Marking of Volumes

General Guidelines | Multi-Volume Items |  Additional Copies | Oversize Reference and Stack Reference

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.

Call numbers are written on items vertically, line by line. If this is not possible the call numbers should be written horizontally with segments separated by periods.  On bookplates, horizontal marking normally goes along the top, justified to the left. There are a few exceptions where the marking is along the bottom justified to the left.

For non-serials, “Beinecke Library” is written above the call number unless it’s printed on the bookplate. It precedes the call number for horizontal marking. Berginning February 2010, “Beinecke Library” is not written above the call number for serials.

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 Collection

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 resources published in fascicles (i.e., published in parts, 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

The following rules apply to both serials and multi-part monographs:

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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.

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:

The items would be marked: 1, 4/5, 9

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 that reads: MARK BY YEAR or ADD BY YEAR.

Sometimes it is necessary to actually look at the items already in the Beinecke stacks. There are also cases where there is a mixture of markings in the stacks and the volumes have to be remarked.

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

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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)

Past and Current Practices for Oversize LC Call Numbers Only

NOTE: Prior to the use of Voyager in June 2002, oversize + was entered before the last cutter number, and the “Oversize” stamp after the line break was not used. Computer conversion programs have shifted the position of the + to the end of the call number and inserted ‡m Oversize, so there will be a discrepancy between the oversize designation in the online catalog and the oversize designation on the item label for titles cataloged prior to June 2002. In July 2007, changes in binding charge schedules resulted in the decision to drop the + entirely.

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