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Occasionally an entire collection of manuscripts or an item/folder within a collection deserves a highly detailed level of cataloging. Traditionally Houghton has titled this “long-form cataloging.” In the far-distant past, all manuscript materials at Houghton were described at this level, but this is no longer the case. See the old Houghton “red” accession books for a wide variety of this early detailed HCL and Houghton cataloging.

Manuscripts might be deemed “worthy” of this level of description for many reasons: monetary value of items indicate detailed level of control essential, researcher needs, early dates, scarcity of materials, etc ... but usually multiple reasons are indicated. For example, any new Emily Dickinson, Samuel Johnson, or Henry James materials would be cataloged at this level and often materials pre-1800 are handled this way if time allows. The entire finding aid need not be done this way, but a few items within a collection might call for it.

Typical current standards for: 

Letter

[1=correspondent].  [2=format] letter to [3=recipient]; [4=geographic location], [5=year month day].

            [6= additional information/enclosures]

Ex: Smith, John, 1878-1956.  Autograph manuscript letter (signed) to Judy Jones; Boston, 1945 June 3.  1 folder.

            With envelope.

            Includes clipping about Judy Jones.

Explanation:

1. Correspondent: name of person or corporate name who is writing the letter, also known as the author. If you don’t know the name, use “Unidentified correspondent.”  Use <persname>
2. Format: of the letter and whether it is signed or not. Use <genreform> only for “odd” formats such as “telegram.” Other format examples are: typescript, typescript carbon, form letter, printout, photostat, etc …
3. Recipient: name of person or corporate name receiving the letter. If you don’t know the name, use “unidentified recipient.”
4. Geographic location: the place name origin where the letter was written; if the place is not known, use “no place.”  Use   <geogname>  Sometimes this can be “aboard ship” or “aboard train en route to …..”
5. Date: year, month, and day letter was written (NOT the postmark, date on envelope, though postmark can be used if there is no date on letter itself) Year is inserted within <unitdate>; month and day outside tags.
6. Additional information: if there is an envelope, note that here. Also note any enclosures with letter or other information to be highlighted. Use <note> with separate <p>s for each information type.

Note: Occasionally, there might be a reason to reverse the data and/or count the pages:

Additional examples:

Smith, John, 1878-1956, recipient.  Autograph manuscript letter (unsigned) from unidentified correspondent;  New York, 1945 June 8.  4 pages in 1 folder.

            With envelope.

            Includes photograph of Judy Jones.

American Publishers.  Typescript letter (signed) to John Smith;  New York, 1945 June 8.  1 folder.

            With envelope.

            From Jim Jones, editor.

Composition

[1=author].  [2=title]  :  [3=format]; [4=geographic location], [5=year, month, day].

            [6= additional information/enclosures]

Ex: Smith, John, 1878-1956.  Little houses  : autograph manuscript (signed);  Boston, 1938 June 9. 1 folder.

            Includes clipping review of this novel.

Explanation:

1. Author: name of person who wrote the composition. If you don’t know the name, use “Unidentified author.”  Use <persname>
2. Title: title that is on the piece. If there is no title, then create one. Capitalize only first word and proper nouns. Use <title>
3. Format: of the composition and whether it is signed or not. Other format examples are: typescript, typescript carbon, printout, photostat, etc … Use <genreform> for “odd” formats only, such as photostat…
4. Geographic location: the place name origin where the composition was written; if the place is not known, use “no place.” Use <geogname>
5. Date: year, month, and day composition was written. Year is inserted within <unitdate>; month and day outside tags. If date is not known, either use “undated” or estimate year.
6. Additional information: note any enclosures with composition or other information to be highlighted. Use <note> with separate <p>s

Document

[1=author].  [2=title]  :  [3=format]; [4=geographic location], [5=year, month, day].

            [6= additional information]

Ex: Smith, John, 1878-1956, signer.  Deed for 5 Pilgrim Way, Danvers, Massachusetts  :  printed document with manuscript additions (signed);  Salem, Massachusetts, 1935 June 4. 1 folder.

       Transfers deed from John Jones to John and Judy Smith.

Includes signature of many others including: Judy Smith and John Jones.

Explanation:

1. Author: name of primary person involved in document. This could be the corporate “author” of the document if that is deemed more important.
2. Title: title that is on the piece is the best choice. If there is no title, then create one making choices of data that most simply describes the item. Use <title> only if this text is on the piece. In the example above, deed would use <genreform>
3. Format: of the document and whether it is signed or not. Other format examples are: autograph manuscript, manuscript, typescript, photostat, etc …
4. Geographic location: the place name origin where the document was created/signed; if the place is not known, use “no place.” Use <geogname>
5. Date: year, month, and day document was created/signed. Year is inserted within <unitdate>; month and day outside tags. If date is not known, either use “undated” or estimate year.
6. Additional information: note any enclosures with document or other information to be highlighted. Use <note> with separate <p>s

Additional notes concerning long-form cataloging

• In some cases it might become necessary to designate what information is inserted by the cataloger and what is on the piece itself. In this case be uniform throughout the finding aid and use square brackets [     ]. At one time it was standard to bracket all information that was supplied and not actually on the piece, but that is no longer the standard.
• Geographic place names historically did not include the state or country if it was quite obvious what was being mentioned. For instance Rome, or London, or Paris would be sufficient, but Lincoln would need to be expanded to Lincoln, Nebraska.
• If multiple authors are involved, this can be indicated in 2 variant ways:
  1. Smith, John, 1834-1900, Mary Jones, 1845-1901, and Tom Long.
  2. Smith, John, 1834-1900, et al. [In note:] Also by Mary Jones and Tom Long.

• If multiple accession numbers are being cataloged together, record the accession number of each item in the note with each item.
• The single item manuscript cataloging manual might give assistance as to what description is important to highlight.
• Some manuscripts might have multiple formats within one item; format description as follows (the word “and” is not necessary):
  • Smith, John. Little horses : typescript, autograph manuscript, photocopy; Amherst, Massachusetts, 1945.  2 folders.