learn about rare book cataloguing: an introduction …...barbara mccormack special collections...

Barbara McCormack

Special Collections Librarian, NUI Maynooth

02/03/2014 Barbara McCormack 1

Learn about rare book

cataloguing: an introduction to

key concepts and standards

Why bother?

• Over 13 million items in UK libraries

have not yet been catalogued

• This means that 1 in every 5 books

is part of a backlog

• 53 libraries in the UK have special

collections material that needs

cataloguing

• This equates to over 7 million items

– plenty of opportunities!

According to the following report: Mertens, Mike et. al (2012) Hidden collections: Report of the findings of the RLUK Retrospective

Cataloguing Survey in association with the London Library. RLUK, London. ©

im.ie)

But why the backlog?

Time intensive

Requires expertise

Cutbacks

Benefits of learning about rare books

• Helps you make informed decisions about

your own library collections

• Enhances your skill set

• Gives you a good overview of the issues and

complexities involved

• Helps to prepare you for new opportunities as

they arise

• Gives you the tools to carry out further

research and study

Today I hope to...

• Introduce the basic concepts of rare book

cataloguing and equip you with the tools to

further your learning

• Give you a taster – an insight into the

management and processing of rare books

• Introduce the technical aspects of rare book

cataloguing including: collation, illustrations,

provenance and binding

By the end of my talk you will know:

• What constitutes a rare book

• The key characteristics of rare

• Why descriptive cataloguing is

important

• What standards you should use

A note on terminology

Rare Books Special

Collections

Early Printed Books

Out of Copyright

Collections

• Rare Books – typically refers to

early printed books but can include

manuscripts

• Special Collections – encompasses

books, archives, manuscripts and

other formats

• Early Printed Books – incunabula,

post-incunabula, other important

print periods

• Out of Copyright Collections –

printed material without copyright

restrictions

Characteristics of these collections

• Monetary value

• Cultural & historical value Value

• Cut-off point e.g. Pre-1800, 1850,1900

• Incunabula/Post-incunabula Age

• Physical characteristics

• Annotations etc. Uniqueness

• Significant owners

• Locally or globally important Provenance

Descriptive cataloguing

• Creation of a high quality bibliographic record,

describes the book as an artefact

• Analysis of text block and binding

• Item/copy level description

• Includes details on: illustrations, paper,

provenance, format etc.

Benefits of descriptive cataloguing

• Enables users to select material

for further consultation

• Reduces unnecessary access to

fragile materials

• Facilitates item retrieval

• Enables the identification of

material for exhibition,

digitisation and conservation

• Informs storage decisions

Image from a ‘Glossary of

ecclesiastical ornament and

costume’ by A.W.N. Pugin.

London, 1846.

Descriptive cataloguing: main aspects

Paper Format Binding

Provenance Illustrations

• Handmade paper can be characterised as

laid paper or o e paper

– Laid paper is derived from linen rags which have

been pulped and set into wire moulds

– Wove paper was produced c1750s and uses a fine

wire mesh

• Machine made paper

– Emerged in early 1800s, in common use by 1830s

– Wood pulp introduced c.1850s, by the early 1900s

most paper is made from wood pulp

Chain lines • Handmade paper until the 1750s was made by a

process of cutting and pulping rags, diluting this

formula and storing it in vats

• A wire mould in a wooden frame was dipped into

this solution and laid to one side for drying. Each

sheet was then cut to size

• The wire mould left an impression on the paper. The

ertical lines are kno n as chain lines . Thinner, horizontal lines are also visible on the paper. These

are kno n as ire lines

• To find chain lines - hold up a sheet of handmade

paper to the light, the lines should be visible 02/03/2014 Barbara McCormack 13

Horizontal

wire lines

Vertical

chain lines

Watermarks

• Images or designs visible on handmade paper

due to patterns or shapes in the wire moulds

• Used by printers to authenticate their works

• Useful for dating books and establishing place

of publication

• Can also be used to determine formats

Format

• The format of a book is the relationship

between the original sheet of paper and the

number of leaves or pages produced from that

• A single SHEET is folded a number of times to

make LEAVES, which are then grouped

together to make GATHERINGS

• Most common formats include: folio, quarto

and octavo

• A sheet is folded once

to produce two leaves

• Each leaf equates to

two pages – therefore a

folio produces four

pages in a publication

• Chain lines are vertical

• Watermark typically in

centre of page

Quarto

• A sheet is folded twice,

producing four leaves

• This equates to eight

• Chain lines are

horizontal

• Watermark visible on

several different pages

Octavo

• A sheet is folded three

times, producing eight

leaves or sixteen pages

• Chain lines are vertical

• Octavo format became

increasingly popular in

the sixteenth century to

minimise capital

expenditure

Signatures

• Signatures assisted the printer during the

imposition stage to determine collation

• The first leaf of each gathering was assigned a

letter or symbol (based on a 23 letter alphabet

which excludes w, u, j)

• Typically letters are assigned to a gathering

and numbers are allocated to each letter in

sequential order

• Not all lea es in a gathering are signed

Membrane

• Vellum or parchment was

used for printing,

particularly in the early

• Often this was for

prestigious or liturgical

works e.g. Books of

• Vellum – calfskin

• Parchment – sheep, goat,

pig, deer skin

1526 Book of Hours, printed in Paris on

animal membrane, in this case vellum

(http://library.nuim.ie)

Bindings

• Rare book cataloguing includes a description of

binding materials:

– Outer materials that cover the boards and spine.

