Rubric+for+Grading+MARC

=**COMMON ERRORS IN ENTERING INFORMATION INTO A MARC RECORD**=


 * RUBRIC: COMMON ERRORS IN ENTERING INFORMATION INTO MARC RECORDS**

There is both art and science to cataloging and you will find differences in records in different catalogs – even though we’re all supposed to be using the same AACR2 rules.

My number one rule: **more information is more.** Add as much information to the MARC record as you can to give your patron a chance to find the material. Keep in mind that students are use to finding information through Google and your catalog database is REALLY small and the chances of the students having the skill or tenacity to keep at it until they find the material they want is not very high. Remember – short attention span. So – you will not be marked down for having MORE information than is necessary but I will comment and possibly subtract points if the record is too brief.

It used to be in the olden days that we had to catalog briefly in order to get as much information on a card (or cards) as we could but now our electronic catalogs can pump as much information out to the user as we have time for.


 * Below are the common cataloging errors and the point deduction you will receive if they are present in your catalog record. The overriding issue with MARC records is if the error hinders/prevents the patron from finding the information which will result in a full point deduction for the error. Other types of errors will be a .5 deduction. **


 * Types of -.5 errors: errors that do not prevent the patron from finding the material: capitalization errors, information is incomplete such as poorly formed summaries that tell the obvious or the superficial; a typo that doesn't give the patron false information, e.g. Graphic novel instead of Graphic novels.**


 * Types of -1 errors: errors that prevent the patron from retrieving the information: misspelling an author's name or an important word in the title; wrong information included in the record; significant information that is missing; information in a form that the patron can't guess, e.g. Slaughterhouse 5 instead of the correct Slaughterhouse five; information that was assigned for the for a particular assignment and was left out; incorrect edition or publisher or copyright dates **


 * AUTHOR DATES (-.5 points if missing)**
 * Take time to look for the author dates for the 100 $d subfield. Easiest way – //Wikipedia//, for example. There are also authorities sites listed on the class wiki.


 * CAPITALIZATION (-.5 points for each error)**
 * Remember titles are written with the first word capitalized and the rest of the words lower case unless it is a proper noun or adjective:
 * 245 $a Celtic fairy tales
 * 245 $a Desertions during the Civil War
 * Subtitles are continuations of the title statement thus the first word of the subtitle is not capitalized and the only words capitalized are proper nouns or adjectives.
 * 245 $a Harry Potter: page to screen, the complete filmmaking journey
 * 245 $a Teaching Harry Potter: the power of imagination in multicultural classrooms


 * PAGINATION (-.5 points for each error)**
 * This was a little tricky for some of the books because the (a) books were not paginated and you would have had to count each page and enter the information in brackets in the 300 $a subfield to indicated that you supplied the information, e.g. [31] p.
 * Typical errors in copy cataloging come from assuming the record matches the edition of the book you are cataloging. You must, for example, look through the item to make sure the number of pages matches the copy cataloging MARC record.


 * PLACE OF PUBLICATION (-.5 points for each error)**
 * The absolutely correct abbreviation for states is the old post office style of abbreviation, e.g. Calif. instead of CA but I’m seeing more records show up with the new style post office abbreviations, so that is okay with me. States should always be abbreviated rather than written out: e.g. MN rather than Minnesota


 * SUMMARY NOTE (-1 point for the absence of a summary note and -.5 if the summary note is incomplete or poorly formed.)**
 * The 520 field (a must in my class) should be written in a paragraph style. Give me enough information so that I can tell something about the book. Too brief of information is the same thing as not telling me anything. This is particularly true for fiction. There are lots of summaries out there on the Web – take advantage of your searching capability. If you use someone else’s summary, put the information in quotation marks and indicate the original source. The summary is not a recommendation for the item – it should be written in a neutral manner – telling us what the item’s information is about.


 * TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS (-1 automatic point deduction for each typo or spelling error)**
 * Typos will result in an automatic deduction. Why, because if you type it wrong no one will be able to find your record unless they type it exactly wrong the way you mistyped it. Be sure to proofread.

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 * TITLE STATEMENT (-.5 if missing or poorly formed)**
 * In the 245 $c subfield you have the main person(s) responsible for the work. The main person responsible is listed in the 100 $a subfield but the others listed in the 245 $c should show up in a 700 $a subfield. NOTE: name is lastname , firstname  in 100 $a and 700 $a and firstname  and lastname for the 245 $c subfield.
 * 100 $a Jacobs, Joseph
 * 245 $c collected by Joseph Jacobs ; illustrated by John D. Batten
 * 700 $a Batton, John D.

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 * TITLES IN A FIELD (-.5)**
 * AACR2 does not use italics or quote marks to indicate titles – just the first word in the title is capitalized, e.g. From bad to worse, Hard to beat and A terrible Christmas
 * INFORMATION IS CORRECT BUT IN THE WRONG SUBFIELD (-.5)**
 * EXAMPLE: 650 $a Mystery comic books, strips, etc. SHOULD BE
 * 650 $a Mystery
 * 650 $v Comic books, strips, etc.
 * NOT FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS (-5 POINTS)**
 * **All files that you turn in must end in .001** - otherwise I won't be able to read them in MARC Magician. If you turn in your assignment without this extension then I have to back to the downloaded files, find yours, add .001 to the (or each) file name and then import the records. It is only at this point that I can print them out in order to grade your work. This annoys the teacher to no end -- hence I will mercilessly deduct 5 points from your total points for the assignment because of the extra work you have caused the teacher.
 * You are to have your name in the 900 field of each record. If you don't do that then I have to go back to the downloaded files, highlight the file name and then make sure I associate your work with the printed out records. This also annoys the teacher and thus he will lose control and ruthlessly deduct five points from the total points of the assignment.
 * It's not nice to annoy the teacher.

Again, this is a new world to you and our job for the rest of this class is to become familiar enough with MARC records so that you can spot a poor record sent to you by a vendor or a poor or incomplete record that you find in another online catalog.

Bottom line: No school librarian will have time (or should take time) to do a lot of original cataloging but you need to know what a good record looks like and how to fix it if need be.