Printed Rare Materials Inventory

The Printed Rare Material inventory started in March 2019 and forms part of the Museum Accreditation process.

What is covered?

The rare materials inventory covers all pre-1851 books and ephemera in the core collection. This was first estimated at around 85,000 items but investigations suggest the number is closer to 100,000. It will also include any pre-1851 printed books discovered on open shelves or in other sections of the library stacks. Not covered in the inventory are serials or collections on deposit e.g. the Hunterian and RAMC. Originally the uncatalogued duplicates were not part of the inventory but a decision was made to include them in September 2021. In 2023, the entire pre- and post-1851 ephemera collection, around 40,000 items, was added to the inventory process.

The inventory of the EPBs will be carried out in two phases. Phase one will be a hands-on inventory of all the early printed materials pre-1851. Phase 2 will focus on record enhancement, cataloguing and research. These phases will run concurrently although Phase 2 will also continue into the documentation phase.

Museum Accreditation

The inventory is part of Wellcome’s process to acquire museum accreditation. The background to the inventory is discussed more fully in previous documentation.

Each item in the inventory requires the following:

· Unique object number

· Object name

· Number of objects

· Basic description

· Current location

· Current owner

· Recorder and recording date for this information

Throughout the procedures I will highlight how the inventory will meet these key criteria.

For more details on SPECTRUM standards and procedure for inventory see the Collections Trust page.

Recording Additional Details

The inventory offers a unique opportunity to review Wellcome’s entire rare materials collection pre-1851. A printed book is more than just an object and each individual copy has a different story to tell. Currently only a small number of item records contain record copy specific details. Highlighting where in the collection there are items with interesting copy specific details will aid both internal and, ultimately, external researchers.

Use of Sierra

As the majority of the early printed books are catalogued the team will be working directly onto Sierra. There is potential to use Quickbase for data visualisations and for working with the pre-1851 ephemera and tracts but this will be decided at a later date.

Use of Macros

The team will be using macros to highlight areas of future bibliographic and item record enhancement. Using macros speeds up the inventory process and provides consistency. In addition, set macros focus the mind on the key details to identify and means pressing a single button rather than writing out free text. Having set phrases also simplifies the documentation process, making it easier to search for books which need specific enhancements and to create lists of books which are missing.

Macros are copy specific and are used on the item record. For the inventory of the rare books I have created a list of macros. Each uses different words and phrases to allow for easier searches. The use of different key words developed out of a previous inventory decision to use ‘missing’ rather than ‘not found’. Users realised that having the word ‘found’ in both states made it more difficult to create lists.

Some macros have additional keywords which can be deleted as appropriate. This allows for a more detailed description of copy specific material without the time and search issues arising from the use of free text. Rarer finds will be written in as set terms. For further details see the full Phase 1 Inventory Procedure or the Adding Macros page.

Shelfmark Changes

Shelfmarks represent the object number of the book for which museum accreditation requires a unique number. The inventory also provides an excellent opportunity to make current shelfmarks clearer and more consistent. The improved shelfmarks will better indicate the number of parts and objects as well as the relationship of items – whether a book is part of a set of volumes or if the item is one of many in a single boundwith (see Identifying a Boundwith).

A global update will be used to make wholesale changes to the shelfmark i.e. adding EPB/ to the shelfmark and moving the letter from the end to the beginning of the number. The team will change individual numbers on the Sierra item record as they go along and, where feasible, on the object itself. This may include changing numbers on a box or replacing flags. Where a shelfmark has been radically changed i.e. the main sequential numbering is different, the former shelfmark should be listed as the former location as a record of an item’s previous number [Ctrl + i, t]. For further details, see the page on Shelfmarks.