Bibliographic Processing Cataloging Rules
Introduction | Fixed Fields | Call Number and Item | 010 | 020 | 041 | 245 | 246 | 250 | 260 | 264 | 300 | 336 | 337 | 338 | 340 | 4XX/8XX Series | 5XX | Choice of Entry | X00 | X10 | 740 || Monographs Team Documentation | Record Creation | BPCR Home
500 notes contain useful information about the item that does not fit into the descriptive fields (2XX-4XX) of a bibliographic record. Information such as source of the title proper, variant titles, bibliographic history, etc. are recorded in 500 notes. Instructions for use of and referrals regarding 500 and 5XX notes in Full Level Processing are given in Record Creation 5XX.
Both indicators are blank
Subfield a (|a) is the only valid subfield.
If data in a note corresponds to data like that found in the bibliographic description area (2XX-4XX), use prescribed ISBD punctuation within the note.
Example: Tag Contents 500 Translation of the poem Skilmalarnir from the Icelandic text published in: Icelandic lyrics : originals and translations / Richerd Beck. Reykjavik, 1956.
When a quotation is used or the information within the note contains information that supplements or expands on data found in the bibliographic description area, conventional punctuation is to be used.
Give supplied informational notes (e.g., Cover title) in English.
Give quoted notes in the language found on the item.
When a note contains information quoted from the item, standard grammatical punctuation, or the punctuation and capitalization within the note, should correspond to that found in the item. When extracting a note from textual material, information may be omitted from the quotation and shown in the 500 note by the use of ellipses (...).
Follow the quotation by an indication of its source, unless that source is the chief source of information. Precede the source of information with a double dash.
When following a quotation by an indication of its source, use English terms for the source. If the record is AACR2 or pre-AACR2, abbreviate the term according to AACR2 Appendix B. For "volume" use "Vol." Capitalize the first letter of the term or its abbreviation. Do not abbreviate source terms in RDA records.
500 "By Robert Pokras, Edmund J. Graves, and Charles F. Dennison."--Page iv. -- [RDA]
500 "By Robert Pokras, Edmund J. Graves, and Charles F. Dennison."--P. iv. -- [AACR2]500 "... [Quoted note]"--Title page verso. -- [RDA]
500 "... [Quoted note]"--T.p. verso. -- [AACR2]500 "[Quoted note]"--Page 4 of cover. -- [RDA]
500 "[Quoted note]"--P. 4 of cover. -- [AACR2]
The following list gives the types of notes that should be added to MLP records as they apply. Examples and special instructions, if needed, are given under each category of note.
When the item lacks a title page, give the source of the title proper in a 500 note.
500 Cover title.
500 Spine title.
500 Caption title.
A non-formal edition statement is normally found within a sentence in the text of the item.
RDA
Record non-formal edition statements in field 250.
AACR2
Do not record this type of edition statement in field 250. Input it in a 500 note instead.
P. ix
"This edition too began to sell in 1954, but then the above mentioned Janet descended on us and soaked a large number of copies of the book. Happily, though stained with the colour of the red cover, many of the books were not otherwise damaged. By the end of 1966, however, this edition also had become epuise. Here, therefore, is what may be described as the Third Edition. Corrected as far as possible ...?250 Third edition. -- [RDA]
500 "Third edition"--P. ix. -- [AACR2]
Include notes describing the source of imprint (i.e., publication information) as instructed in 260 (AACR2) or 264 (RDA).
500 Publication information from label on title page. -- [RDA]
500 Imprint from label on t.p. -- [AACR2]
When folded leaves are numbered consecutively with the main pagination, input a 500 note to describe the situation.
Example:
Item has six groupings of plates in six different areas within the item. All of the plates are numbered with the text.
300 246 pages :|billustrations ;|c26 cm -- [RDA]
300 246 p. :|bill. ;|c26 cm. -- [AACR2]500 Six groups of plates on folded leaves.
When an item is printed with dual paginations, as might be the case for parallel text, as mentioned in BPCR 300, input a 500 note to describe the situation.
500 Opposite pages bear duplicate numbering.
Accompanying Material:
Include notes describing accompanying material as instructed in 300.
Information appearing on the verso, etc., which will be given in an access point but does not appear in the descriptive fields 2XX-4XX, must be accounted for in a note.
Example: Tag Ind. Contents 500 "Rewritten, revised and expanded from the first edition by Rita Claire Dorner, O.P."--P. [ii]. -- [AACR2] 700 1# Dorner, Rita Claire.
Give edition and history notes as necessary to justify access points or other information in the record.
Examples: Tag Contents 500 Reprint. Originally published: Boston : Little Brown, 1972.
The reprint note shown above is only used when the imprint has changed and to justify Date type r and DT2 in the Fixed Field information.500 "Essays originally published in Southern quarterly, v. 18, no. 4, summer 1980." 500 "A companion volume to John W. Thompson's Index to illustrations of the natural world (North America)." 500 "Originally published in Germany in a translation under the title, Das waren die Klaars"--T.p. verso. -- [AACR2] 500 "Translation of: La marine dans l'Antiquité."
Note that a 740 may be given for related and translated titles in MLP records, but when the record is fully cataloged, this type of information may appear on copy as a uniform title or be disregarded.
