Serials: Special Types
General
Listed below are several of the different types of serials that Beinecke collects. This list is not comprehensive, but touches on a few of the major categories within the collections. Special treatment and special tracings are specified for each category, along with any historical information. Serials should have appropriate subject headings (subdivided by Periodicals, if allowed) and applicable genre tracings. For general information on cataloging serials for Beinecke Library, see Serials Cataloging.
Almanacs
Almanacs can be 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. In these situations, monographic cataloging is preferred.
In addition to required special tracings, such as imprint tracings, the genre term Almanacs is used.
| 655 | 7 | ‡a Almanacs. ‡2 lcgft |
The following subject is also traced for American almanacs:
| 650 | 0 | ‡a Almanacs, American ‡z [state]. |
| 650 | 0 | ‡a Almanacs, American ‡z Massachusetts |
English Almanacs
18th-century English almanacs present a special problem. In many cases multiple almanac titles for a given year, particularly those printed by the Stationers’ Company, have been bound together. Frequently these titles are already in the collection and cataloged as serials, but the cataloging was done before Beinecke was sending material to LSF and before the use of barcodes, item records, and the 856 field in the MFHD. To catalog new almanac acquisitions as additions to these serial titles could create split MFHDs, but trying to edit the MFHDs for material already in the collection, and doing the appropriate 856 linking, presents a project of unknown and potentially far-reaching scope that is currently not feasible. In some cases these same titles have also been cataloged as monographs, so such a project might also entail significant recataloging.
Because of these considerations, effective November 2019 the RBCU will catalog 18th-century English almanacs as monographs. This practice aligns with that of the English Short Title Catalogue, which has created individual entries for each year of most almanacs; in addition, usable monograph copy for these almanacs can usually be found in OCLC. In cases where multiple titles are bound together, catalogers should treat these as a standard bound-with volume, applying the appropriate local notes and MFHD linking.
In many cases a serial record for any given almanac title will also already exist in Voyager. If a newly cataloged monograph almanac title also has a serial record, do not attempt to update any of the existing holdings on that record. Instead, add a new holding to the serial record that instructs the user to search by individual title.
Example: The ladies diary, or, the woman’s almanack, for the year of our Lord, 1720 (bib ID 14582952; bound with 11 other almanac titles for 1720)
Monograph MFHD:
| 014 | 1 | etc. | |
| 014 | 1 | ‡a 14596273 | |
| 014 | 1 | ‡a 14596361 | |
| 852 | 8 | 0 | ‡b lsfbeir ‡h 2019 ‡i 1121 ‡z Bound with 11 other titles. To view other titles search by call number: 2019 1121. |
Serial MFHD, for The Lady’s and gentleman’s diary (bib ID 3142510):
| 852 | 8 | 0 | ‡b beingen ‡h Search under individual Title/Year for items in this series. |
| 562 | ‡a Some volumes bound with other almanacs of the same year published by the Stationers’ Company in London. | ||
| 866 | 4 | 1 | ‡8 0 ‡a 1720 |
Note that the 852 ‡b for the serial holding should be “beingen,” even if the almanac in hand is going to LSF, because it’s possible that we could receive other issues of this title that might be bound with something that would need to remain at Beinecke.
If a newly-cataloged almanac title does not already have a serial record in Voyager, do not create or bring in a serial record, even if usable copy exists in OCLC.
Comic Books
Beinecke has a large collection of both cataloged and uncataloged comics. Some titles had as many as three copies of individual 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.
For current documentation on cataloging comics and graphic novels, refer to the document titled Comic Books and Graphic Novels.
Past Practice
The genre terms ‘Comic books’ and ‘Comic books, strips, etc.’ were formerly assigned to all comic books. As titles with these terms are encountered, the terms will be changed to the LCGFT form: Comics (Graphic works). At the end of processing all the comic books in the backlog, any outdated genre terms still remaining will be changed.
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 with common heros, such as Jesse James, Clif Stirling, Dick Dobbs, or 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 them as monographs. In the past most dime novels have been cataloged as serials.
Use the genre term Dime novels.
| 655 | 7 | ‡a Dime novels. ‡2 rbmscv |
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, however, if the title or geographical area covered changes almost every year. At Beinecke, many directories have been cataloged under the latest entry convention. Whether cataloged as serials or monographs all directories receive a subject heading for the geographic area subdivided by Directories. The genre term Directories is also given.
| 651 | 0 | ‡a [geographic area] ‡v Directories. | |
| 655 | 7 | ‡a Directories. ‡2 lcgft |
| 651 | 0 | ‡a San Francisco (Calif.) ‡v Directories. | |
| 655 | 7 | ‡a Directories. ‡2 lcgft |
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.
Use the genre term Little magazines.
| 655 | 7 | ‡a Little magazines. ‡2 rbmscv |
Also trace the following reference source, if magazine is in the bibliography:
| 510 | 4 | ‡a Hoffman, F.J. Little magazine (2nd ed.) ‡c [page no.] |
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 [geographic area] ‡v Newspapers. | |
| 655 | 7 | ‡a Newspapers. ‡2 lcgft | |
| 752 | ‡a [country] ‡b [state, province, or territory] ‡d [city]. |
| 651 | 0 | ‡a San Francisco (Calif.) ‡v Newspapers. | |
| 655 | 7 | ‡a Newspapers. ‡2 lcgft | |
| 752 | ‡a United States ‡b California ‡d San Francisco. |
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. Folio newspapers new to Beinecke are classed in the Year/Number call number scheme. Quarto newspapers new to Beinecke are classed either in the Western Americana call number scheme or 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 title should be given the Z17 number so that they will shelve with the rest of the set. New titles are assigned serial year/number call numbers.
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. Use the genre/form term Periodocals for publications that do not have a specific subject. It is not necessary to use the genre/form term Periodicals if the form subdivision Peridoicals is present in a subject heading.
| 655 | 7 | ‡a Periodicals. ‡2 lcgft |
or
| 650 | ‡a American poetry ‡v Periodicals. |
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. |
Current Practice
The current practice is to make a distinction between periodicals and newspapers. When the obsolete pactice is encountered in cataloging, the 690 local subject tracing should be removed and a genre term for either newspapers or periodicals should be added.
| 4 |
| 655 | 7 | ‡a Newspapers. ‡2 lcgft |
or
| 655 | 7 | ‡a Periodicals. ‡2 lcgft |