UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SERIES POLICY*
03/14/2003;rev.03/06/2007- Series policy for gifts with imprints more than 5 years old
- Series procedure for gifts with imprints more than 5 years old
Purpose: The purpose of this policy is to establish uniform and consistent practices for treating series in the catalog at University of Maryland.
The National Authority File (NAF) contains series authority records (SARs) that have series decisions made by LC and participants in the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC). University of Maryland accepts the National Authority File as its primary authority file. The NAF is supplemented by decisions in the University of Maryland’s local series authority file, known as the "Master File." The University of Maryland is a PCC participant and generally contributes its series decisions to the NAF as new SARs rather than recording them locally in the Master File.
Series decisions address selection of authorized heading form, numbering format, analysis, tracing, and classification. Heading and numbering are aspects of description, while analysis, tracing and classification involve local decisions of practice.
The University of Maryland follows series decisions in the NAF regarding authorized heading forms and numbering patterns for series.
The University of Maryland generally follows the series decisions in the NAF regarding analysis, tracing and classification treatments, preferring the decisions coded LC or DPCC for the National Cooperative Program over those of individual PCC participants when multiple choices are given for any of them. However, the University of Maryland will diverge from analysis, tracing and classification decisions in the NAF as necessary to support local institutional needs.
The University of Maryland limits Master File maintenance activities. Series records are removed when national records are contributed to (or found in) the NAF. Series records are revised to record changes to series headings, numbering format, local practices (analysis, tracing and classification), to add necessary references, and to add missing data found in the course of troubleshooting problematic series (numbering formats, imprints, source citations, etc.)
Faculty librarians in the Original Cataloging Production Group establish all uncontrolled series according to the latest AACR2 cataloging rules. Also, faculty librarians re-examine some Master File pre-AACR2 series record decisions for possible upgrade to AACR2 when those series records are consulted in the course of their daily work. Circumstances requiring new series decisions to be placed in the Master File are (1) the presence of a NAF series record, but University of Maryland needs to register some divergence in local practice (2) the absence of a NAF or Master File series record and University of Maryland lacks sufficient information to register a decision in the NAF.
The University of Maryland authenticates series as required by PCC and OCLC. Procedures for authenticating series entries on bibliographic records can be found in the Training Module for Series Verification at University of Maryland Libraries.
*Practices for treating series in bibliographic records for gift materials are found in separate documents:
