Marking of Volumes
(Approved for use 29 February 2000)

General Guidelines |  Multi-Volume Items |  Additional Copies

General Guidelines

Call numbers are written, using a soft pencil. Follow these guidelines:

1. Mark on Yale bookplate when there is one, generally in the upper left corner. If marking in the upper left hand corner presents difficulties, the bookplate can be marked in the upper right hand corner.
2. Mark on back cover, lower right hand corner, when there is no Yale bookplate unless cover is too dark.
3. Mark on verso of last page, lower right hand corner, when 1 or 2 don't apply. The lower left hand corner is the alternate location when the lower right hand corner is unusable.
4. If the last page is unmarkable (e.g. too dark or shiny or filled with text or illustrations), mark the verso of the first usable page from the end.

"Beinecke Library" is written above the call number unless it's printed on the bookplate. It precedes the call number for horizontal marking.

In general, marking is for the discreet bibliographic unit. There may be exceptions. Example: A monograph in unsewn quires is one bibliographic unit and marked once.

Marking of loose plates and photographs is handled by Beinecke staff.

Reference and Stack Reference Collections

Call numbers are written, using a soft pencil. Follow these guidelines:

1. Mark on verso of t.p., preferably towards the middle of the page, when there is one
2. Mark on back cover, lower right hand corner, when there is no title page, unless cover is too dark
3. Mark on last page, lower right hand corner, when 1 or 2 don't apply. The lower left hand corner is the alternate location when the lower right hand corner is unusable.

Exception:

For those publications published in fascicles (i.e., published in many Volumes, Parts, fascicles, temporarily in original wrappers, that are meant to be bound, without the wrappers when the volume or part is complete:

Mark on the cover in the lower left hand corner in pencil.

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Multi-Volume Items

Bibliographic versus Physical Volumes
Rules for marking by volume number
Rules for marking by year
Special note about dates
Marking by volume or date
Newspapers

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Special Note about Dates on Items:

Many annual or biennial reports do not cover the calendar year. The report year might run from July 1 through June 30 of the following year. Mark according to the designation selected in the catalog record, not according to the coverage or publication date.

On item: 1870
In preface: This report covers November 1869 through October 1870
Publication date: 1871

362	0		‡a 1870-
515			‡a 1870- covers Nov. 1869 through Oct. 1870-

Mark as: 1870

Marking by Volume or Date
There is often confusion about marking items when there is both a volume, issue number and a date (e.g., the 5th annual report for 1879). Previously on catalog cards for holdings, whatever was at the left was what was used to mark:
 

In the case above, items would have been marked 1:1, 1:3, 1:6, etc., unless there was a note to mark by year.

With online holdings, we still follow this rule:

866			‡8 0 ‡a 1(1936:May),
866			‡8 0 ‡a 4/5(1936:Aug./Sept.),
866			‡8 0 ‡a 9(1937:spring)

When the holdings are more ambiguous, as in the following case, you would mark by what is at the left (in this case 5 and 7) and not the years ( 1837 and 1839), unless there is a note in the NOTES area under the call no. that reads: MARK BY YEAR or ADD BY YEAR.

866

‡8 0 ‡a 5th(1837)-7th(1839)

In the case where a new serial is being cataloged, it must be decided whether to mark by volume or date. If an item is truly an annual, it is usually easier to mark by year. If there are several in one year, then mark by volume number.

Newspapers
Newspapers are particularly troublesome. Many newspapers have been bound by year even though some issues are wanting. The volume numbering usually does not correspond to a calendar year. Volumes and issues already cataloged and on the shelf are sometimes marked by the year and sometimes by the volume number, even for the same title. If there is inconsistency in marking, items must be remarked.

Newpapers will be marked by the volume and issue number, with the year in parentheses on the next line. Bound issues of newspapers will be marked by the volume(s) followed by the year(s) in parentheses on the next line. Labels or call tags should include relevant numeration and chronology data.

Example
 

Additional Copies

If the library receives more than one copy of an item, all copies are marked with a copy number. This forms the last line of the call number. If the two copies are cataloged at the same time, the cataloger marks them. If the additional copy arrives later, the cataloger marks the Copy 2 and Beinecke staff mark the first copy  'Copy 1'.  For LC call numbers, the volume number is on the line preceding the (LC) and and copy number is on the line after the (LC):
 
 

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Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University
Contact: Stephen Young <stephen.young@yale.edu>
Last revised: 5/12/2002
URL: http://www.library.yale.edu/BeinCatM/marking.html