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Greetings -
  This is kind of a picky cataloging question for libraries which load
Marcive (or other) tapes for their depository map records and use *other*
than the LC classification system.  (Are there any others out there?)
  Most of our map collection is cataloged in the Am. Geographical Society
system (don't ask) and located through a card catalog in the Map Room.
Except the topos, of course, which are filed by state, and the nautical
charts.
  We have a NOTIS catalog, and we are preparing to do a retrospective
tapeload for all of our depository maps so that people will be aware of
this excellent resource (we have the largest map collection in the state).
But we're hung up on the call number question.  We have no staff or
resources to key in the AGS numbers on individual records, so our options
seem to be:  Sudoc #, LC #, or no # in the call number field.  None of
those, of course, would correspond to the maps!  We will still have to
interpret the number or print-out that the patron brings us from the opac
and locate the maps as we always have.
  Resources to do a retrospective conversion to LC seem unlikely in our
lifetimes. :-)  So it seems to come down to Sudoc or no # in the call #
field.  Sudoc # is misleading but could help us identify the series and
card shelflist (while we still have one).  No number or a suppressed
number or Sudoc # in another field seem logical, but we're worried about
the ramifications.  E.g., can we make the sudoc # appear somewhere else in
the brief record?  We won't be able to search these records by call #,
and isn't that a problem?  Since we are trying to move toward making our
on-line catalog serve as our shelflist, isn't it a problem to have
thousands of records with no call #?
  Sorry about the obscure nature of this question, but if anybody has
dealt with this or has any ideas we would be very grateful to hear them.
  Thanks for any help,
 
  Susan Thomas
  Documents & Maps
  University of Vermont
  Burlington VT 05405
  802-656-6542
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