CATALOGUING THESES – BRANCH STAFF
General:
Branch staff will be responsible for creating brief records in Sirsi for bound University of Calgary theses
awarded to candidates in programmes supported by their respective libraries.
Records will be created in accordance with Anglo American Cataloguing Rules (AACR) and policies and
practices as outlined by [the] Libraries and Cultural Resources (LCR) Catalogue Working Group (CWG).
Staff external to the Bibliographic Services department with access to the Sirsi Cataloguing module will
report to the Metadata Librarian. The Resource Person, Monographs will act as contact for these
external staff.
Procedure:
Construct a call numer:
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University of Calgary theses are classed at AC1 .T484
The call number is created from the main class number, followed by the year (where “year” is the
year the degree was granted), followed by the author cutter (follow cutter table and cutter to at
least two letters).
For example, if John Doe was granted a Ph. D. from The University of Calgary in the year 2000,
the call number for his thesis would be: AC1 .T484 2000 D64
Always check the shelflist (i.e. call number index) to ensure the call number you have created
does not already exist. If it is already in use, change the cutter of the thesis in hand to fit
alphabetically into the shelflist
Apply item barcode:
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Place item barcode at the top right side of the last page; where possible, place it no less than a
half-inch from the top of the page or the spine, within a four-inch area. If this is not possible,
place the barcode at the bottom left side of the back cover, within the same distance of the spine
and bottom of the book.
Exact barcode placement is necessary for successful self-checkout. Regardless of whether a
specific branch is at present equipped with self checkout devices, or whether the items being
catalogued currently circulate, a standardized approach to both cataloguing and processing is
preferred
Procedure: LCR Collections Metadata Development: metamono@ucalgary.ca
Effective date:
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Create a bibliographic record:
Create a brief record using the Add Title wizard under Title Maintenance
Set wizard defaults for: Type (i.e. loan period), Home location (Do not change Current location – this will
change automatically when item information is saved) and Item category 2 (i.e. Branch). In addition, the
boxes beside Permanent and Circulate should always contain a checkmark.
To begin creating a brief record, click on the Add Title wizard. The template that appears contains three
areas to be filled in by the cataloguer:
1) Control Area:
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Under Basic title information, copy the Title control number. Go to the Bibliographic area and
paste this into the 001 field
Under Date catalogued, change NEVER to TODAY (note, use all caps)
2) Call Number/Item area:
 Under Item information, enter the item barcode in Item ID area. If you are entering the barcode
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manually, enter only the first 11 digits
All other areas in this section should already be set to your specific library’s requirements.
However, where required, change the Type, Home location and Item category 2 as appropriate
Under Call number information, enter the call number
Copy the call number as it appears in the Call number area
3) Descriptive area:
Fixed/leader fields (In the shaded area at the top, enter specific information in the following fields,
as indicated):
 Rec_Type
 Enc_Lvl
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Desc
Dat_Tp
Date1
Ctry
Illus
t
7
a
s
date thesis
xx
the value for this field will be blank; a; b; or ab; depending upon
whether the thesis contains illustrations and/or maps.
a = illustration (one or more) of any kind
b = map (one or more)
ab = one or more illustration and one or more map
Procedure: LCR Collections Metadata Development: metamono@ucalgary.ca
Effective date:
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Cont
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Indx
Source
mb
m = manuscript
b = contains bibliographical references
It is extremely rare for a thesis not to have bibliographical references.
Plays, screenplays and musical scores are the only theses that
sometimes have none.
Enter in the order, mb – it is a manuscript in format, and
secondarily contains bibliographical references)
0 or 1 – the thesis will either have an index (1) or will not (0)
d
Variable fields (the contents section of the bibliographic record)
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Ensure you have pasted the Title Control number into the 001 tag
Create a 087 tag (Fund):
o Enter fund information as: Fund Gift + year (where “year” is the year the gift is received,
not the year the thesis was granted, if the two are different)
o E.g. Fund Gift 2008
Create a 090 tag (Local call number):
o Enter the call number
Create a 100 tag (Personal author):
o Tab over once and enter “1” in the first indicator column. Leave the second indicator blank
o Tab over once more and add the author’s name: Surname first, followed by given name(s), as
they appear on the title page
Create a 245 tag (Title information):
o Tab over once and enter “1” in the first indicator column
o In the second indicator column, enter 0, 2, 3 or 4, depending upon whether there is an initial
article present in the title. The number represents a skip in filing, where the number of
spaces to be skipped is equal to the number of letters contained in the article, plus one space.
