- A. General Notes
- B. Basic Wording
- C. Punctuation and Style
- 1. General Notes
- 2. Diacritics
- 3. Abbreviations
- 4. Titles
- a) General Notes
- b) Capitalization of Foreign Titles
- 5. Formatting/Punctuating Lists of Names/Titles in Folder Notes
- 6. Processor Supplied Annotations
- 7. Dates
- a) Format
- b) Dating of Undated Material
- c) Some Basic Dating Examples
- d) Julian and Gregorian Conversion
- 8. Transliteration
- 9. Cross-References
- a) General Notes
- b) Types of Cross-Reference/Inclusion Notes
- D. Names in Headings and Folder Descriptions
- 1. General Guidelines
- 2. Names as Headings
- 3. List Specifics
- a) Personal Names
- b)Initials in Personal Names
- c) Correspondence of Married Couples
- d) Mc and Mac, St. and Saint
- e) Nicknames
- f) Family Relationships and Identical Names
- g) Professional Titles
- h) Titles of Nobility
- i) Letters Signed by Secretaries or Others
- j) Names of Married Women
- k) Corporate Entries
- (1) Personal Names vs. Corporate Names
- (2) Filing Initials in Corporate Names
- (3) Editor and Publisher Names
- l) Annotations and Postscripts by Others
IV.A. GENERAL NOTES
For guidelines for determining the form of names to be used in Headings (tabs 16, 18, 20, and pseudoheadings at 22) see the section on names as headings.
Try to avoid repeating information present in the headings (@ tabs 16, 18, 20, and sometimes 22) in the folder contents description. For example, do not use:
PERSONAL PAPERS John Smith 1 1 John Smith's birth certificate 1919 Sep 23 2 John Smith's marriage license 1942 May 4Labeling on folders is not intended to substitute for the register. The text of label 3 (specific folder contents) should be concise and to the point. Keywords, names, or titles should appear first, to catch the eye and ensure that the text prints on the folder labels. On very rare occasions (e.g., Spinelli Archive), we will edit the label copy file before printing labels, to highlight keywords.
Do not write additional information on the folders themselves. If the information is important enough to record, include it in the register, incorporate it into the folder title, the Description of the Papers, or as a brief note appended to the folder title.
If you list in a note everything that is in the folder, then use the word "contains" in the note. If you are mentioning part of what is in the folder, then use the note "includes."
Use the following wording for notes describing enclosures or other related items not included in the folder title:
No fixed wording is used for distinct bibliographic items that are physically incorporated into one, e.g. a three page letter from Mr. Smith to Mrs. Brown on page two of which is a transcription by Mr. Smith of a report by Mr. Jones. Compose a note that conveys the physical and intellectual relationship.
Your best guide to how specific types of material are listed is to review sample registers. General practice for most common materials is as follows:
NOTE: In some cases, you may need to specify the distinction between a text in a specific language, and the specific language or country's edition of a work (e.g., English language version versus the British or American or Australian edition of a work).
Consult the Microcomputer Manual for Registers for additional guidance in formulating and formatting folder descriptions.
The first word in each folder title is capitalized.
Except as described below, a folder title does not get end punctuation. See example in sample finding aid.
Use closing punctuation only when it is part of the actual description of the folder contents. See example in sample finding aid. The same rule applies for notes @ 22, 24 and 26: no closing punctuation except if included in a text being transcribed.
Include proper use of diacritics to the extent allowed by the current keyboard capabilities.
Use generally accepted descriptive conventions. (See Appendix A for abbreviations used; consult AACR2 (revised) appendices of abbreviations for those not listed in the Processing Manual appendix.)
We follow The Chicago Manual of Style's (7.129 - 7.154) rules for punctuating titles except for the use of italics, which at present are not part of our printing capacity. If the CMS rule is to put a title in italics, underline it instead. In general, underline titles of:
The Orange Tree: Life Under the SunNOT
The Orange Tree: A Play in 3 ActsUse quotation marks around titles of:
describing a work in the hand of an author, prefer the use of the term
"holograph," but do not go so far as to abandon the use of standard
abbreviations such as ALS, ADS, etc. If an item is not known or reasonably
assumed to be in the hand of the author, use the term "manuscript"
instead of "holograph."
