SERIALS: SPECIAL TYPES
(Approved for use 13 March 2002)

General |  Almanacs |  Comics |  Dime Novels |  Directories |  Little Magazines |  Newspapers |  Periodicals

General
Listed below are several of the different types of serials that Beinecke collects. This list is not inclusive but only touches on a few of the major categories that the Beinecke Library collects. Special treatment and special tracings are specified for each category, along with any historical information. Serials have appropriate subject headings (subdivided by Periodicals, if allowed) and genre tracings made. For general information on cataloging serials for Beinecke Library, see Serials Cataloging.

 
Almanacs
Almanacs are cataloged either as monographs or as serials. Early almanacs, usually published before the mid nineteenth century, often have many title changes, changes in person who does the calculations and changes in the printer. Frequently there are two and sometimes three different editions of an almanac in the same year. For these reasons, these almanacs are usually cataloged as monographs.

In addition to required special tracings, such as imprint tracings, the following genre term is traced for all almanacs:

655   7 ‡a Almanacs ‡z [state or country]. ‡z [date]. ‡2 rbgenr
655   7 ‡a Almanacs ‡z Connecticut ‡y 1796. ‡2 rbgenr
The following subject is also traced for American almanacs:
650   0 ‡a Almanacs, American ‡z [state or country].
650   0 ‡a Almanacs, American ‡z Connecticut.

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Comics
Beinecke has a large collection of both cataloged and uncataloged comics. Some titles had as many as three copies of certain issues. In 2006 these collections were reviewed and decisions were made to keep or discard titles. The decision was also made to keep only the best copy of each issue.

Housing

If a title has fewer than 5 issues, these will be stored in a Gaylord.

Titles with 5 or more issues will be housed in special comic book folders and the folders put in Hollinger boxes. The call number will be written on the top right, on the long side of the "comic" folder.

Marking

The following guidelines are used when marking volumes:

  1. Mark on verso of last page, lower right hand corner The lower left hand corner is the alternate location when the lower right hand corner is unusable.
  2. 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.

Classification and Call Numbers

Comics new to Beinecke will be given a year/number call number. Comics currently classed in Folio year/number call number will not be reclassed, but only one copy of each issue will be kept and each issue will be housed in the appropriate "comic" folder.

Special notes and tracings

Subject headings will be made for characters already established with authority records, followed by the subdivision ‡v Comic books, strips, etc.

650   0 ‡a Batman (Fictitious character) ‡v Comic books, strips, etc.
650   0 ‡a Batman (Fictitious character)‡v Comic books, strips, etc.
650   0 ‡a Lane, Lois (Fictitious character) ‡v Comic books, strips, etc.
650   0 ‡a Supergirl (Fictitious character) ‡v Comic books, strips, etc.

The following genre term will be assigned to all comic books:

655   0 ‡a Comic books, strips, etc.

Make the following genre term for all underground comics:

655   0 ‡a Underground comic books, strips, etc.

Trace all publishers connected with a title.

Past Practice

The genre term, Comic books, was formerly assigned to all comic books. As these titles are encounted the term will be changed to the LCSH form: Comic books, strips, etc. At the end of processing all the comic books in the backlog, any outdated genre terms still remaining will be changed.

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Dime Novels
Dime novels were published in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, at regular intervals, usually weekly or more frequently. The works sometimes were reprints of popular novels by authors such as Dickens or Kipling or a series had a common hero, e.g., Jesse James, Clif Stirling, Dick Dobbs, Nick Carter. Frequently these were reprinted with either a different issue number and/or a different date. If this is the case, or if the novel is by an author that is collected by Beinecke, it is best to catalog as monographs. In the past most dime novels have been cataloged as serials.

The following genre term is traced. In the past the genre term was traced without any subdivisions.

