Overview
Preliminary serial bibliographic records are created for serials that are (1) on order, (2) recently received or (3) not yet represented in Orbis. Preliminary serial bibliographic records contain standard MARC fields with appropriate content designation and sufficient information for positive identification.

The procedures described in this document are to be followed by all staff with responsibility for creating records in Orbis for serials that are in one of the above categories.

The procedures in this document are described as follows:

Part 1: General procedures for all preliminary serial bibliographic records

Part 2: Creating a preliminary serial bib record using copy from OCLC

Part 3: Creating a new preliminary serial bib record using a template

Required 008 fields -- Variable field template & examples -- ISSN, 245 -- 245: Title abbreviations & GMD -- 250 -- 246:variant form of title -- 260 -- 300, 310 -- 362 -- 710, 780/785

Part 4: Authority validation

Part 5: Recording information in the Orbis MFHD 

Part 6: Recording information in the item record.

Part 1: General Procedures for All Preliminary Serial Bibliographic Records
If there is evidence on or with the issue in hand that a title change is involved, consult with your supervisor before entering a new record into the database. Major changes require a new record; minor changes do not, but many minor changes will require an update to the old bibliographic record. See examples of major and minor changes at: http://www.library.yale.edu/cataloging/Orbis2Manual/majorminorexamples.htm

For monographic series preliminary records, refer to the separate document: Preliminary Bib Records: Monographic Series.

Search thoroughly for a serial bib record in the data bases in the following preferred order:  Orbis, LCDB, OCLC before creating a preliminary serial bib record. If no serial record is found in any of these data bases, follow the procedures in Part 3 .

Search Orbis to confirm that no record exists.

If a record is found in LCDB, import it.

If a record is found in OCLC that can be used as a basis for a preliminary serial bib record, follow the instructions in Part 2.

Code the MFHD for all preliminary records according to the procedures in Part 5.

Part 2: Creating a Preliminary Serial Bib Record Using Copy from OCLC
If no LCDB record is found but a matching record is found in OCLC, import it and use it as a preliminary record. If the record has a Leader Encoding Level other than blank, I, or 1, verify that the fixed field elements are accurate and correct as necessary according to the guidelines in Part 3. Retain all added entries unless otherwise instructed by your supervisor. If more than one record is found in OCLC, choose the record created by a U.S. or Canadian over records created by Spanish, French, German etc. cataloging agencies. If 040 has $b <language other than eng or blank>, or if all of the non-quoted notes are not in English, delete all of the 035s.

Part 3: Creating a New Preliminary Serial Bibliographic Record
If no record is found in LCDB or OCLC, create a new record by using a serial bib template for preliminary serials.

If the Macro Express Pop-up menu for Acquisitions has been activated, press F12 and double-click on Change Template: Serial. Macro Express will open a copy of the serial template. Enter fixed & variable fields according to the guidelines in this section. CAUTION: The default for the Acquisitions Pop-up menu is No Activation. Consult with your expert user if you are unfamiliar with activating a pop-up menu.

If you are not using the Pop-up menu, you can also activate the Serial Template macro and run it using Alt-Shift-S. The macro default is No Activation. Consult with your expert user if you are unfamiliar with activating a macro.

Leader: Appropriately coded. Do not edit.

   008: Partially coded:

Required 008 fields. Update 008 as follows. Otherwise, leave the fixed fields as is.

Date 1 (yyyy) (record the earliest date of the issues in hand) and Date 2 (9999) (unknown ending date). If the date for the first issue is unknown or uncertain, use 200u or, for older material, 19uu.

Place of publication Assign the appropriate code from the list. If place of publication cannot be determined enter [S.l.] in 260 and use xx for Place of Publication. TIP: The list is arranged by the name of the country/state, not the code. Type the first letter of the country/state (the selection should be blue) and use the down arrow to navigate.

Type of Serial Use "p: Periodical" for periodicals published more frequently than annually. Use "_ : None of the following" for annuals, biennials, triennials, etc.

Language Assign the appropriate code from the menu. TIP: The list is arranged by the name of the language, not the code. Type the first letter of the language (the selection should be blue) and use the down arrow to navigate, if necessary.

Variable fields: The variable fields for the preliminary serial bib record as they appear in the original template:

The preliminary serial bib record with required information in variable fields (2 examples).

In the following example, the title appeared as: The Manitoba Medical Association review. Article was not transcribed.

Guidelines for entering variable fields

022 (ISSN): Record the ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) in field 022:

Transcribe the hyphen.

