5xx - General or Specialized Notes

Owned by Andrea Payant
May 27, 2021
5 min read

500      General Notes

All general notes are entered into the 500 field.  General notes consist of information that will help the patron or fellow cataloger to further identify the item.  If the information entered in the 500 field is a direct quotation (meaning it is an exact transcription from the item formally stated in quotation marks) the location from which the information was taken must be indicated unless it was taken from the title page; anywhere else must be stated. 

If the item has an index or more than one index, but no bibliography the existence of the index should be stated in the 500 field as a general note:

 

Example:

500 _ _ Includes index.  (Check to make sure that the fixed field Indx is coded 1 if an index is present.)

 

State reprint information in a 500 field:

Examples:

500 _ _ “Originally published in 1998 by Beacon Press” – t.p. verso.   

500 _ _ Originally published: Chicago: H. Regenery Co., 1957.

 

Additional examples of 500 notes:

500 _ _  Series statement from jacket.

500 _ _  Maps on lining papers.         

500 _ _  Caption title.

500 _ _  Formerly known as: The unidentified soldier.

500 _ _  Translated from the original Italian.

500 _ _  Errata sheet laid in.

 

*Delete any notes that refer to a specific copy of an item held at another institution.

 

504      Bibliography, etc., Note          

Check for bibliographical references, indexes, discographies, filmographies, etc.  Make sure the codes in the fixed fields for Cont and Indx match what is in the 504 field.

 

Examples:

504 _ _ Includes bibliographical references and index.  (references throughout book, index)

504 _ _ Includes bibliographical references and indexes.  (references throughout book, indexes)

504 _ _ Includes bibliographical references (p. 186–264). (references, no index)

504 _ _ Includes bibliographical references (p. 218–[286]) and index. (beginning page of bibliography has printed page number, ending page of bibliography does not have a printed page number)

 

When the item does not contain an index, but does contain a discography, filmography, etc., those contents may also be entered in the 504 field.

 

Examples:

504 _ _  Chronological list of the author's works: p. 469–475.

504 _ _  Filmography: v. 2, p. 344–360.

504 _ _  "Literature cited": p. 67–68.

504 _ _  Sources: p. 125–152.

 

505      Formatted Content Note

The 505 field contains a list of the contents of separate works, or parts of a whole item.  They can also include statements of responsibility for the various works or parts.  In a book, the contents might include the title of each chapter. 

There are two levels at which content notes can be encoded: basic and enhanced.  For basic content notes, all information is entered in the first subfield a.  The title and the statements of responsibility are separated by “ / “ .  Each title of a separate work or part and the statement of responsibility are separated by “ –– “.  Only capitalize the first word of the title and proper nouns.

An enhanced content note is similar to a basic note in information entered, rules of capitalization, and punctuation.  The difference is that the subfields are added for better machine generated searching and sorting.  Each title is entered into a subfield t, each statement of responsibility is entered into a subfield r.

 

Example (Basic – without statements of responsibility):

Introduction : Someday your witch will come –– Things Walt Disney never told us (1975) –– Fairytales for adults : Walt Disney's Americanization of the märchen (1980) –– The misuses of enchantment : controversies on the significance of fairy tales (1985) –– Feminist approaches to the interpretation of fairy tales (1986) –– Three transformations of "Snow White" (1988).

 

Example (Basic – with statements of responsibility):

Introduction : Never forgetting the importance of ethical treatment of elephants / Christen Wemmer and Catherine A. Christen –– Elephants in time and space : evolution and ecology / Raman Sukumar –– Personhood, memory, and elephant management / Gary Varner.

 

Example (Basic – multivolume set):

v. 1. The apprentice years, 1924–1934 –– v. 2. The "Southern review" years, 1935–1942 –– v. 3 Triumph and transition, 1943–1952.

 

Example (Enhanced):

ǂt National security and climate change in perspective / ǂr Kurt M. Campbell, Christine Parthemore –– ǂt Can history help with global warming? / ǂr J. R. McNeill –– ǂt Three plausible scenarios of future climate change / ǂr Jay Gulledge.

 

Check the 1st and 2nd indicators.  The first indicator tells the system what type of caption to use at the beginning of the content note.  The second indicator tells the cataloger and the computer whether the contents are encoded at the basic level or at the enhanced level.

 

1st indicator codes:

0 = Contents (complete contents of item are listed)

1  = Incomplete contents (not all parts are available for analysis)

2  = Partial contents (all parts are available but not all are listed)

8  = No display constant generated (no caption generated for beginning of note)

 

2nd indicator codes:

blank = Basic

0 = Enhanced

 

Proofread and Spell Check for typos. 

 

520      Summary Note

This is an unformatted note that gives a general description or summation of the scope and/or content of the item.  Often these summaries are taken from the jacket of the book, or from a publisher’s description.  If the summary is helpful, concise, and not biased, it is okay to leave it in.  If the summary is really long, biased, and not helpful in determining usefulness of the book, delete or edit this field. 

                       

530      Additional Physical Form Available Note

This note provides information to the patron regarding other formats the same information is available in. 

                       

546      Language Note

The 546 field is for textual information regarding the language, printed characters, and symbols contained in the item being described in the bibliographic record.  If this field is used in the record to indicate the presence of more than one language or that the item is a translation, the record should also contain a 041 field. 

 

Examples:

546 _ _  Text in English or Spanish.

546 _ _  Text in English and Spanish.

546 _ _  Translated from French.

 

*This field is not used when an item just quotes something in another language in order to critique or discuss it in English.  This field is used when the material presented in the language(s) is a part of the text itself.  For example, a record for poems written in French translated into English as a poetry book would have a 546 field and a 041 field.  A literature book studying the various types of French poetry with examples given in French in order to discuss the poems would not have a 546 field.

                       

590     Local Note

The 590 field is for notes that pertain only to the copy of an item held by a USU library.  A 590 note is also used to indicate the presence of a gift plate, or to indicate that the item was a gift.  A 590 note can be used to indicate the presence of an author’s signature in a book.  It can also be used to state that the item is bound with other items. 

 

Examples:

590 _ _ Autographed copy.

590 _ _ Inscribed by the author.

590 _ _ Bound with: (enter call number(s) for the item(s) that the copy is bound with)

 

Gift Plates

Gift plates are periodically placed in books which are to be copy cataloged.  These will usually be found in the flyleaf pages or inside of the cover. If there is a gift plate present in the item, enter the appropriate information in a 590 field.

 

Examples:

590 _ _ Gift thanks to Michelle Miller.

590 _ _ Gift in honor of Michelle Miller.

590 _ _ Gift in memory of Michelle Miller.

590 _ _ Gift of the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation.