Penn State University Libraries - Duplicate Call Number Training

Background

I. What to Do and When to Do It
II. Cutters for Literary and Non-Literary Items
     A. Literary Cutters
     B. Non-Literary Cutters
III. How to Adjust Main-Entry Cutters
IV. Examples

• Geographic Location
• Topic
• Biography of a Non-Literary Author
• Date in Subject Field

In December of 1995, Cataloging Council decided that, in anticipation of PromptCat, certain procedures relating to shelflisting in The Cat would be modified. From now on, the Monographs Team "will concentrate on preventing absolute call number conflicts (the same call number for more than one item)." Call numbers will no longer be adjusted to correct inconsistencies in alphabetization.

To reduce referrals and streamline the cataloging process, the Monographs Team will be trained to correct most duplicate call number situations.

This document is divided into three parts. The first part describes the decision tree to be followed in determining what action to take when shelflisting a newly processed item. The second part consists of guidelines for distinguishing literature from non-literary items and for determining whether a cutter has been constructed from the main entry. The third part explains how to adjust main-entry cutters.

1. Process the item, using the call number from copy.
2. Shelflist the item.
3. Does the call number for the item in hand duplicate (i.e., match exactly except for the date) another call number already in The Cat?
   
   If No, complete the item and send to Physical Processing.
   If Yes: Is the item literature? (see part II for help in identifying literature).

    

   If yes,
   If the cutter begins with "A" or "Z", refer to an original cataloger for review, unless the cutter is obviously generated from the title. If the cutter is anything else, adjust the cutter according to the rules below (see part III) to eliminate the duplicate call number situation.

   If no,
   If the cutter is not obviously from the main entry (author or title), refer to an original cataloger for review. If the cutter is generated from the main entry, adjust according to the rules below (part III) to eliminate the duplicate call number situation.

(Generally speaking, literature is classed in P, the most common subclasses being PN, PR, PS, PQ, PT, and PG. Watch for key words and phrases such as novel, short stories, plays, poems, and poetry or their equivalents in other languages for foreign items. When in doubt, refer or ask someone for assistance in determining whether the item is indeed literary.)

Cutters for literary items are usually constructed from the first word in the title (245). If the cutter begins with A or Z, refer as instructed above. For other letters, the first letter of the cutter should match the first letter of the first word in the title (245). If it does, adjust it as instructed below. If it does not, refer.

For non-literary items, most cutters are assigned based upon an item's main entry: either the author's last name (1XX field) or the first indexed word of the title (245) when there is no 1XX field.

When deciding whether a cutter has been constructed from an item's main entry, compare the cutter's letter to the first letter in the 1XX field, or in the 245 field if there is no 1XX. The first letter of the cutter should match the first letter of the first word in the 1XX or 245 field. If it does, adjust it as instructed below. If it does not, refer.

In the Library of Congress' classification scheme, a cutter consists of a single letter followed by one or more digits based upon the subsequent letters in the word:

Cutter for main entry (1XX) Berks, Joseph would be B47, B from the first letter, 4 from E, 7 from R.

Cutter for main entry (245) A fishy story would be F57, F from the first letter, 5 from I, 7 from S.

Cutters are constructed with the aid of the following table:

From: Subject Cataloging Manual: Shelflisting G60, p.14.

Note that this table is intended only as a guide; it is often necessary to choose a digit or digits from outside the recommended range to correct a duplicate call number. The table is included here for informational purposes only. Since it has been decided that alphabetization is no longer an issue in The Cat, adjusting a cutter will only require changing the final digit so that the duplicate call number no longer occurs in the shelflist. Using the table will not be necessary. Generally it will be sufficient to change the digit by 1 either up or down or to add an additional digit.

EXAMPLE: Call number PG3489.M34B45 1987 duplicates in The Cat. Adjust it to PG3489.M34B46 (or B44) 1987. Shelflist to make sure that B46 (or B44) does not duplicate cutters already in The Cat. (Readjust as necessary.)

EXAMPLE: Call number HV8039.B8J6 1994 duplicates in The Cat. Adjust it to HV8039.B8J62 1994. Shelflist to verify correctness.

Below are a few examples of cutters not constructed from main-entry. These kinds of items should be referred to an original cataloger for completion when their call numbers duplicate in The Cat.

Geographic Location | Topic | Biography of a Non-Literary Author | Date in Subject Field

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