655   7 ‡a Dime novels ‡z [country or state] ‡z [city]. ‡2 rbgenr
655   7 ‡a Dime novels ‡z England ‡z London. ‡2 rbgenr
Directories
Many directories have been cataloged for Beinecke, particularly in the Western Americana Collection. These are cataloged as serials when possible. It is preferable to catalog these as monographs if the title changes almost every year or if the geographical area changes every year. Many directory titles have been cataloged under the latest entry rule for Beinecke. Whether cataloged as serials or monographs all directories receive the tracing [geographical area] subdivided by Directories.
651   0 ‡a [geographic area] ‡v Directories.
651   0 ‡a San Francisco (Calif.) ‡v Directories.
651   0 ‡a California ‡v Directories.

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Little Magazines
Little magazines is a term used to designate certain magazines that have as their purpose the publication of art, literature, or social theory by comparatively little-known writers. Little magazines differ from the large commercial periodicals and major scholarly reviews by their emphasis on experimentation in writing, their perilous nonprofit operation, and their comparatively small audience of intellectuals. Prototypes of the twentieth-century little magazine were The Dial (Boston, 1840–44), a transcendentalist review edited by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller, and the English Savoy (1896), a manifesto in revolt against Victorian materialism.

The following genre term is traced.

655   7 ‡a Little magazines ‡x [country]. ‡2 rbgenr
655   7 ‡a Little magazines ‡z United States.‡2 rbgenr
Also trace the following reference source, if magazine is in the bibliography:
510   4 ‡a Hoffman, F. Little magazine (2nd ed.) ‡c [no.]
510   4 ‡a Hoffman, F. Little magazine (2nd ed.) ‡c p. 332
Newspapers
A newspaper is defined by the International Organization for Standardization as: A serial publication which contains news on current events of special or general interest. The individual parts are listed chronologically or numerically and appear usually at least once a week. Newspapers usually have a masthead rather than a cover and are normally larger than A3 (297 mm x 420 mm) in size.

Newspapers are assigned the following tracings:

651   0 ‡a [city or geographic unit ‡v Newspapers.
752     ‡a [country] ‡z [state, province, or territory] ‡c [county, region, islands area]. ‡d [city].
651   0 ‡a San Francisco (Calif.) ‡v Newspapers.
752     ‡a United States ‡b California ‡z San Francisco. ‡d San Francisco.

The standard genre term (Newspapers subdivided by Country and City) is being used for all newspapers being newly added to Beinecke.

655   7 ‡a Newspapers ‡z [country or state] ‡z [city]. ‡2 rbgenr
655   7 ‡a Newspapers ‡z California ‡z San Francisco. ‡2 rbgenr

American newspapers
American newspapers were formerly classed in the old Yale classification scheme of AN. Almost all of the American newspapers were either quarto or folio. Sometimes an issue or two can be added, but the Beinecke shelf must be checked. Currently folio newspapers new to Beinecke are classed in the Year Number Call Number Scheme. Quarto newspapers new to Beinecke are either classed with the the Western Americana Collection or in the general collection in the Year Number Call Number Scheme. A local subject is also made:

690   4 ‡a American newspapers ‡z [state] ‡z [city].
690   4 ‡a American newspapers‡z California ‡z Stockton.
English newspapers
Yale has an outstanding collection of 18th century English newspapers classed in Z17. Additions to a cataloged entry should be given the Z17 number so that they will be shelved with the rest of the set. New titles are assigned ordinal S numbers.

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Periodicals

A periodical is defined as: A serial appearing or intended to appear indefinitely at regular or stated intervals, generally more frequently than annually, each issue of which normally contains separate articles, stories, or other writings.

For new cataloging, the genre term Periodicals (subdivided by State or Country and then by City) is used.

655   7 ‡a Periodicals ‡z [country or state] ‡z [city]. ‡2 rbgenr
655   7 ‡a Periodicals ‡z England ‡z London. ‡2 rbgenr

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Obsolete Practice
The local subject, Periodicals subdivided by place, was used for serials that did not have a specific subject and for newspapers.

690   4 ‡a Periodicals ‡z England.

At some point the local 690 tracings should be cleaned up and the correct genre heading applied.
655   7 ‡a Newspapers ‡z [country or state] ‡z [city]. ‡2 rbgenr
655   7 ‡a Newspapers ‡z England ‡z London. ‡2 rbgenr

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