Introduction

These guidelines were developed in March 2024 by the Preservation department, Cataloging & Metadata Services department, and the Library Service Center (LSC) in an effort to economize the time and resources required to process gift-in-kind serials that will be housed in the LSC. 

When should you follow these procedures?

  • Is the serial a gift-in-kind? ("Gift-in-kind" means the serials themselves were gifted to us, as opposed to serials purchased with gift funds.)
  • Will the serial be housed at the LSC?
  • Are there four or more pieces? (A "piece" is one discrete physical unit of the serial and can be an issue, volume, band, etc.)
  • When stacked together, are the pieces are at least 3/8" thick?

Follow these guidelines if you answered "yes" to all four questions.

Cataloging Procedures

Bibliographic Record

There are no special procedures for handling the bib record. The bib record is treated like any other gift-in-kind title.

  1. Create or import a bibliographic record for the serial if one does not already exist in Alma.
  2. Review the bib record as usual for a serial, making any necessary edits.
  3. If the selector specified a gift note, add the note in a MARC 590.
  4. Now is a good time to check for a book plate that matches the gift note. If a book plate needs to be created, request it by emailing the Head of Acquisitions with the text of the gift note. It may take a few days for the plate to be made.

Holdings Record

The circulation policy for these materials is LSC Restricted, which means that patrons can request them from the LSC but the materials are marked "Library use only" and do not circulate. There are no special procedures for handling the holdings record.

When creating the holdings:

  • The location in the MARC 852 should be $$b LSC $$c LSC (there is no "LSC Restricted" location).
  • Assign a call number as usual for a serial.
  • Add MARC 866/867/868 fields as necessary (see CatMan page on holdings records for help).

If an LSC holding already exists for other issues of the serial, _____________________________. 

Item Record

If there are many serial issues, separate them into logical and manageable (2" stacks, maximum) groupings. Each grouping will share one barcode and one item record.

For each item record:

  • Material type = Issue
  • Item policy = Non-circulating item
  • Provenance = Gift
  • Enumeration/Chronology/Description = fill these out, following usual serials procedures, to describe the issues included in the grouping
  • Pieces = the number of pieces in the grouping
  • On the Notes tab, add a fulfillment note: "__ pieces tied with string"
  • Once the barcode has been added, make sure to set the Process Type = Technical Services.

Marking Procedures

Marking procedures and physical processing for these serials are very different from how other library materials are handled. Instead of being bound or boxed, the pieces will be tied together in a bundle with cotton string.  Please follow these instructions carefully.

  1. Stack the pieces chronologically in ascending order (e.g., if you have issues 2 through 7, issue 2 will be on top and issue 7 will be on the bottom).
  2. Write the call number on ___________________________________.
  3. Rubber band the pieces together to keep them in order.
  4. Write the piece count on a plain white sticker and affix it to the lower left corner of the front of the bundle.
  5. Affix the item barcode to the lower right corner of the back of the bundle.
  6. Insert black and yellow flags (black = "LSC needs library use only sticker" and yellow = "Restricted not to be taken from the library").
  7. If a gift note was requested, insert a book plate flag and the book plate.
  8.  Place the cataloged bundle ______________________________.



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