Preliminary records are created for large collections which will not be processed in the immediate future. These can be closed collections, in which all the material has been received, or ongoing collections, in which material is continuing to arrive. Features of the preliminary records:

Contain basic information: 040, 100, 245, 300, 520, 555, 600 (same as 100), 852

They are exported to OCLC (and RLIN pending merger of OCLC and RLIN).

They have encoding levels of 7 (Minimal level processing)

The date span of a persons papers, if not known, is given as circa [persons birth and death dates]. If it is an ongoing collection, the second date given as "9999" in the fixed fields and "[ongoing]" in the 245.

The 300 has an estimation of the linear feet, or, if it is an ongoing collection, simply "ms."

Note restrictions in 506 if there are any.

The 520 contains a general description of the types of material in the collection.

Note different languages represented in 041 and 546

The 555 states, "Unprocessed collection. Preliminary finding aid available [if there is one]. For further information, consult the Public Service Desk."

The call number is given as |h Uncat MSS |i [number]

Leader

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Encoding Level: 7
...

008

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Publication Status: i
Date 1 1926
Date 2 1988
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Language: eng: English
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Leader

...
Encoding Level: 7
...

008

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Publication Status: i
Date 1 1917
Date 2 1999
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Language: eng: English
...