I'd say you are on target. Though, its not simply "here's what we think" more than what evidence do I have? And knowing that sometimes that "evidence" comes from either a "hand me down" source such as the folks at LC who deserve credit for establishing ways of doing things and then shared that out with other catalogers ("LC practice") or collective knowledge simply by working with these materials for many years and doing some research on publishers or other "agents" to formulate what to put in the record. The saying that cataloging is more art than science is still true to this day though probably more 50/50 than it used to be.

Paige
From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Michael Fry <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, March 20, 2023 4:05 PM
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: inferred dates and RDA
 
Thank you, Caroline, Paige, and Tim. 

I admit that my brittle (and new to cataloging) mind has trouble understanding why we code the same info as probable/inferred in some places (i.e. with brackets) and "known" in others (no brackets). "Was this map published in [date and/or place], or do we merely think it was published in [date and/or place]?"

Am I misunderstanding the situation?

On Fri, Mar 17, 2023 at 3:19 PM Kiser, Tim <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Hi Michael,

 

The brackets and question mark in the 264 are dropped from the 008 and the LC call number. For the 008, see the note and example under “s - Single known date/probable date” in the 008 documentation: “Date consists of one known single date of distribution, publication, release, production, execution, writing, or a probable date that can be represented by four digits. The single date associated with the item may be actual, approximate, or conjectural (e.g., if the single date is uncertain).” (italics mine)

 

For the LC call number, see “G 140: Dates” from the Classification and Shelflisting Manual: Your situation is included in the examples near the top.

 

Hope this helps!

--Tim

 

 

Tim Kiser

Catalog Librarian for Maps

Michigan State University Libraries

(517) 884-0825

[log in to unmask]

 

 

 

From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Michael Fry
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2023 2:34 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: inferred dates and RDA

 

When cataloging resources that lack explicitly stated info (e.g., statement of authority, date of publication), my understanding is that one can record inferred info in square brackets. So in the classic case of CIA maps--which typically imply through a somewhat opaque alphanumeric code when the maps were created--the 264$c might look like this:

 

[2018?] 

 

But in that case, what about the 008 and the 050/090 fields? Is it equally permissible to put "[2018?]" into those fields? I've seen plenty of CIA maps, but I'm not sure I've ever seen one with a "?" in the call number!

 

Thanks.

Michael