"X. Precataloging decisions
Before a bibliographic record can be
created for an item
or group of items awaiting cataloging in an institution’s
special collections,
appropriate decisions must be made regarding the array of
descriptive options
available to the cataloger. These precataloging decisions
include: determining
whether DCRM(C) or AACR2 rules will govern the description,
choosing the level
of cataloging that will be applied, and determining the extent
to which various
options in the rules will be exercised.
Because DCRM(C) was written to address
the special
needs of users of rare materials, it is likely to be the
appropriate cataloging
code for the majority of cartographic items held in special
collections.
However, for some categories of materials, the cataloging
objectives (see introductory
section III) may be met by use of AACR2 or by the application of
options within
the DCRM(C) rules that permit less detail in the description.
Full-level DCRM(C)
records that employ all possible descriptive options will not
necessarily be
the best choice for every item.
The following section provides guidance
for catalogers
and cataloging administrators faced with these decisions and
identifies some of
the institutional and contextual factors that should be taken
into
consideration. It assumes that certain routine choices will
already have been
made, such as whether the encoding standard for the description
will be MARC 21.
Institutions may
promote efficiency by setting cataloging policies for specific
categories of
materials in their collections rather than making decisions on
an item-by-item
basis. For example, an institution may decide to catalog all
pre-20th-century cartographic
materials using DCRM(C), trace printers and mapsellers for all
pre-19th-century
cartographic materials, but give signature statements and
expansive descriptive
notes
for pre-18th-century materials only. It may choose to catalog
all later materials
according to AACR2, but add selected genre/form or provenance
name headings. It
may decide that collection-level cataloging is sufficient for
20th-century road
maps. A mechanism for easily making exceptions to general
cataloging policy is
desirable as well. If, for example, a curator buys an atlas for
its notable
cloth binding, description of and access to the binding ought to
be given in
the bibliographic record, even if it is not the institution’s
usual policy to
describe bindings."