Quality paints at low cost : for economy and protection. Orbis 11105867.
What is being cataloged? Probably the most common type of resource cataloged for the Art Birren Collection: advertising brochures with paint samples. The samples are mounted on a folded paper sheet or on cardboard. The paper sheets tend to be cataloged as text, because “sheets” is one of the controlled extent and carrier terms that can be associated with textual materials. Folded cardboard brochures tend to be cataloged as visual material because “cards” is one of the controlled extent and carrier terms that can be associated with visual materials. They have the same function in the real world.
Leader: Since this item was a folded card-type brochure, “k” for two-dimensional non-projectable graphic was used. If the accompanying material (original envelope, price list, and handout sheets) was instead defined as items in a collection, along with the color card, the Bibliographic Level would be “c” for collection, and the description would need to be adjusted accordingly.
008. Type of material (byte ). Code n for Chart was used. [Glossary definition 1: A two-dimensional representation of data in graphic or tabular form (e.g., a wall chart)]. Note that “wall chart” is an example, not an intrinsic part of the definition; most (but not all) of the color cards would not hang on walls. The sample arrangement would be tabular rather than graphic. If the paint chips themselves were considered primary, the code would be “z” since none of the specific material types seem to apply.
007. The SMD is also coded “n” for Chart.
245. Brochures created by folding a single sheet could not be said to have a title page, so the source for the title proper is left to cataloger judgment. Often the folded brochure will have one panel that serves as a cover, and that would generally be the preferred source. The last panel when folded often has the equivalent of colophon information. The text at the top of the chart/table when unfolded could also be considered the title proper; however, since more often the text at the top is simply the name and address of the company, it is less helpful for identification or differentiation.
264: Reminder: transcribe what is there, including the full name of the publisher. Transcribe but do not supply abbreviations. Brochures of the period rarely have dates, lack copyright dates, or pre-date the use of copyright. RDA doesn’t allow for the representation of an inferred decade with a hyphen, e.g. 191-. To supply an inferred range, you can use [between <date 1> and <date 2>?]. The RDA range is not limited to a decade and does not have to begin or end with the first/last year of the decade. Unfortunately, a lot of the ephemera could have been issued in either the 19th or 20th centuries, which makes it hard to provide an approximate date based on illustrations. If there is information about when the company was founded, ceased, or changed name, it can be very helpful for determining a possible date range, so take a look at the NAR for the corporate body when one exists. Google Books can be helpful for the paint and chemical industries, and sometimes entries in Wikipedia exist, with significant dates recorded. Don’t overlook the website of the company if it still exists, although these sites often neglect to provide concrete chronological information.
If distribution, printing, or copyright information is on the resource, it is a good idea to record all of it to further aid in identification.
300. As indicated above, there may be more than one possibility for the unit of extent, and it may impact on how the fixed fields will be encoded. The unit term should be listed under the instructions for extent for Text (3.4.5) or Two-dimensional image (3.4.4) or Three-dimensional form (3.4.6) depending on the decision to code the Leader. Reminder: the authorized terms for illustrations allowed as an option for textual material are not authorized for visual material for reasons described above. Since the resource in this instance is being coded as visual material, the nature of the color samples can be brought out in a note. An alternative, still using the visual material Leader: 300 $a 36 paint chips or $a 36 paint samples or the like. There is no authorized term under 3.4.4.2 that applies (which is why chart was used), but the cataloger can supply a term if necessary. However, recording the dimensions of the paint chips would be a problem! Because the nature of the accompanying material is complex, it is entered in a 500 note rather than in 300 $e.
336. RDA does not have an appropriate term for paint samples as content. “Other” was used, but “still image” has also been used.
338. “card” is an authorized carrier term for an unmediated resource.
500. Since the entire sheet is the source, it seems pointless to make a source of title note. However, a detailed inventory of the accompanying material should be recorded in 500.