Follow the convention of the language of the work. Rules for capitalization can be found in Appendix A of AACR2.
Five Months in the Argentine, from a Woman's Point of View
"L'émigration espagnole au Mexique"
Die Affirmation des Chaos: zur Uberwindung des Nihilismus in der Metaphysik Friedrich Nietzsches
La commedia: raffermata nel testo giusta la ragione e l'arte dell'autore da Giambattista Giuliani
"Kliuch" k Gogoliu: opyt khudozhestvennogo chteniia
Los caballeros de la Casa Rosada
List and punctuate a run of names separated by semi-colons. See example in sample finding aid.
Do not put blank lines between "See" references. Do include the box and folder numbers for each "See" reference. See example in sample finding aid.
Note that the "See" is repeated for every instance.
Information that is used to identify an item in a folder title (such as names, dates taken from the envelopes, etc.) that isn't present in the material itself and is supplied by the processor or derived from the donor or provenance files, should be enclosed in square brackets, e.g., [1861 Dec 14]
If you also record the information on the original item, print it in the upper righthand corner of the first page of the document; use soft lead pencil (# 2 or higher), being careful not to obliterate or deface any writing or graphic on the original.
If there is lingering uncertainty about the information supplied, include a "?", e.g., [Otis, Harrison Gray?]
Uncertainty about the spelling of a name or the lack of a positive identification of a date should be treated in the same way.
Date format depends on the quantity of dates involved. Dates may consist of no more than 16 characters (spaces 63-78). If date information is longer than 16 characters, use a truncated form in the folder title and give full information in a note.
For single items, list whatever you have as to year, month, and day, in that order. See example in sample finding aid.
If you do not have a year and are not supplying one, use n.y. followed by the month and day. See example in sample finding aid.
For 2 or more letters of the same year, indicate the year only. See example in sample finding aid.
NOTE: Among folders for a given year, place those with the most complete date information first.For items or groups from two consecutive years, list the range of years. See example in sample finding aid.
For items or groups from two non-consecutive years, list each year, separated by a comma. See example in sample finding aid.
For 3 or more items from two or more years (consecutive or otherwise), record the inclusive span of years. See example in sample finding aid.
NOTE: For a span of dates within a century, omit the first two digits in the second year, but include both years in full when crossing centuries. See example in sample finding aid.Significant gaps in a date span can be explained or otherwise noted in a folder note or in the Description of the Papers, as appropriate. In the folder list, do not use more than one span. See example in sample finding aid.
When undated material is present in a folder with dated material, it is listed as the last element in a date string. See example in sample finding aid.
NOTE: For foldering conventions for dated/undated correspondence, etc., see Chapter V.Uncertain dates or portions of dates should appear in square brackets. See example in sample finding aid.
Abbreviate the months as follows:
NOTE: There is no closing punctuation for abbreviations of months.For additional examples of date formats, especially for uncertain dates, consult Hensen's Archives, Personal Papers, and Manuscripts (section 1.1B5. Date).
We do not attempt to date precisely all undated material, although we do try to provide approximate year(s), based on direct internal evidence. Much depends on the nature of the collection, and on how much information is readily at hand. Treat any dates supplied in this manner as uncertain, and list accordingly with a "?" (e.g., Diary [1843?]).
To be safe, err on the side of not supplying or assuming more precise dating. Supply dates only when you're certain, or when supplying a likely date or range of dates is necessary to provide a reasonable degree of access to the item. When supplying dates, include a question mark if some uncertainty remains, and always enclose supplied information (except for n.d.) in [ ].
Unless you're really sure of a supplied date, use n.d. to avoid implying more certainty than you could justify if you had to. Precise dating in many aspects of literary and historical studies can be very important, and an incorrect or uncertain date can do more harm than simply providing no date at all. (For further information, see the section on dating undated material in Chapter VII.)
Comments: Karen Spicher, firstname.lastname@example.org
Copyright 1997. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
All rights reserved.