Thus, enter “0” if there is no initial article; “2” if the initial article is “A”; “3” if the initial
article is “An”; and “4” if the initial article is “The”. Do not leave the second indicator blank.
o Tab over once more and enter the title of the thesis exactly as it appears on the title page
o Capitalize only the first word of the title
o Capitalize all proper nouns
o Non-English language spelling and grammar rules apply (seek guidance from a Resource
person if in doubt)
o A title consists of the Title Proper, or main part of the title, and the remainder of the title, or
subtitle(s)
o Enter the main part of the title, as above
o Enter the subtitle after a space, colon, |b (i.e. space :|b)
o Separate a second and any further subtitles by space – colon – space
o Enter the author after a space, oblique, |c (i.e. space /|c)
o End 245 with a period
Procedure: LCR Collections Metadata Development: metamono@ucalgary.ca
Effective date:
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Create a 260 tag (Publication information):
o Theses are, by definition, unpublished; therefore, only the date the thesis was granted is
indicated in the 260 tag
o Enter |c and the date (do not add a space after the |c)
o End 260 with a period
Create a 300 tag (Collation and physical description):
o Enter the collation:
o If the thesis contains preliminary pages numbered in roman numerals, record
the last
numbered page, in lower case numerals. Do not add unnumbered pages to your total. Do
not give roman numerals if they do not exist
o Follow the roman numeral with a comma
o Leave one space after the comma and record the last numbered page of the
thesis. Do
not add unnumbered pages to this total unless there is a significant
number (i.e. more
than about 20 pages). In this case, count the unnumbered pages and record them in square
brackets, after the last numbered page
followed by a comma and one space
o Record collation for theses as “leaves”, with no exceptions– follow the last recorded number bracketed or unbracketed – and space with leaves, written in
full (there is no accepted
abbreviation for leaves)
o If the thesis contains illustrations or maps, follow “leaves” with a space, colon
o Add |b and either ill., map(s) or ill., map(s) (do not add a space after the |b)
o Follow the above information with a space, semicolon
o Add |c and the height of the book, in cm. and rounded off to the nearest whole
number (do
not add a space after the |c). Theses are generally 28 or 29 cm.
o If the thesis contains neither illustrations nor maps, follow the collation information by
space, semicolon and add |c with the measurement of the book
o If the thesis includes accompanying material contained in a pocket of the book, such as a CDROM(s), DVD-ROM(s), map(s) or chart(s), record this information after the measurement in
|c. Add space, + (i.e. plus sign)
o Add |e and name the accompanying material according to the following examples:
 +|e10 maps
 +|e6 charts
 +|e10 maps, 6 charts
 +|e1 CD-ROM (4 3/4 in.)
 +|e1 DVD-ROM (4 3/4 in.)
o Do not add a space after the |e
o NOTE, the above applies to material that is included separately; it does not apply to maps,
and charts that are contained in the volume
o NOTE, do not supply further information regarding the size of the accompanying material,
nor whether it is folded, etc., in this area – information of this kind, should you choose to
include it, is noted in a 500 tag (General note)
o End 300 with a period, unless it ends with a round bracket
Create a 500 tag (General note) for Accompanying material:
o Information about accompanying material must be recorded in a 500 tag. There is a
reciprocal relationship between 300|e and the 500 tag, and both must appear in the record –
300 indicates that accompanying material exists, while 500 indicates where it is found. The
person looking for the book needs to know that it is kept together
Procedure: LCR Collections Metadata Development: metamono@ucalgary.ca
Effective date:
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Enter brief information about accompanying material, as follows:
 Accompanied by CD-ROM, in pocket; or,
 Accompanied by 10 folded maps, in pocket; or,
 Accompanied by 10 maps, 5 folded, and 6 folded charts, in pocket; etc.
o End 500 with a period
Create a 502 tag (Dissertation note)
o Indicate the level of the degree, the name of the granting institution and faculty, and the
date the degree was conferred, exactly as follows:
 Thesis (M. Sc.)—University of Calgary, Dept. of Geoscience, 2008; or,
 Thesis (Ph. D.)—University of Calgary, Dept. of Geoscience, 2008.
o NOTE, always abbreviate “Department”
o NOTE, abbreviations for degrees now contain a space(s) between the two (or three,
occasionally) abbreviated words
o End 502 with a period
Create a 500 tag (General note) for undergraduate “theses” or senior projects
o Undergraduate theses and project reports are not theses in the accepted sense of the word.
Therefore, information regarding them is entered using a general note, exactly as follows:
 An undergraduate thesis submitted to the Dept. of Geoscience, University of Calgary in
partial fulfillment of the requirement of Bachelor of Science.
o End 500 with a period
Create a 504 tag (Bibliographical references):
o Theses generally contain a separate bibliography at the end of the volume
o Enter the bibliography exactly as follows, regardless of the wording used by the author:
 Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-145).
o If the bibliography begins or ends on an unnumbered leaf, or if all leaves in the bibliography
are unnumbered, record the information as follows:
 Includes bibliographical references (leaves [120]-145); or,
 Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-[145]); or,
 Includes bibliographical references (leaves [120]-[145] (where only the two leaves – first
and last- are unnumbered; or,
 Includes bibliographical references (leaves [120-145]) (where all leaves of the
bibliography are unnumbered
o NOTE, theses have leaves, not pages. Also, there is no accepted abbreviation for leaves write it out in full
o NOTE, the presence of square brackets indicates information supplied by the cataloguer
o If the thesis does not contain a separate bibliography but contains only footnotes or endnotes,
or a bibliography at the end of each chapter or section, record the information as above, but
with no paging information:
 Includes bibliographical references.
o If the thesis contains an index(es) include the information along with the bibliographical
information, as follows:
 Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-145) and index(es).
 Includes bibliographical references and index(es).
o End 504 with a period
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Procedure: LCR Collections Metadata Development: metamono@ucalgary.ca
Effective date:
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