245 00 ‡a  (Title) Record the title in field 245. Use value "0" for both indicators using the following pattern.   

If the item has been received, transcribe the title as it appears on the title page or, if microfilm, on the container. Do not transcribe initial articles or diacritics. "Title pages are most frequently found in serials that are issued annually or less frequently, as opposed to periodicals and newsletters."--CONSER Cataloging Manual 3.2.1.a.

"A title page is not a page that contains text, tables of contents, or extensive editorial information, i.e., a page that has been designed to fulfill a different function. The editorial page following the cover in most periodicals is not considered to be a title page."--CONSER Cataloging Manual, 3.2.1.b.

If the serial lacks a title page as defined above, record the title as it is found on the cover; if the serial lacks a cover, e.g. a newsletter, record the title appearing on the first page. Capitalize the first letter of the first word and, if readily identifiable, the first letter of proper nouns. If the series title is generic (e.g. Annual report, Bulletin) and not connected grammatically to the name of the issuing body, a statement of responsibility for the issuing body is not transcribed, but an added entry (710) must be made for the issuing body. If the heading for the issuing body has not been established and is too complex to formulate, transcribe the issuing body in the statement of responsibility.

For order records, base the title on the citation if a sample issue is not available. If more than one sample issue is available, use the earliest issue as your source.

Examples:

If the title appears both in full and abbreviated form on the title page or its substitute, or in the citation used for ordering, record the full form in 245 ‡a and record the abbreviated form in 246 3_. Use the same pattern for order records if both forms are cited.

If a year is included as part of the title on the item in hand, do not include the year in 245. If the year is at the beginning of the title, simply leave it off. If the year is elsewhere in the title, replace the year with ellipses.

On item: 2004 Report for the year. State of Alaska, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey.

In the example above, if the heading had not been established, record the issuing body in 245 $c if the heading is considered to be too difficult to formulate.

On item: Report of the Ashmolean Society for the year 2004

If the work is a micro reproduction or requires a general material designation (gmd), add microform in square brackets in ‡h following ‡a.

 246 (Varying form of title) Record a varying form of the title in field 246 according to one of the following patterns as appropriate. Note that end punctuation is not used.

Create field 246 in the following situations for items received.

Creating variant access if known is required for order records. Use the guidelines for items received to determine scope; some cases (difference between cover and editorial page) are not strictly applicable but could be applied to significant variations in citations.

Variant access fields are optional for items received for items processed for priority cataloging.

a. If the title appears in full and abbreviated form (see example in the 245 section preceding). Required if available for order records.

b. If, as with some periodicals, the only source for the title is the cover and the editorial/contents page following the cover, and the titles on these 2 sources vary, record the form on the cover in 245 and the form on the editorial/contents page in 246 3_, as in the following example:

c. If the title recorded in field 245‡a is in English and contains an ampersand (&), create a 246 field with the word "and" in place of the ampersand, using indicators as shown.

Title page: Rock & pop.

d. If the title on the issue in hand has an obvious typographical error, enter the corrected form in 245 and create a 246 field with the incorrect text, using indicators as shown.

Title page: Journal of leterary history

250 (Edition) CAUTION. For serials, "edition" (always abbreviated "ed.") can be used to distinguish among different sets of serials with similar content but different scope or audience: "Midwestern ed." vs. "East Coast ed."; "English language ed." vs. "German language ed."  This type of edition is entered in 250.

However, if "edition" is associated with numbering, it would be entered as part of 362 (rarely necessary for preliminary records; see below). Examples of edition used as numbering: "1990 1st ed." ; "Edition 10,"

260 (Place, publisher) Record the place of publication and the name of the publisher according to the following pattern. Subfield c (date) is not transcribed.

If there is more than one place of publication, record the first named only. If there is no place of publication, use [S.l.]. If [S.l.] is used in 260, use 008 Place of Publication xx.

If there is no publisher named, omit ‡b (do not use [s.n.]).

Examples:

300 ‡a (Extent of item) Leave "v." in field 300. (Field requirement may change with new CONSER standard)

310 (Current Publication Frequency) is NOT REQUIRED. Field 310 may be used to augment the description if the information is readily available and information available for required fields is limited. If a 310 field is added, update the Frequency fixed field to match 310. Recommended for order records if the information is readily available. Not necessary for items processed as priority cataloging.

List of standard frequency terms from the CONSER editing guide. Do not transcribe the parenthetical explanations.

