Etiquette for Replacing Bibliographic Records

1. Etiquette for Replacing Bibliographic Records MOUG, February 25, 2014 Hermine Vermeij UCLA

2. At UCLA • History of being an Enhance/National Enhance Library. • When the expert community experiment started, we encouraged copy catalogers to replace records when appropriate. • We use WorldCat Local as our UC-wide catalog, so it’s important that records appear in WorldCat accurately—not just in our local ILS. • At first all copy catalogers checked with a supervisor before replacing records. • Now they all may make simple corrections (fixing typos, completing Cutters) without supervision. • Some are trusted to do more than others. • Many copy catalogers add vernacular script to OCLC records.

3. Deciding to replace a record • When looking at complete-looking copy, I: • Check to make sure it matches (duh). • Quickly check the most important fields: 050/090, 100, 240, 245, 300, 6XXs for completeness. • If those look good, I skim the rest of the record and usually accept it. • If my piece has standard numbers (ISMN, usually) not reflected in the record, I will often add the number without making other changes.

4. My piece matches this record, but it has UPC, ISBN, and ISMN numbers added on the back cover. • The record looks fine; I will add my 020s and 024s and replace without making other changes (updating to RDA, etc.).

5. Overhauling a record • If I see a red flag in a critical field: • I will scrutinize the record more carefully. • I may upgrade the record to BIBCO. • I will consider correcting other fields; even things I might have left alone in a record without red flags. • I still won’t edit for style alone, but I will get pickier about things like capitalization and punctuation.

6. This record has a major error in the 650. • While I’m in there, I would probably correct the 382 and 546 as well, even though those are not critical errors.