Message-Id: <mailto:199407290011.TAA01348@library.wustl.edu> Date: Thu, 28 Jul 1994 16:59:38 +1100 From: Marion Matters <mailto:MARIONM@MERCURY.LIBRARY.LEG.STATE.MN.US> Subject: Re: 655 VS 650 in VM cataloging To: Multiple recipients of list IMAGELIB <mailto:IMAGELIB@ARIZVM1.BITNET>
Stephen,You wrote:
> decided to use VM over AMC mainly because of the versatility of the 007
> field in VM, which in AMC is restricted to microforms.
I'm not advocating one over the other, but this limitation will, I think, change with format integration.
> How are you using 655 Genre/Form vis-a-vis placing genre/form information
> in tag 650? OCLC generates the print constant "Genre:" before the search
> term meaning that cards for, say "Pictorialism" are placed in the card
> catalog (we aren't on-line yet) under "G" for "Genre--Pictorialism," not
> "P" for pictorialism. Researchers and staff therefore have to know or
> remember that you look under "Genre." This can be solved by using the 650
> field rather than 655, because LCSH has proclaimed "Pictorialism" an
> acceptable subject heading.
This can also be solved by filing your cards under the term that comes after "Genre" (I assume that in a manual catalog, cards are filed manually, so you can file them as you will?). A clerk could easily even cross out the print constant.
> What advantages do you exploit in using 655 rather than 650 for
> this type of problem? What are the pitfalls of not using 655?
You may be OK with Pictorialism, but in general LCSH is not very coherent when it comes for form and genre terms. Some terms look like form terms, but they're supposed to be used only for works "about" the form, not examples of the form (which is what 655 is for). The Art and Architecture Thesaurus has a hierarchy for information forms (or something like that) that many archivists use. for form terms in 655.
Have you posed this question on the Archives list? Or the LCSHAMC list, where participants discuss use of LCSH and the AMC format? (Sorry, I don't have the addresses with me at my current location).
Marion Matters