Etiquette for Replacing Bibliographic RecordsMOUG, February 25, 2014Hermine VermeijUCLA

At UCLA• History of being an Enhance/National Enhance Library.• When the expert community experiment started, we

encouraged copy catalogers to replace records when appropriate.

• We use WorldCat Local as our UC-wide catalog, so it’s important that records appear in WorldCat accurately—not just in our local ILS.

• At first all copy catalogers checked with a supervisor before replacing records.

• Now they all may make simple corrections (fixing typos, completing Cutters) without supervision.

• Some are trusted to do more than others.• Many copy catalogers add vernacular script to OCLC records.

Deciding to replace a record• When looking at complete-looking copy, I:• Check to make sure it matches (duh).• Quickly check the most important fields: 050/090, 100, 240, 245,

300, 6XXs for completeness.• If those look good, I skim the rest of the record and usually

accept it.• If my piece has standard numbers (ISMN, usually) not reflected in

the record, I will often add the number without making other changes.

• My piece matches this record, but it has UPC, ISBN, and ISMN numbers added on the back cover.

• The record looks fine; I will add my 020s and 024s and replace without making other changes (updating to RDA, etc.).

Overhauling a record• If I see a red flag in a critical field:• I will scrutinize the record more carefully.• I may upgrade the record to BIBCO.• I will consider correcting other fields; even things I might have left

alone in a record without red flags. • I still won’t edit for style alone, but I will get pickier about things

like capitalization and punctuation.

• This record has a major error in the 650.

• While I’m in there, I would probably correct the 382 and 546 as well, even though those are not critical errors.