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Use of Subfield z in the Call Number Field in Symphony

rev. 9/13/96

Contents

Overview
Size limit
Input conventions
Terminal set examples
Serial examples
A.V. and Computer file examples
Abbreviations from AACR2 Appendix B

Note: With the adoption of ANSI standards for MARC holdings on April 19, 1993, captions for newly-received multipart publications are recorded in the language of the publication. For added volumes to multipart publications first received prior to April 19, 1993, continue to use English captions in all cases.

Overview

In Symphony, a separate call number record is generally created for each volume of a multipart title (e.g. a serial, a terminal set). Within each call number record, the volume number and/or date of that particular volume is input into the subfield z of the call number field. Basically, subfield z contains what used to go into the ENUM/CHRON field in NOTIS, or the volume part of an analytic call number. The use of a separate subfield allows the system to sort these data independently of the base call number, and thus achieve correct numerical order when multiple call number records are displayed.

The format of the data in subfield z needs to be as consistent as possible. Consistency will result in more readable displays, more accurate sorting, and allow future manipulation of the data.

This document provides instructions on inputting data into subfield z. For situations not covered by this document, consult your supervisor.

Size Limit

The call number field has a size limit of 40 characters. This should be sufficient for most call numbers that have a subfield z. However, for serials that have both volume number and date, 40 characters may not be enough. In such cases, input only the volume number and omit the date portion of the subfield z. For other types of call numbers that exceed the size limit, consult your supervisor.

Input Conventions

• No space before or after |z.
• All alphabetic characters in the call number field are in upper case. The system does not allow the inputting of lower case letters into this field.
• Always use Arabic numerals.
• Enter data with a period between the caption and number, or one space if there is no period.
• Record captions in the vernacular form, romanized if necessary. The caption used in subfield z should in general agree with the caption used in the MARC holdings record. However, if the publication does not use any caption in its enumeration, use V. (volume) as the caption in subfield z. Abbreviate according to the table below.
• Use a colon (:) between levels of enumeration and levels of date.
• Use a space to separate volume number and date.
• Use a hyphen (-) to indicate an unbroken range of holdings where multi-volumes or parts are bound together.
• Use a comma (,) to show a break or gap in a range of holdings.
• Use a semicolon (;) to indicate a non-gap break in holdings, i.e., where the missing item was never published. (Note: when there is a skipped volume, it could be because it is missing, is bound separately, or was never published. If it happens to be known that the volume was never published, use the semicolon to indicate this. However, in most cases this information will not be known at the time of item creation. In such cases, use the comma.)
• Use a diagonal (/) when an item was published as a single piece, but whose coverage spans more than one volume or year.
• Use a plus (+) to indicate additional materials bound with the volume, for example a supplement or index.
• Use a period (.) for ordinal numbers in languages other than English (e.g. Erste Band is transcribed as 1.Bd.).
• Use of date in subfield z should in general agree with the holdings statement in the MARC holdings record, i.e. if the holdings statement does not include date, do not use date in subfield z.
• Always use the full date (e.g., 1990-1992 not 1990-92, 1991/1992 not 1991/92).
• For dates, use date of coverage. If this information is not readily available, the order of preference is date of publication, date of copyright, and then date of printing. Dates may be omitted when volumes are published out of order and the inclusion of dates would be misleading.
• For numbered conferences, it is all right to use 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.

Terminal Set Examples

Serial Examples

A.V. and Computer File Examples

Abbreviations from AACR2 Appendix B:

AACR2 Appendix B lists the prescribed abbreviations and it is available through Cataloger's Desktop. However, Princeton University also maintains a useful copy of these abbreviation lists on their website:

• AACR2 Abbreviations
• Abbreviations of the Names of the Months

Last modified: October 8, 2008