OS SERIES VERIFICATION PROCEDURE

Note: This procedure is for numbered series only. Unnumbered series problems will be captured by the unauthorized report.

As of Nov. 2004, SARs are received daily from MARCIVE and no longer coded VU unless our treatment varies from national policy or multiple treatments (644-646 fields) exist on the national record and we need to choose one. In such cases VU coding designates our policy.

As of 7/2006, LC no longer performs series authority work (see http://wiki.library.vanderbilt.edu/committees/pmwiki.php/Meta/SeriesInAcornProjectTeamRecommendations for detailed explanation). For all numbered series with an LC record having a 490:0, insert a green series flag and route to Cataloging for series review. It is still crucial to check for possible standing order duplication. For numbered series having either a 440 or 8xx, follow the procedures below.

ORDERING PROCESS:

Using the information on the requests, search the series title by clicking on the SEARCH icon (binoculars) and typing the series title in the TITLE box (ex: Methods in enzymology) , or perform a complex search using an author/title combination  (ex: “Shakespeare” in AUTHOR box; “Works” in TITLE box). Click on the LIMIT icon in the upper right hand part of the screen. Go to SORT BY and select PBYR (not –PBYR). Hit Enter twice to launch a search for a serial/set bibliographic record. Search results will sort with the earliest records first, i.e. serial/book set bibliographic record will precede monographic records for the individual titles in the series. If you find a serial/book set record that matches, click on the ORDERS tab to make sure that we do not have a standing order and also check under the MARC HLDGS tab to verify that we do not already own the volume number being ordered.
If the volume is not a duplicate and is not part of a series on standing order, then it is safe to order that volume. If the volume holdings, listed on the MARC HLDGS tab, need to be updated upon receipt of the volume being ordered, then add “VH” to the appropriate field on the GOBI (“notes or holding code” field) or Collection Manager (“internal notes” field) order screen, or to the appropriate field in the bibliographic record.

AFTER BOOK ARRIVES

1. SEARCH THE SERIES TITLE USING THE SEARCH STRATEGY DESCRIBED ABOVE IN THE ORDERING PROCESS TO BE SURE THAT THE TITLE IS NOT A DUPLICATE OR NOT A STANDING ORDER. Follow procedures for updating volume holdings if the title is not a duplicate.

2. CALL UP THE BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THE BOOK CAN BE SPEED CATALOGED. (see Speed Cataloging Procedure)  If book cannot be speed cataloged, go to step 6.

3.COMPARE THE SERIES TITLE ON THE BOOK WITH THE SERIES STATEMENT IN THE DESCRIPTIVE (440 OR 490) FIELDS ON THE BIB RECORD.

Things to watch for:

• Does the series appear on the record and not on the book or does the series appear on the book and not the record? If so, code SA&. If not, continue.
• Does the series appear on the book in more than one place and in more than one form?
  Example: “English literature series” on the series title page; “English literature” on the cover.
  If so, give preference to the form of the series title taken from the location in the book that first appears in the list below (list is arranged in order of most preferred to least preferred):

• 1. series title page (a page that has the series title, usually found before the book title page). If the series appears here, choose the form found here. Ignore any other forms found elsewhere on the book.If there is no series title page, go to no. 2.
• 2. book title page (the title page for the book, with the series title also appearing there, usually at the top of the page).
• 3. front cover. If the series is not here either, go to no. 4:
• 4. Any location, such as spine, jacket, back of book, etc. EXCEPT CIP area (pre-publication information which usually appears on the verso of the title page) Does series numbering appearing on the book also appear on the record, and vice versa? If not, code SA& NOTE: Series numbering can come from anywhere except CIP. Check spine, back cover, etc. if you don’t see numbering on the title page or series title page.

4. CALL UP THE SERIES AUTHORITY RECORD (SAR) ON ACORN. COMPARE THE BIB RECORD WITH THE SAR.

NOTE: Even if the series authorizes (lacks unauth stamp), the SAR must still be consulted in order to determine all of the following:
what the captioning policy is
whether the record has VU coding to determine VU policy differences (after Nov. 2004)
whether there are duplicate SARs in the file
whether the series is really a match. (Many series with different publishers have the exact same title!!!)

If there is no matching authority record on Acorn, code SA&, and go on to Step 5.
Pay close attention to the following fields on the SAR (in the case of multiple 642,644, 645, and 646 fields, only the fields with VU/TNJ coding apply): See how to read the series authority record for information on specific fields.

• whether the series is numbered or unnumbered (fixed field ser num)
• bibliographic link to serial/set "mama" record (014 field)
• the series heading field (1xx field)
• captioning policy (642 field)
• who the publisher is (643 field)
• analysis policy (644 field)
• tracing policy (645 field)
• classification policy (646 field) Note: if 646=c, title can not be speed cataloged

The series on the bib record should match exactly either:

• the series heading field (1xx) on the SAR, or:
• a variant title field (4xx) on the SAR (disregard presence of a qualifier after the series title, such as the place of publication or a corporate body in parentheses, and presence of a subtitle, which is never included in the SAR heading)

Small variations in title (singular vs. plural; changes in small words such as "in" instead of "on", "&" instead of "and") are quite common. If these variants are not accounted for on the SAR in a 4xx field, consider it a non-match and code SA&

On record:	SAR:	Change to:
440 _0 Perspectives in research ;|vv.1	130 Perspectives on research 430 Perspectives in research	490 1_ Perspectives in research ;|vv. 1 830 _0 Perspectives on research ;|vv.1.

Text of the series descriptive field (490 or 440) on the bib record should not be changed, but series tagging (4xx/8xx fields), punctuation and captioning in the |v should be changed to match the SAR. See the changes in the following

On record:	SAR:	Change to:
440 _0 Byron studies ;|vno. 22	642 no. 13|5DLC 642 13|5VU	440 _0 Byron studies ;|v22
440 _0 Pamphlete  ;|vNr.6/7	130 Pamphlete (Berlin, Germany)	490 1_ Pamphlete ;|vNr.6/7 830 _0 Pamphlete (Berlin, Germany) ;|vNr. 6/7.

Exception:
Bracketed series titles (taken from jackets) will never "authorize" (match perfectly) on Acorn even if correct. Make sure the text matches and ignore the unauthorized stamp.

If the series title matches, be sure that the publisher also matches. If not, code SA&

If series authority record is present on Acorn and has multiple treatment fields (644-646) without VU/TNJ coding, code SA&.

If two SARs are found for the same series, follow the information on the SAR with VU/TNJ coding and notify Series review that there is a duplicate via email or printout. There should only be one indexing field, a.k.a. tracing field or access field, for each numbered series on the record, i.e., no 440 and 830 for the same series.

Repeat verification process for every numbered series on the book.

5. IF THE SERIES IS OK, COMPLETE THE CATALOGING. If you have coded the record SA&, insert green flag and route to Series Review.

6. IF THE RECORD CANNOT BE SPEED CATALOGED, DO NOT VERIFY ANY SERIES AT ALL ON THE RECORD.

Route material as appropriate.

revised 8/22/2006; most recent updates in green