Shelflisting of Literary Works by a Single Cutter Author

The primary objective of the 2005 policy change is to facilitate processing of literary materials. While efficiencies will be most evident in LC 050 00 processing, shelflisting literature call numbers from member copy, member copy without call numbers, and original cataloging may be complicated by the split files that will result from accepting LC numbers shelflisted against a different catalog. The shelflisting procedures following take the modified shelflisting objectives and the overall primary objective into consideration.

1. 050 00. The number is always accepted "as is":

050 0 0 ǂa PS3569.H746 ǂb R47 1995​
852 0 0 ǂb SML ǂh PS3569.H746 ǂi R47 1995

Note that PZ numbers are also acceptable. This number is for The Slippery slope by Lemony Snicket. Note that PZ uses lower case for book numbers.

050 0 0 ǂa PZ7.S6795 ǂb Sl 2003
852 0 0 ǂb SML ǂh PZ7.S6795 ǂi Sl 2003

2. Member record with literature call number

With your bib record displayed, open the menu Record-->Retrieve Authorities. If the author is listed as a heading, open the authority record and check for a 053 or a 090 LC. If there is one, use it as the author number for your record. Note that if the author is used as a subject only (a book about the author), Retrieve Authorities will not work if any subject subdivisions are used after the name.

If no authority record is retrieved, or if there is no 053/090, perform a Staff Name Search. If you retrieve a cataloged record or records, use the author number in 852. (If the author was used as a subject and Retrieve Authorities did not work, the Staff Name Search will retrieve the authority record for the name if it is in the database; the name authority record should be checked for a 053 at this point.)

However, if you notice that the cataloged bibliographic record has a 050 00, use the LC author number in combination with the member copy book number in preference to a number derived from another Orbis record's MFHD

Optionally, in situations where there is no 053 but authoritative information (i.e. 050 00) is readily available, catalogers authorized to update the authority record may add a 090 LC number to record the authorized author number to facilitate processing in the future. Note that LC and not a location code should precede the author number; 090 <location code> should be used to record location specific decisions on whether a title is classed-together or classed separately. Staff not authorized to update authority records should not routinely request authorized staff to update the record for 090 LC.

If the author is new to the Orbis catalog, search in LC Online Catalog for other literary works by the author or in LC Authorities for an authority record with 053.

With the 2008 change in shelflisting policy, you no longer need to verify that the book number is in correct alphabetical sequence.

Example 1: Member record with call number. Authority record in Orbis with 053.

050   4 ǂa PT2613.R38 ǂb I5 2005

Display your bib record. Click on the Record Menu, then click Retrieve Authorities (or use the appropriate macro). In this case, a heading list is retrieved:

retrieve authorities window

Click on the heading for the author from the Heading List to display the authority record. Note that a 053 has been assigned to Grass.

053   0 ǂ PT2613.R338
100 1   ǂa Grass, Gunter, ǂd 1927-

In that case, the cataloger should use the LC Cutter in the 852 for Im Krebsgang, because given the choice, you always want to use the LC number. 

050   4 ǂa SML ǂh PT2613.R388 ǂb I5 2005

Example 2: Member record with call number. Authority record in Orbis with 090 LC.

Member copy for the item in hand. Call number assigned by the member record for the novel Efter hjältedöden by the Swedish author Henrik Tikkanen.

050   4 ǂa PT9876.3.I39 ǂb E34 1979

Display your bib record. Click on the Record Menu, then click Retrieve Authorities (or use the appropriate macro). In this case, a heading list is retrieved. Click on the heading for the author from the Heading List to display the authority record. Note that although there is no 053, a 090 LC has been assigned to Tikkanen by a Yale cataloger (who had previously noted its use in a 050 00 bibliographic record).

090     ǂ LC: PT9876.3.I37
100 1   ǂa Tikkanen, Henrik

In that case, the cataloger should use the LC (090) Cutter for Tikkanen in the 852 for Efter hjältedöden, because given the choice, you always want to use the LC number.

852 0 0 ǂa SML PT9876.3.I37 ǂb E34 1979

Example 3: Member record with call number. No 053 or 090 LC number on authority record.

Member copy for item in hand. Call number assigned by the member record for the novel Les astres vagabonds by Gérard Ramstein.

050   4 ǂa PQ2718.A478 ǂb A97 2003

Authority record is retrieved, but it has no 053/090 LC. A Staff Name search retrieves a cataloged record for another novel by Ramstein, Requiem pour une puce (2001). MFHD has:

852 0 0 ǂa LSF ǂh PQ2718.A58 ǂb R47 2001

The author number may be derived from the cataloged record for Requiem pour une puce. The MFHD for the edition of Les astres vagabonds would then be:

852 0 0 ǂa SML ǂh PQ2718.A58 ǂb A97 2003

If the bibliographic record for Requiem pour une puce had had a 050 00, you should use the author number assigned by LC. However, the Requiem record only had a 050 _4. You are not expected to check other cataloged records in search of an 050 00.

Example 4: Member record with an author new to Orbis. No authority record in Orbis. First check for an LC number in LC Online Catalog.  You are cataloging the Australian edition of the book Seven types of ambiguity by Elliot Perlman, who is an author new to Orbis; there are no cataloged bibliographic records for other works by Perlman found in Orbis when you do a Staff Name Heading search.