For example: Vellum, goatskin, pigskin, sheepskin

– Decoration. For example: marbled endpapers,

gold tooling, blind tooling, clasps and ties

– Boards. For example: wooden boards and

pasteboard

• Other information such as: headbands, gilded edges,

binders name, approximate date of binding and

manuscript fragments

Manuscript fragment

Manuscript fragments (also

known as binders waste) were

used in the early days of

printing to reinforce spines or

cover boards.

This particular example is

from a book printed in

Strasbourg in 1482 by the

printer Martin Flach.

Provenance • Details about previous

owners, institutions,

handling and usage

• Useful for researchers

and book historians

• Examples include:

– Inscriptions

– Bookplates

– Shelf-marks

– Library stamps

– Annotations

Bookplate from the collections of the

Russell Library

Printer s de ice

• Symbol or logo representing the

printer of a text

• Used since the mid-fifteenth

century

• Introduced to prevent forgeries

and to add authority to a work

– early trademark

• Also kno n as a Printer s Mark

Printers device of the Parisian printer

Pierre Levet (fl. 1485-1517)

Illustrations: woodcuts

• Printing technique using

woodblocks – an image was

carved into a woodblock,

inked and then printed in

relief

• Woodblocks were typically

5x7 inches

• Primary technique for

illustrations until the

sixteenth century

Other illustrations • Copper plate images – a design or image was

carved into a copper plate which was then used

for printing

• Wood engravings - images were carved into the

end grain of a woodblock. This facilitated much

greater detail. Popular in the18th century

• Decoration – head and tail pieces, borders and

other details

ataloguing of

escriptive

aterials

Cataloguing standards

• Descriptive Cataloguing of Rare Materials (DCRM) is

the international standard for Special Collections

material. It should be used in conjunction with

AACR2. DCRM is not yet RDA compatible

• DCRM(B) is the standard for rare book cataloguing

and DCRM(S) is used for cataloguing rare serials

• DCRM(B) describes the book as an artefact. It can be

used at minimal, core or full levels depending on

resources, expertise and the needs of your

organisation

DCRM(B) guidelines – key points

• Transcribe title, edition statement and imprint details

using the mark of omission when necessary

• Punctuation – retain original punctuation and add

prescribed punctuation

• Pagination – detailed information on pages, leaves,

and plates

• Physical description – collation, illustrations etc.

• Provenance and binding – details should be included

in local notes field

Conclusion

Today we have looked at:

- The definition of a rare book and key

characteristics

- The importance of descriptive cataloguing

- Rare book cataloguing standards

- Key guidelines of DCRM(B)

Now please join me for a tour of

the Russell Library!

ll Lib

://libra

Escaping the Dust and Rust

Cataloguing Records for 30 Year Release

Captain Claire Mortimer

Military Archives

Outline of Presentation Military Archives: An introduction Roles of Military Archives

Legislation

Stages of Release

Group Activity

MILITARY ARCHIVES: An introduction

The ‘National Archives Act 1986

1990: section 14 – the place of deposit for the records of the Department of Defence, the Defence Forces and the Army Pensions Board

Cathal Brugha Barracks

2011 – Dedicated website: www.militaryarchives.ie

Flickr

Twitter @dfarchives

The role of the Military Archives today

Mission: to acquire, preserve and make available material

Close relationship with the NAI

Accountability and transparency

Our services: Internal queries and external queries Records management

FOI requests

Legal queries

Military culture and heritage

(commemorative events, DF

publications)

Academic research

Genealogy research

Media groups

Public lectures and talks

National Archives Act 1986

Transfer of records by end of year in which the become more than 30 years old

Regulation 5(1) states that records due for transfer in accordance with the provisions of the Act must be transferred to the National Archives not later than the end of the year in which they become more than 30 years old. That is to say, records becoming 30 years old in a given year are eligible for transfer to the National Archives by 31 December of that year

Stages of Release

Identifying records

Transfer and Reviewing Process

Cataloguing

Housing and labelling

Release

Identifying Records for Release Databases - Accuracy

Check – Time consuming

Transfer and Reviewing Process

Transferred quarterly to Office of the creator for review and recommendations

Abstraction/Retention/Disposal

Reviewed by OIC Military Archives

Final approval and authorisation from Director of Intelligence

Recommendation

Cataloguing

Performa from NAI

Military Archives version

Finding Aid version

Group Activity Using the distributed files and electronic performa,

review, catalogue and make recommendations as to whether the files should be released/withheld/disposed. In the case of withholding/disposal you must state your reason as one of the following;

A. Would be contrary to public interest

B. Would or might constitute a breach of statutory duty, or a breach of good faith on the ground that they contain information supplied in confidence

C. Would or might cause distress or danger to living persons on the ground that they contain information about individuals, or would or might be likely to lead to an action for damages for defamation.

Where the file/part of a file is to be withheld or disposed list it under the relevant column.

Where part of the file is to be released, state ‘Partial Release’ and list what is to be withheld/disposed

Thank You

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