EPB Serials/Journals

The EPB serials/journals are catalogued differently to monographs. Rather than have individual item records, journals have holding records showing which issues and volumes the library owns. The word serials and journals has been used interchangeably over the years.

As the serials did not need to be completed to Museum Accreditation standards, the decision was made to itemise to physical requestable item only rather than to its intellectual item level. The team would also change the availability away from manual to online request. This would support the move away from manual requesting and allow for better location and movement control of the material in the simplest of ways.

Changing the shelfmarks

Before inventory, the journal shelfmarks were based on a different system to the other early printed books. As described in an EPB Serials scoping report:

'Each run of titles has been assigned a shelfmark based on the first word in the first title we hold. Thus, Examples of Journals would be EXA /1 and if at some point later it changed its name to Outstanding Examples of Journals it would be EXA /1 (2). Supplements and indices etc are a little less uniform- Excellent Example! A Supplement to the Examples of Journals 2023-2023 could be EXA/1 (SUP 1), it could be hidden in the regular sequence classmark, it could be EXA /1 (3) as if it were a follow-on title or it could use the type of supplement from the title (e.g., Abridgement. Index etc.) and become EXA /1 (EXA 1). Brackets can also signify the language or region of a particular run.'

The way the shelfmarks were created made them very difficult to adapt, especially if we discovered multiple copies at the end of the run in the 'duplicate serials'. To make the inventory easier, and to ensure each physical item had a unique object number, the decision was made to start from scratch and bring it in line with the other EPBs.

The first journal in the sequence now starts with EPB/S/1 and goes sequentially through the collection. A dot will signify a physical items within a journal e.g. EPB/S/1.1, EPB/S/1.2. Bound items, where they belong to a different journal will be given a separate item record and number e.g. EPB/S/2.1.1, EPB/S/2.1.2.

The team decided to signify different items with a . rather than .v (as with other EPBs) as journals can be made up of volumes, issues, supplements etc, and this simplified system will make it easier to inventory. It also means if there is a 'volume' Wellcome doesn't hold the team are not having to spend time trying to work out the 'correct' volume number. The contents of the physical item can be better displayed using the volume field in the item record.

Checking the holdings

The main difference in procedure revolves around checking and updating holdings records.

To find the holdings records, use the drop-down menu in the summary to switch from 'item' to 'all'.

Then click on the 'Holdings' record on the left-hand side to see if the item has been itemised and, if not, check how many volumes/issues you are expected to find. Be aware that holdings record are not always correct or up to date so make sure you check it against the items on the shelf.

When itemised, it will look similar to this:

or this:

When it is not itemised it will say 'Not yet itemized' and look like this:

You do not need to update anything in the 'record' on the left-hand side as updating the 866 field in the 'holdings' record will update this at the same time:

If the journal is already itemised, you can carry out full inventory with a couple of extra additions to the bibliographic and item record.

If the journal is not itemised, you will need to attach new item records to the bibliographic record before full inventory.

If there are no holdings records, flag with the 'Bibliographic enhancement required' macro and add 'needs holdings record' e.g. 'Bibliographic enhancement required - needs holdings record'.

Leave any post-1851 items in the EPB Serials where they are and inventory them as you would any other item in the sequence. Another part of the inventory workflow will bring any pre-1851 found in the Modern Serials into the EPB collection.

Updating the bibliographic record

To ensure the previous shelfmark is visible, add a 903 field to the bibliographic record using this format:

|3NEWSHELFMARK:|aOLDSHELFMARK|bPrevious Wellcome Identifier

If the item has been catalogued as a monograph rather than a serial but it still has a holdings record, update the BIB LVL to SERIAL.

Updating the item record

If itemised

Update OPACMSG from 'n Manual request' to 'f Online request'.

Update the shelfmark/unique object number.

Update/add the volume information to the volume field. Create this using the book in hand and the holdings record. Just be aware that holdings record are not always correct or up to date so make sure you are led by the items on the shelf. Do not worry if you cannot find a date.

If not itemised

Once you have updated the first item record, you will need to attach a new item record for each requestable physical item.

The easiest way to attach a new item record is to copy the item record you have open. Got to 'Edit', then 'Copy Record'. This will copy everything at the top of the record, plus the volume field.

As above, add the new shelfmark and former location and update the volume field. Then carry out full inventory, adding your macro for 'Item record created'.

On the summary you can adjust the order of the records using the 'Move' button. Highlight the record, click 'Move' and add where in the list you want the record to move. This is useful if some of the items have been itemised previously, but not all of them.

If parts of the holdings are missing

If it is clear from the holdings record that there is an item missing, create an item record, adding the new shelfmark and volume field and update the status of the record to 'm Missing'.

If there are data issues

As with all other inventory work, sometimes you may come across a bibliographic record which does not represent a physical item or items. For example, a journal may have a duplicate record. In this scenario, add the missing macro but change the STATUS to 'j Data issues', and add an extensive update macro outlining the situation.

Only use the data issues status if there is clear evidence that the record is not actually a missing item.

Updating the holdings

Update if inaccurate

Update 866 in the holdings record by deleting |xNot yet itemized, and click apply changes at the bottom.

Uncatalogued journals

If uncatalogued, add to uncatalogued spreadsheet - must be uncatalogued only at bib level as we are itemising as we go along

Multiple copies

Give new number and add to uncatalogued spreadsheet to avoid having to create new holdings record.