The bibliographic record for the item in hand has an 050 _4:

050   4 ǂa PR8272.E69 ǂb S48 2003

At the time of cataloging, there is no authority record in Orbis for Perlman. Because the author is new and we want to establish the author in Orbis with an LC number if possible, search in LC Online Catalog to see if you can find a bibliographic record or search LC Authorities for an authority record for Perlman. A record for the American edition of the novel is found with a different author number.

050 0 0 ǂa PR9619.3.P3619 ǂb S48 2004

You should use the LC author number for your book rather than the number used on the member record's 050 _4.

852 0 0 ǂa SML ǂh PR9619.3.P3619 ǂb S48 2003

Example 5: Member record for an author new to Orbis; no LC number found. You are cataloging Picture bride by Cathy Song, a twentieth-century author new to the catalog. You have used Retrieve Authorities and the Staff Name Headings search; no authority record and no cataloged bibliographic records are found in Orbis. No bibliographic records with 050 00 or an authority record with 053 are found in LC Online Catalog or LC Authorities.

The member bibliographic record for the item to be cataloged has:

050   4 ǂa PS3569.O6539 ǂb P53 2005

A Staff Name search retrieves no cataloged records for books by Cathy Song. If the number was used "as is," it would be out of sequence for the Orbis alphabetical ("shelf") arrangement by author:

PS3569.O57 Sontag, Susan
<---PS3569.06539 Song, Cathy would file here out of sequence for the author arrangement if 050 4 was used "as is"
PS3569.O67 Sorcic, Jim

To shelve in author sequence, Song, Cathy should file between Sonde, Susan and Sontag, Susan.

PS3569.O565 Sonde, Susan
<Song, Cathy>
PS3569.O57 Sontag, Susan

In order to shelve in the correct sequence, the author Cutter for Song, Cathy is varied to O5654. The call number ultimately assigned to Picture bride by Cathy Song is:

PS3569 Class number for 20th century American literature, last name S
.O5654 Author Cutter for Song, Cathy
P3< Book number/Cutter for title of work: Picture bride
1983 Date of publication

Arrangement in Orbis:

PS3569.O565 Sonde, Susan
PS3569.O5654 Song, Cathy
PS3569.O57 Sontag, Susan

Example 6. Member record for an author new to Orbis; no LC number found. Split author arrangement in Orbis. As more items with 050 00 copy are processed, catalogers will encounter split files in the alphabetical author arrangement caused by the "as is" numbers with trailing X. If the trailing X numbers are not in synch with the author arrangement in Orbis, file around them, i.e., ignore the X numbers when deciding where to insert your author.

Member record is for new author Gerhard Oberlin with 050 _4; no LC number found.

050   4 ǂa PT2675 ǂb S6 1983

But the Orbis author arrangement has:

Call number Author
PT2675.B44 … X Obernosterer, Engelbert
PT2675.B47 Oberhauser, Leo
PT2675.B4734 Oberjollenzer, Josef
PT2675.B445 Oberlander, harry
PT2675.B48226 Obermayer, Inge

Obernosterer, with trailing X, is ignored in filing, and Gerhard Oberlin may be inserted between Oberländer and Obermayer:

Call number Author
PT2675.B44 … X Obernosterer, Engelbert
PT2675.B47 Oberhauser, Leo
PT2675.B4734 Oberjollenzer, Josef
PT2675.B445 Oberlander, harry
PT2675.B48 Oberlin, Gerhard
PT2675.B48226 Obermayer, Inge

There are already a number of areas where the filing arrangement is considerably out of synch and where it will not be clear which file to ignore, since some of the splits may be due to human error, including assignment of trailing X to non-LC numbers. Here is a somewhat truncated example. Where to insert Paola Calvetti?

Call number Author
PQ4863.A39357 Caliceti, Giuseppe
PQ4863.A3939 Calimani, Bruno
PQ4863.A394 Cimani, Riccardo
PQ4863.A39423 Calligarich, Gianfranco
PQ4863.A39425 Calloni, Gianni
PQ4863.A39437 Camerana, Oddone
PQ4863.A3945 Camilleri, Andrea
PQ4863.A3955 Camon, Ferdinando
PQ4863.A397 Calvino, Fortunato
PQ4863.A3974 Canale, Ezio
PQ4863.A3976 Cancogni, Manlio
PQ4863.A3978 Cancogni, Maria Grazia
PQ4863.A399 Calzavara, Ernesto
PQ4863.A3995 Calzavarra, Luciano
PQ4863.A4233 Camarca, Claudio
PQ4863.A4235 Cambiaggio, Giuditta
PQ4863.A4236 Cambria, Adele
PQ4863.A424 Camerana, Oddone
PQ4863.A425 Camerino, Aldo
PQ4863.A4258 Camilleri, Andrea
PQ4863.A43 Camilucci, Marcello
PQ4863.A446 Cammelli, Stefano
PQ4863.A447 Cammilleri, Rino
PQ4863.A45 Camon, Ferdinando

In this situation, it appears that the numbers between PQ4863.A39437-A3955 and A3974-A3978 are out of sequence, so Calvetti would file between Calloni and Calvino. Although the highlighted numbers should be ignored, they should not be re-used.

852 0 0 ǂa SML ǂh PQ4863.A396 ǂb A73 2000
Last modified: 
Wednesday, November 30, 2016 - 4:28pm