[Yulcat-l] Local Notes: Provisional YUL Policy

[Arakawa, Steven]

A number of staff have asked me whether there is a YUL  policy regarding  location of local notes (590) within the standard AACR2 note order hierarchy . I wasn't able to find one, and it appears that different units have different cataloging policies. Ideally, the new MFHD field 876 $z results in the clearest display in the OPAC. However, the disadvantage is that the information would not be available in the OCLC institution record, and special collections catalogers want that information to be available on OCLC, since it may determine whether a researcher outside of Yale would want to examine or identify a specific copy.

Based on feedback from CCC, here are the YUL guidelines for local notes. The guidelines may be revisited after the new version of Orbis is rolled out in 2012.

Per AACR2 1.7B, precede local notes, i.e., notes on the copy being described (1.7B20),  by all other notes except


*         "With" notes (1.7B21)

*         combined notes relating to the original (1.7B22)

*         item described notes (i.e., Description based on/Latest issue consulted; 1.7B23).

In Voyager, the note position in the MARC record does not affect the note position or display in the OPAC view.

YUL default policy: Follow AACR2 note order for local notes.
Do not follow the LC practice of using 500 $5 <MARC code>  for all local notes, as  described in LCRI 1.7B20, although 500 $5 can be used under certain conditions (see last paragraph)

Exceptions can be made for the note position if the decision is at unit level.  For example, CMS will apply the default policy with these exceptions:


*         Rare Book team will continue its practice of entering local notes first.

*         Specialty Cataloging team will follow the default policy with the exception of Yale dissertations where local notes will be entered first.

In general, use MARC 590 for local notes. If the heading on a resource cataloged needs to be justified, and the source for the justification on the manifestation is not available on the library's copy, use 500 with $5 <MARC code>. In the future, MFHD 876 $z may be considered but will not be used at this time.

Steven Arakawa
Catalog Librarian for Training & Documentation
Catalog & Metadata Services, SML, Yale University
P.O. Box 208240 New Haven, CT 06520-8240
(203)432-8286 steven.arakawa at yale.edu

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