1. Determine if cataloging for the item has an 050 00 call number. If it does, accept the number as is. No shelflisting needed.
2. From the 050/090, determine:
If the author is not of the single Cutter type, i.e. it is a single number author like Emily Dickinson or a multi-number author like Shakespeare, accept the number in 050 _4 or 090.
If no LCC number has been assigned, have the number checked on ClassWeb if it is a work (collected works or separate work) by the author. For single number authors like Dickinson, if it is biography, criticism, etc, and the pattern has already been established (other works about the author have already been cataloged) follow the pattern already set up in Orbis, adjusting the book number if necessary.
3. If the author name is used as a main entry or a subject without subdivisions, use the Orbis Retrieve Authorities function to open the authority record (if it is in Orbis). Otherwise, use a Staff-Name search on the author’s name to see to see if the author is represented in Orbis.
*It is possible that LC will have claimed a number already used by Yale for a different author. Provisionally, the decision is to use the same number for two different authors (in practice this has already happened with some authors due to human error). However, there may be situations where we will need to reclass; in that case the items with the Yale number should be reclassed.
4. For authors already assigned a Cutter in Orbis, it is no longer necessary to determine if Orbis has earlier editions of the work; it is no longer necessary to check for an edition of the original if you have a translation. Since we accept member book numbers as is; we accept that we are no longer committed to keeping editions and translations together.
5. In general, it is no longer necessary to keep book numbers in sequence.
6. If the author number is established and the book is about an individual work by the author, accept the member book number as is. If a new number for a book about a work is needed, check Orbis to determine the book number used at Yale for that work, add 3 and additional digit(s) for the main entry.
7. If the item cataloged being cataloged is about the author’s works in general (or a biography, autobiography, or correspondence), accept the member copy book number as is without trying to reconcile it with the existing shelf sequence. Do not use the old SML notation (Z9/Z5/Z6/Z7). If a new book number needs to be assigned, create the number from the unofficial table or shelflist against the OPAC, whichever is easier.