Updated May 2022 by Dave Van Kleeck
Resource Description Services Department Policy on
Collection-level Records Cataloging
Collection-level records are a cost-effective means of providing control for a large collection of items that can be grouped together and identified by a finding guide, database, or other inventories created by a curator or project manager. The record would contain a link to the finding guide and enriched with LCSH and other subject keywords provided by the curator/project manager. A collection-level, more often than not, is often the only method to provide contents information. It is a quick and effective method to provide access to and make collections findable.
A summary in the bibliographic description of the record will highlight the primary and shared characteristics inherent in the collection. Provisional records also provide temporary control of unprocessed items. Item-level records may also supplement a collection-level record depending on archival needs. A major portion of the record, if not all, will follow RDA rules and DCRM when they are rare. Decisions regarding the record’s encoding level along with agreed to amount of bibliographic information provided will be made between Resource Description Services and the Curator/Project Manager.
Collection-level records may include authors, issuing bodies, title (and variant titles), extent, form/genre, subjects/keywords, chronology, summary, and web links. They may also be dependent on alternate titles and important local treatment information.
Sample record: OCLC #1054258709; Alma MMS ID: 9910187607506561
Download full DCRM rules for collection-level records by clicking link below:
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