When the LCAF decision is "Not a Series, give as quoted note" give the phrase as such.
500 "Penguin book."
When the LCAF decision is "Not a Series, give as a quoted note," give the phrase as such.
500 "P-7050-RGI."
In older records, and some current records, information appearing at the head of the title, which will be recorded as an access point but cannot be described in any other field, may be recorded in a 500 note.
500 "American Statistical Association."
or
500 At head of title: American Statistical Association.
This field contains formatted contents notes, which list the titles, statements of responsibility, etc., of parts of the item being described. The contents note may list sections of a one-volume work or the volumes of a multi-volume work. The contents note may provide complete or partial contents based on the catalogers discretion.
The source of information for collections is the title page or its substitute. For sets, the source of information is the chief source of each volume and information provided in any volume listing the contents of the set.
Indicators
Indicator 1 (Display constant controller):
0 Complete contents
1 Incomplete contents
2 Partial contents
See OCLC Bibliographic Formats & Standards 505 for further information.
Indicator 2 (Level of content designation):
blank Basic
0 Enhanced
Subfields
|a -- Contents note
|g -- Miscellaneous information
|r -- Statement of responsibility
|t -- Title
For collections with a collective title, give the individual title statements in a 505 as illustrated below. When the author is common to all titles, do not record the author in the 505. If some or all of the works have separate authors, record the statement of responsibility in the 505 following the title and preceded by (^ / ^). Separate each title with (^ -- ^). See also Collections Cheat Sheet.
Without individual authors: Tag Ind. Contents 505 0# Faro's daughter -- The corinthian -- The nonesuch.
With individual authors: Tag Ind. Contents 505 0# The century of the child / J. Axinn and H. Levin -- Guardian law and the poor child / E. Glasberg ; edited by L. H. Fellows -- Day care as a form of indoor relief.
-- or --
With individual authors in an enhanced 505: Tag Ind. Contents 505 00 |tThe century of the child /|rJ. Axinn and H. Levin -- |tGuardian law and the poor child /|rE. Glasberg ; edited by L. H. Fellows -- |tDay care as a form of indoor relief.
Distinctive titles for individual volumes of a set are input in the 505 with their corresponding volume numbers and/or other sequential designators. Use the standard abbreviations for volume designators when they are present. Separate each title with (^ -- ^).
When one or more volumes of a set lack distinctive titles, but other volumes in the set have additional distinctive titles, input a 505 and use [No distinctive title] for the volumes lacking one.
Use this note to identify the specific audience or intellectual level for which the content of the described resource is considered approprite.
Indicators
Indicator 1 (Display constant controller):
blank Audience
0 Reading grade level
1 Interest age level
2 Interest grade level
3 Special audience characteristics
4 Motivation/interest level
8 No display constant generated
Indicator 2 is blank
Subfields
|a -- Target audience note (repeatable)
|b -- Source
|3 -- Materials specified
Include a 521 note for resources intended for children when the information is easily identifiable from the resource.
This is a general note describing which audience the resource is intended for. Prefer this type of note when one of the types below is not suitable to describe the audience appropriately.
521 Junior high school through college students and adults.
521 For remedial reading programs.
This type of note contains numbered information pertaining to the grade level at which the resource is meant to be read.
521 0# 5.
(The reading level is that for the fifth grade.)521 0# 3.1.
(The reading level is that for the first month of the third grade.)
This type of note contains numbered information pertaining to the age level at which the resource will most likely be of interest.
521 1# 7-10.
(The resource is of interest to those of ages 7 to 10.)
This type of note contains numbered information pertaining to the grade level at which the resource will most likely be of interest.
521 2# 7 & up.
(The resource is of interest to those in the seventh grade and up.)
This type of note describes special characteristics of the audience to which the resource will most likely be of interest.
521 3# Vision impaired.
521 3# Tactile learner.
See OCLC Bibliographic Formats & Standards 521 for further information.
Use this note to describe the languages and/or scripts found in an item being cataloged.
Indicators
Both indicators are blank
Subfields
|a -- Language note
|b -- Information code or alphabet
|3 -- Materials specified
Most of the time the 546 will appear with only a subfield |a.
When a parallel text item is printed with dual paginations, input both a 500 note to describe the paging and a 546 to describe the languages of the text.
500 Opposite pages bear duplicate numbering.
546 Text in English and Spanish.
When text appears in multiple languages, as is often the case for international conference proceedings, list the languages in the order of predominance, or in alphabetical order if no one language is predominant. If one language is predominant and the others appear equally, list the predominant language first followed by the others in alphabetical order.
546 Text in English, Italian, German, Spanish, and French; summaries in English.
546 Text in English, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish
Add a 546 to describe languages of specific parts of an item being cataloged.
546 In Italian; summaries in English, French and Spanish.
546 Abstracts in English.
In certain situations, physical descriptions appear in combination with language notes in a 546.
The following note is commonly used for Canadian documents.
300 ix, 243, 243, ix pages :|billustrations ;|c24 cm -- [RDA]
300 ix, 243, 243, ix p. :|bill. ;|c24 cm. -- [AACR2]546 Text in English and French with French text on inverted pages.
Parallel language texts should also contain a 546 in their records. Example:
546 Parallel English and Spanish text on facing pages.
Complicated situations requiring language information should be referred to an original cataloger.
