[DCRM-L] when to input a new record re: dcrmr

[Deborah J. Leslie]

Little did the BSC (under Ryan Hildebrandt's direction, IIRC) know, when laboring over the specifics of the OCLC Member Merge instructions for pre-1830 materials, that this list had wider utility. It's an excellent guide for decisions about whether to use/update an existing record, or to create a new one—the sort of thing all rare materials catalogers should have at their elbow — on their top shelf — at their beck and call.


Deborah J Leslie, M.A., M.L.S. | Senior Cataloger | Folger Shakespeare Library | djleslie at folger.edu<mailto:djleslie at folger.edu> | Opinions her own



________________________________
From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> on behalf of Erin Blake via DCRM-L <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
Sent: Friday, July 17, 2026 15:28
To: DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
Cc: Erin Blake <EBlake at FOLGER.edu>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] when to input a new record re: dcrmr


Additional evidence that the answer is “yes” come from the  OCLC Member Merge<https://help.oclc.org/WorldCat/Metadata_Quality/Member_Merge/Merging_duplicate_books_records_A_field_by_field_comparison> instructions. They say that if you have an rda record and a dcrmr record for the same thing, you should merge them and keep the dcrmr record ("If one of the records is coded as rare in the 040 $e and the potential duplicates are not, but it is evident from all fields (including note fields) that they represent the same manifestation, merge and retain the record coded as rare in the 040 $e").



Best,



Erin



_______________________________

Erin Blake, PhD | she/her | Collections Management Systems Administrator and Senior Cataloger | Folger Shakespeare Library | Washington, DC 20003 | eblake at folger.edu<mailto:eblake at folger.edu>
[Folger Shakespeare Library logo]







From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> On Behalf Of Jessica Grzegorski via DCRM-L
Sent: Friday, July 17, 2026 2:22 PM
To: DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
Cc: Jessica Grzegorski <jessica.grzegorski at northwestern.edu>
Subject: Re: [DCRM-L] when to input a new record re: dcrmr



Hi Colleen,



Yes, you absolutely can upgrade existing copy to DCRMR and code the 040 as $e rda $e dcrmr. To do so, you would need to follow all provisions outlined in DCRMR<https://bsc.rbms.info/DCRMR/> for required elements and notes. Long story short: Coding a record as DCRMR means that it complies with DCRMR, just as one would need to follow RDA when changing a record from AACR2 to RDA. And



Note that in OCLC it is perfectly acceptable to replace existing copy with an updated and more complete version following a different descriptive standard. For more information, see OCLC's documentation on When to input a new record<https://www.oclc.org/bibformats/en/about/input.html>. One thing I'll draw your attention to is the guidance on the 040 field: "Absence, presence, or difference in field 040 subfield ǂe does not justify a new record."



I hope that helps!



Best,

Jessica



Jessica Grzegorski (she/her/hers) [cid:image002.png at 01DD1600.F3064B70] <https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9602-3241>
Rare Materials Metadata Librarian
Acquisitions and Metadata Services
Northwestern University Libraries
Northwestern University
www.library.northwestern.edu<http://www.library.northwestern.edu>
jessica.grzegorski at northwestern.edu<mailto:jessica.grzegorski at northwestern.edu>
847.467.6966



In the spirit of healing, we acknowledge and honor the Potawatomi, Odawa and Ojibwe Tribes, the original people of the land upon which Northwestern University stands, and the Native people who remain on this land today.





________________________________

From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu>> on behalf of Colleen Fedewa via DCRM-L <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>>
Sent: Friday, July 17, 2026 12:46 PM
To: DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu<mailto:dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>>
Cc: Colleen Fedewa <cof3 at case.edu<mailto:cof3 at case.edu>>
Subject: [DCRM-L] when to input a new record re: dcrmr



Hello all,

I would really appreciate any feedback and clarification regarding the following question. I have asked many catalogers with varying answers. Thank you!!

 Can you take an existing RDA record and add DCRMR elements to it? I have seen official instructions for putting "dcrmr" in an original MARC catalog record : "In field 040, use codes $e rda $e dcrmr, in this order, directly following the language of cataloging (040 $b), (e.g., $b eng $e rda $e dcrmr)"... but I don't know if this applies to copy cataloging. Example: If we have the same item that other libraries have, but they did not catalog with RBMS. We would like to enhance the existing record, but I thought that I recently saw something that stated we can't add $e dcrmr and upgrade an existing RDA record. I am currently training a brand new cataloger for the first time, and I am putting together official documentation/reference materials. I do not want to share the wrong information.

Appreciate any help you can provide!

Colleen

Metadata Librarian
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