MARC series fields:
Bibliographic records containing series information should follow the OCLC guidelines for using these fields unless specifically mentioned in the Local practices section below.
- 490 Series Statement
- As a reminder, the 490 field should reflect what is on the item in hand and may vary across the series. The 8xx fields should be consistent across the series.
- 800 Series Added Entry – Personal Name
- 810 Series Added Entry – Corporate Name
- 811 Series Added Entry – Meeting Name
- 830 Series Added Entry – Uniform Title
Local Practices:
- The 490 fields for series that do not have an authorized series heading:
- For fiction series, there should always be a 490 field with a first indicator of “1” and a corresponding 8xx field when entering series information into a bib record. More information on creating an 8xx field for unauthorized series can be found below.
- For nonfiction series without an authorized heading, the series statement should be added as a 490 field with a first indicator of “0” and no 8xx field.
- The 8xx field should contain a subfield v (|v) when at all possible. The subfield should contain only the number; no abbreviations or symbols like book, bk., v., vol., #, no, etc.
Authorized series headings:
When an authorized series heading is available, libraries should use the most appropriate version of the heading for the format of the work they are cataloging. For example, if there is an authorized heading for the books in the series, and a different one for the audiobooks in the series, the audiobook records should include the audiobook series rather than using the same book heading on all bib records. As an example, the Oregon Files series by Clive Cussler. The authorized headings at the time of writing this are as follows:
For print: 800 1_ Cussler, Clive.|tOregon files adventures ;|v1.
For audio: 800 1_ Cussler, Clive.|tNovel of the Oregon Files (Sound recording) ;|v1.
If there is no separate authorized heading for book vs. audio, see the Customize series heading section below.
Unauthorized series headings:
When there is no authorized series heading for a fiction series, catalogers should visit the author’s and/or publisher’s website to see if there is a formal series name listed. If so, use this series information to create an unauthorized series heading with this series information in the |t. When this is not the first book in the series, you should also check how the previous titles in a series were cataloged. If they do not contain the same series heading, or are lacking one altogether, please submit a ticket to SWAN so we can ensure consistency across volumes in the series.
Volume information should also be taken from the author’s or publisher’s website if possible. Only rely on third party sites like fantasticfiction.com for series or volume information as a last resort.
If you can determine that a single author/entity is responsible for authoring a series, use an 800/810/811 field and the authorized person/entity name (if applicable).
Ex. 800 1_ Author name.|tSeries title ;|v#.
If there are multiple authors/entities responsible for authoring a series, use an 830 field.
Ex. 830 _0 Series title ;|v#.
Customize series headings:
Whether a series heading is authorized or unauthorized, there are ways that you can customize the heading to better portray the item you are cataloging.
Subfield h:
When there is no set audio series heading, you can modify an authorized or unauthorized heading by including a subfield h to show this is for an audio version of the series.
Ex. 800 1_ Author name.|tSeries title.|hSpoken word ;|v#.
800 1_ Quinn, Julia,|d1970-|tBridgerton series.|hSpoken word ;|v1.
Subfield l:
When you are adding an English series heading to a version of the work that is not in English, you should use a subfield l (L) to attribute the language of the item in-hand.
Ex. 800 1_ Author name.|tSeries title.|lLanguage ;|v#.
800 1_ Grimes, Martha.|tRichard Jury mystery.|lSpanish ;|v1.
Subfield v:
When you are cataloging an item that contains multiple volumes of a series, use one 8xx field and modify the contents of the subfield v to match the item. Preference is given to using a dash when the volume numbers are sequential. If they are not, using an ampersand (&) is a recognizable way to say the item contains both numbers.
Ex. |v1-3
|v2 & 7
|v1-2 & 4