Annual
Biennial (every two years)
Bimonthly (every two months)
Biweekly (every two weeks)
Daily
Irregular
Monthly
Quarterly
Semiannual (twice a year)
Semimonthly (twice a month)
Semiweekly (twice a week)
Three times a week
Three times a month
Three times a year
Triennial (every three years)
Weekly

362 (Dates of publication and/or Sequential Designation of serial) is NOT REQUIRED. However, 362 may be used to augment the description if the information is readily available and information available for required fields is limited. Use only if information is available about the first issue. Recommended for order records; not necessary for items processed for priority cataloging. Generally consult with your supervisor when augmenting a preliminary record with a 362 field.

For standard abbreviations, use:

http://www.library.cornell.edu/voyager/Checkin/Captabbr.htm

For abbreviations for names of months:

http://www.library.yale.edu/cataloging/months.htm

Use the following pattern to record the initial designation (the enumeration and chronology of the first issue) if the information is readily at hand from the first issue, or if the information about the first issue is readily at hand from a later issue. (Since this is a preliminary record, ignore the distinction between formatted and unformatted notes and record all information about the first issue as indicated, regardless of source.)

Examples. ISSN and place/publisher information not available; description is augmented with information about when the serial began to aid in verification.

ADDED ENTRIES

710. If the title of the serial is generic (e.g. "Bulletin" or "Bulletin of the ...," "Proceedings" or "Proceedings of the ...", etc.), make a 710 for the corporate body associated with the title, based on the name recorded in 245. Consult with your supervisor if in doubt about the appropriate corporate name to select or whether the title is generic. Applies to both on order and priority records.

Note: the authorized form in Orbis for the East China Christian Educational Association is actually Hua dong Jidu jiao jiao yu hui. When this record is saved to the database, the Authority Validation will flag East China Christian Education Association as a Reference. Generally this will not be a concern for Serial Preliminary Records. See Section 4: Authority Validation.

780/785. If there is clear evidence of a title change, make a linking 780 field to the earlier title. For example, the issue arrives with a letter from the publisher indicating the title has changed from X to Y; or the cover of the issue says "Title Y (formerly Title X)." Be sure to precede the title in 780 with ‡t NOT ‡a. Consult with your supervisor if in doubt. In general, do not update the record for the earlier title (i.e. with a 785 linking field) without an OK from your supervisor. This generally will not apply to order records. Not necessary for priority cataloging processing, but be sure to include any information from the publisher about the title change with the issue routed to cataloging.

See also the Manitoba Medical Association review example above.

Part 4: Authority Validation
After completing the record, save it by clicking on the sailboat icon labeled "Save to DB." The authority validation window will appear. For priority processing at SML, this is of no concern; the cataloger is expected to deal with the authority work as soon as the title is routed to cataloging. Click Continue to save the record to the database.

For order records, it may be worth a consult with your supervisor if the title is generic, the only heading is for the issuing body, & the Validation indicates a See Reference.

Part 5: Recording Information in the Orbis MFHD
852 Use the following pattern to enter MFHDs for order records:

Change the text in ‡h to In Process when the first item to be cataloged is received. Also use ‡h In Process if a new serial preliminary record is created because of a title change.

866 In 2004, SML began to record receipts in the Voyager Acquisitions module using predictive check-in. Issues received are no longer recorded in the Voyager Cataloging module in field 866.

For the time being, other SML units and departmental libraries will continue to record receipts in MFHD 866. Note that for receipt volumes, both indicators should be blank. Precede enumerative and chronological data with ‡8 0 ‡a. Record serial receipts following the guidelines for recording serial volume holdings at:

http://www.library.yale.edu/cataloging/Orbis2Manual/serialmhfd.htm

Example of an In Process serial with current issues received. Note use of blank indicators.

Part 6: Recording Information in the Orbis Item Record

Generally an item record is created to represent an individual volume rather than an issue of a serial. Some types of periodicals, e.g. semiannuals, annuals, etc., may have item records made for individual issues when individual issues are not bound together.

Beginning in 2004, in the SML workflow the item record for new serial titles is used primarily for status tracking of the issue(s) to the cataloging unit. The item type will be assigned by Acquisitions staff after the item is cataloged. If the item cataloged belongs to the category of serials sent to the SML stacks upon receipt (semiannuals, annuals, and serials received less often than annually), Serial Support will assign the item type as soon as the cataloged item is returned from the Catalog Dept. Serial Support will then complete preparations pre-processing and send the issue to Preparations. If the item cataloged belongs to the category of serials sent to the Periodical Reading Room, the item record will be deleted and the issue sent to PRR. When all issues of the volume are received, they are returned to Serial Support from PRR, a new item record is created, a jourxx item type code is assigned, and the issues are sent to Preparations.

