZP5m9KyeWhmono1ADELcLUOEQEwGHybTpd5N2Wk&m=u2kCy4rmLlifYSau3mLugGhb4QZPyPoOuPYelFoBCRw&s=b0RB8EsBJC8LZF3EC_hvPRGNqzFJTDCYIuHHuS9xSpA&e=>
>>
>>

-- 

Mark Seidl
Special Collections Librarian/Cataloger
Vassar College Libraries
http://specialcollections.vassar.edu/
Gargoyle Bulletin <http://pages.vassar.edu/library>
http://pages.vassar.edu/library/
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