538 - 500

538 System details (7.7B10 Physical details; out of AACR2 sequence) [Required]

(YUL:) Follow the common practice and make 538 the first note. Some OPACs display 538 first even if the cataloger has entered it later in the note order, but enter the note first to facilitate shared cataloging. Note that 538 displays only in the OPAC Long view.

(YUL:) VIDEOCASSETTES. For VHS, "NTSC" is assumed; it is not necessary to record in a note. However, do indicate PAL or SECAM since this is exceptional in the U.S.

DVD. For original cataloging, record region area if known, including Region 1 (North America), since our collection is international in scope. Region 1 (North America) does not have to be added to member copy but member copy 538 should be updated for any other region. The region should be somewhere on the container or the carrier, but note that the assignment of regions is not always intuitive (Region 3 is East Asia including Hong Kong, but China is Region 6, and Japan is in Region 2 with the European Union countries). To see the complete list of DVD regions and their corresponding countries, click here.

Audio information may be recorded in system details or as a separate note. Other physical details generally record in 500, e.g. aspect ratio. As a rule of thumb, physical details that require specific playback equipment in order to be enabled are recorded in 538; physical details that do not require specific playback equipment to be enabled are recorded in 500. (But "closed-captioned" is recorded in 546)

Note that the text "System details" or "System requirements" is not entered in 538 for video. (But "System requirements" is required for direct access electronic resources, e.g. CD-ROMs cataloged under Chapter 9 rules)

VIDEOCASSETTES:

DVD (Region 1).

To facilitate keyword searching, record DVD in 538 even though it may repeat information in 300.

To be consistent with VHS practice, leave out -NTSC for DVD, but include -PAL or -SECAM if known.

OLAC DVD guidelines leave out Region 1, but because of the international scope of the YUL collection, we will include it in original cataloging.

Note that DVD technology allows multiple options for sound output. (Dolby surround is 4 channel; Dolby 5.1 is five channel).

DVD (Region 3). Note that our Region example favors greater brevity than the style favored by OLAC.

500 Scope (7.7B1)

If the scope is clear from the 520 summary note or the title, this note is unnecessary. Otherwise, required.

For combined notes that include scope, the note is generally entered in the Scope position of the note sequence. Since many cataloging sources enter combined notes that include language information in 546, do not adjust on member copy.