Those departmental and SML units that do not follow the Serial Support workflow will ordinarily assign the item type when the Preliminary Record is created. Cataloging staff should generally doublecheck the item type if the issue is sent from the cataloging unit directly to the binding unit.

Whether the item type is assigned before or after cataloging, SML units should use these guidelines for assigning item types.

The required item record fields for serials are BARCODE, PERM. LOC., ITEM TYPE, ENUM, and CHRON. For accompanying media, a new field is also required: ITEM STATISTICAL CATEGORY.

PERM. LOC. If the 852 $b location is changed, the PERM.LOC field must be updated to be consistent with the new 852 location.

For SML ITEM TYPES,

serials that circulate after a designated time period will have a year qualifier after jour, e.g. jour04

[for consistency, match the year qualifier to the year used in the 866 chronological designation]

annuals and serials issued less frequently than annuals, e.g. biennials, are assigned item type circ

serials other than annuals (biennials,etc.) that circulate without restriction are assigned the code jourcirc (e.g. when SML Circulation updates jour04 in 2014)

serials that are permanently non-circulating are assigned the code jour (i.e. do not assign nocirc)

EXCEPTION: if the serial is held by an Orbis location that includes ref in the location code, the item type is reference, e.g. a serial held by smlref is assigned the item type reference

ACCOMPANYING MEDIA: This represents a change in SML policy beginning with Oct. 2004.

For accompanying media items, first determine whether the media item is to be retained. See Media Policies and Processes for Receiving Serials: http://www.library.yale.edu/rsc/sml/media/sst.html

If the policy is to retain the media item, use the appropriate item type for the print serial in the ITEM TYPE field. In the CHRON field of the item record, enter the media code according to the table following:

CHRON CODE (for acc. media)	USAGE NOTES
CD	Data and software CD-ROMs, sound CDs, interactive multimedia, video CDs and mixed types
DISKETTE	Floppy disks of any diameter
DVD	Movies, digital images, data, sound, interactive media, etc.
PHONODISC	LPs, 78s, etc.
TAPE	Use for sound cassettes, reel-to-reel tapes, and computer tapes
VHS	Use for videocassettes

The media code should be the last element entered in the CHRON field, to ensure that the code prints below the enumeration and chronological designation on the label. The media case is intended to shelve in the stacks directly following the appropriate bound print volume.

In addition, the code is to be entered in an additional field, the Item Statistical Category. Steps:

1. Open the item record
2. Click on the middle box (the one with the pie-chart icon on it) in the lower left corner of the item record, or press Ctrl-T, to open the Item Statistical Category dialog box.
3. Choose the appropriate code from the Statistical Categories List based on the scope note above, and click OK
4. Save the item record.

For additional processing information (how to label the media case, how to mark the item, etc.), and for additional media codes (generally for obsolete media), consult the document Cataloging Procedures for Audiovisual, CD-ROM, and Related Media:

http://www.library.yale.edu/rsc/sml/media/cat.html

EXAMPLE 1. Item record fields for a CD-ROM accompanying the monthly journal Computers in libraries, v.25:no.12(2005:Dec.)

ITEM TYPE: jour05
ENUM: v.25:no.12
CHRON: 2005:Dec. CD
ITEM STATISTICAL CATEGORY: CD

EXAMPLE 2. Item record fields for a DVD accompanying the annual Screen world, v.56(2005)

ITEM TYPE: circ
ENUM: v.56
CHRON: 2005 DVD
ITEM STATISTICAL CATEGORY: DVD

Item types for non-SML locations are determined by the library profile.

Table that includes the full list of jour codes and their scope:

http://www.library.yale.edu/orbis2/implementation/itemtype%20guidelines.xls

Whether a serial circulates depends on local policy. Use the following table listing appropriate jour codes by location:

http://www.library.yale.edu/orbis2/implementation/NOTIStoVOYMapping61.xls

For the ENUM and CHRON fields, follow the guidelines at:

http://www.library.yale.edu/cataloging/Orbis2Manual/enumchron.htm

Item records for monographic series see: Preliminary Bib Records: Monographic Series.

Based on Notis Acquisitions document. Updated for Voyager by Maria Hunenko with consultation and editorial support by Fanny Hsieh. Further revision by the Catalog Policy and Documentation Committee for the Catalog Coordinating Council.