Uncatalogued Material

Before the cataloguing phase, uncatalogued material must be cross-checked with records on Sierra to see items can be connected to orphaned records. Uncatalogued items designated as ‘multiple copy’ or ‘volume not catalogued’ are unlikely to be traced to a Sierra record and the priority should be on items listed as ‘not found on catalogue’ or ‘part of boundwith’ (for definitions see Uncatalogued EPBs).

The main step involves searching the title on Sierra to see if any item records appear which have not been inventoried or list the item as ‘missing’. The most common reason for items to be traced on Sierra is boundwiths that have been located incorrectly as simply ‘EPB Closed Stores’ without a shelfmark and when numbers within the shelfmark have been switched i.e. uncatalogued book is EPB/A/55315 and there is a missing book with the same title at shelfmark EPB/A/55351 or EPB/B/55315. It is also worth checking old shelfmarks e.g. 55315/A.

If a record is identified, even if only tentatively, note the item number in the ‘Possible record’ column on the Uncatalogued spreadsheet. Also add any notes if it is not clear straightaway why you think these records may be linked.

If a likely item record cannot be found write ‘item not on Sierra’ in the ‘Possible record’ column or write ‘Recheck’ if something is unclear about the book listed and requires some extra checking.

Reconciling uncatalogued data

If an uncatalogued item recorded on one of the uncatalogued EPB spreadsheets is found to have a record on Sierra, inventory the item, making sure it has the correct location and shelfmark. Ensure that you add a note with your initials in the 'Recorder and date of cataloguing' column in the uncatalogued spreadsheet e.g. Reconciled AH 23/04/2025. This will show which items require cataloguing and which do not.

Reconciling EPB orphan records

To support phase 2 and WCSTP work, in November 2025 an export was made from Sierra of records in non-locations. The export included 499 records from:

• Closed Stores EPB sepbk

• Early Printed Books/Supp sesus

• Closed Stores EPB MSL semsl

• Closed Stores EPB MSL B semsb

• Closed Stores EPB MSL C semsc

• Bound in above (pre-1851) bwith

The aim with this export was to either match the records to physical items in the collection or to change the record status to missing, withdrawn or data issue on Sierra.

The work could be done in multiple stages, with a mix of onsite and offsite tasks.

The first stage would be going through the export data, check Sierra and colour code it, adding a note in the inventory column to say whether a physical item needed to be checked onsite or if there were any issues with the data:

• Red - Priority check: where a record can be linked to an EPB sequence that has been fully inventoried. Add a shelfmark to indicate an onsite search is required in the inventory note and add whether or not the record links to an entry in one of the uncatalogued spreadsheets e.g. check EPB/D/1234 - not on spreadsheet, check EPB/A/1234.5 - on EPB/A spreadsheet.

• Orange - Check: where a record can be linked to an EPB sequence that hasn't been fully inventoried e.g. EPB/C or EPB/P, or a non-EPB sequence e.g. manuscripts. Add a shelfmark to indicate an onsite search is required in the inventory note.

• Green - Reconciled: where the physical item has been checked and the Sierra record has been updated. Where necessary, update the uncatalogued spreadsheet, adding a note with your initials in the 'Recorder and date of cataloguing' column in the uncatalogued spreadsheet e.g. Reconciled AH 11/12/2025. If the record cannot be reconciled with the physical item, add a note explaining why on the spreadsheet.

• Yellow - Unclear/further action required: where more work needs to be done to reconcile or mark a record as a data issue, withdrawn or missing.

• Blue - no action: where no reconciliation or further work needs to be carried out e.g. records marked with a withdrawn status.

If there is limited information on the record, a good tip is to look at the physical description field in the bibliographic record to get a sense of the size/format e.g. 8vo is usually found in EPB/B. Use this guide to work out which uncatalogued spreadsheet you may want to search first.

The next stage would be to look at the physical item(s) onsite. If the record can be reconciled to a physical item, complete inventory, update the inventory note e.g. 'Checked - reconciled and updated on spreadsheet' and mark it as green. Also make sure to update the uncatalogued spreadsheets when necessary.

Not all of the orphan records will relate to a traceable physical item. As with all tasks involving legacy data, there may be records that should retain the 'data issues' status with an extensive update note on the record explaining what the issue is e.g. Extensive update - the record for the book it is said to be bound with [EPB/D/66122] describes this as part of the 3 in 1 volume rather than a separate item. To be deleted?. Also add the information to the orphan reconciliation record and change it to green if solved (as far as the orphan reconciliation work goes) or yellow if more checks need to be made.

Even without looking at the physical item, if you notice anything in the record that may point to a 'data issue' status, this can be added in the inventory note in the orphan reconciliation spreadsheet and the item can be marked yellow instead of red. This will reduce time taken onsite to look at the physical item, especially if the person carrying out the onsite check is different to the one who made the initial data check.

A good tip for 'data issues' involves checking if there is a note on the bib or item record that suggests there may not be a physical item to link to the record.

Some examples include:

• record made in error - can refer to a cataloguer error or presence of a 'ghost' record.

• vol 1 only - then a record for a volume 2 refers to an item the collection has never held.

• missing since 1983 - evidence that there was a physical item at some point.

• bound with - evidence that there was a physical item at some point. This is often found on records without a shelfmark and can be used to reconcile records with uncatalogued physical items. Be aware that these can have incorrect data e.g. wrong date used in the boundwith note in the item record. In these situations, if the record can't be matched to one edition, it is worth looking at the same title with different imprints on the system.

• BIB LVL - is the record for part of an item e.g. chapter and article rather than an extra physical item? Data will need to be added to object bib record and the part bib and item record deleted.

• 500 field on bib record - similar to the BIB LVL (but looking at data on another record, rather than the orphan one), is there evidence that the record you are trying to match is part of a bigger catalogued edition rather than a separate item.

• the note EPB Retrocon in a bibliographic record refers to the the retro-conversion of data in 1999/2000. Be wary of these records as the retro-conversion created a large number of data issues.