Best Practice for Genre / Form Added Entries

Guidelines

1. Use 655 _ 7 with an authorized form/genre heading in the subfield $$a and the corresponding source indicated in the subfield $$2  
   
   The terms for these headings may be found in the list of Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms (LCGFT), the Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT), the suite of vocabularies put out by the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the American Library Association (RBMS) (see instructions for RBMS vocabularies below), or other authorized thesauri. Harvard Best Practice is to prefer the most commonly used thesauri (LCGFT, AAT, RBMS).  A list of vocabularies and their appropriate coding can be found at http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/genreFormSchemes.html. Some examples that may be worth exploring include the Radio Form/Genre Terms Guide, the OLAC Video Games Genre Terms, and the Newspaper Genre List.
   
   When using a new vocabulary, please be sure to carefully read the documentation, following any requirements for use.
   
   Example:  655 _7 Paper dolls. $$2 lcgft
   
   

2. Do not use terms from the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) in the 655 field with second indicator 0, or in 655 _7 with $$2 lcsh
   

   Although genre terms in the LCSH vocabulary are technically valid in the 655 field, Alma flips these terms to LCGFT terms (if an equivalent term exists), without changing the coding of the field. (It should be noted that Connexion also flips any field encoded 655 _0  to 655 _7 $$2 lcgft, if there is a comparable term, when it is controlled.) Although this does not happen when the term is not present in LCGFT, the ongoing updates to LCGFT mean that there is significant potential for future incorrect flips. For this reason, the Harvard Metadata Standards Working Group strongly cautions against using LCSH terms in the 655 field.  

   Genre terms formerly used from the LCSH vocabulary should, whenever possible, be adapted to LCGFT faceted terms, separating out the genre term from geographical or other information. 

   Example: 

   655 _7 $$a Fiction. $$2 lcgft
   008/35-37 ger (and possibly 386__ $$a Germans. $$2 lcdgt)
   (DO NOT USE: 655_0 $$a German fiction)

   Example:

   655_7 $$a Didactic fiction. $$2 lcgft
   008/35-37 ger
   (DO NOT USE: 655_4 or 655_0 $$a Didactic fiction, German)

   
   NB: If there is an LCSH term which you absolutely must use, please prefer 655 _4 over 653 (this will allow the term to display as a genre term in Primo).  However, please consider the statement in LC H 1790 to have broader significance (i.e., for LCSH and LCGFT vocabularies): "Do not include adjectival qualifiers or subdivisions that show the language of the work or that reflect the characteristics of the author, such as nationality, religion, sex, ethnic background."

   
   

3. Avoid using local genre terms when an appropriate term can be found in an authorized thesaurus
   Harvard Best Practice is to use a controlled term in all cases, unless a thorough search has turned up no possibilities.
   When using local terms, code as 655 _4.  Do not follow previous practice of using 655 _7 with $$2 local.  (Please note that use of $$2 local is not related to the use of $$5 to identify the holding library, see below.) This change in practice is to better align with OCLC. Work is underway to establish a consistent list of Harvard local subject and genre terms available to the entire Harvard Library community.
   
   Example: 655 _4 $$a Harvard students’ books
   
   

4. Carrier information for media should come from a controlled vocabulary.
   
   For carrier information, particularly of non-print media (i.e., videocassettes, DVDs), we no longer recommend the previous Harvard practice of using local terms (e.g., 655 _7 $$a Videotapes. $$2 local) or LCSH terms (e.g., 655 _0 $$a DVD-Video discs), see above.  This information can be recorded in the 33x and 34x fields with the appropriate rda source code, with genre/form headings in the 655 _7 taken from one of the recommended controlled vocabularies.
   
   

   Examples:
   338 __ $$a videocassette $$b vf $$2 rdacarrier
   340 __ $$b 1/2 in.
   344 __ $$a analog $$2 rdatr
   344 __ $$b magnetic $$2 rdarm
   346 __ $$a VHS $$2 rdavf
   346 __ $$b NTSC $$2 rdabs
   655 _7 $$a Videocassettes. $$2 aat
   
   338 __$$a microfilm reel $$b hd $$2 rdacarrier
   655_7 $$a Microfilms.$$2 aat
   655_7 $$a Stats (copies) $$2 aat

    
5. "Electronic books"
   

   On August 16, 2022, OCLC announced that the term “Electronic books” will be removed from 655 in all WorldCat bibliographic records beginning September 2022.  Although many institutions have long used the term as LCSH or LCGFT, it is a restatement of the type of carrier of a resource rather than an indication of the form or genre of the content and has never been valid for use.  While this term was useful in the early days of eBooks, the implementation of RDA has allowed many metadata elements to provide information to determine if a resource is an electronic book.  The announcement presented four scenarios where the term will be removed from all OCLC records:

   655_0 $$a Electronic books.

   655_7 $$a Electronic books. $$2 lcgft

   655_4 $$a Electronic books.

   655_7 $$a Electronic books. $$2 local

   
   

   On September 28, 2022, OCLC updated the announcement that it will begin working on removing additional headings that begin with “Electronic” (both singular and plural forms) as listed below.  OCLC staff will be compiling and considering additions to this list for a future project that will commence once these headings are eliminated:

                Electronic article

                Electronic audiobook

                Electronic book

                Electronic dictionary 

                Electronic directory   

                Electronic dissertation

                Electronic document

                Electronic encyclopedia

                Electronic government information

                Electronic government publication

                Electronic handbook

                Electronic journal

                Electronic manuscript

                Electronic map

                Electronic masters project

                Electronic newsletter

                Electronic newspaper

                Electronic publication

                Electronic score

                Electronic serial

                Electronic student paper

                Electronic text

                Electronic theses

                Electronic thesis

   Harvard Library will align its best practices with OCLC, and LTS will begin removing the term “Electronic books” from all bibliographic records in Alma, in addition to removing the term from incoming OCLC records.  For repositories wishing to add this term locally in Alma or to OCLC records, MSWG recommends using the term “e-books” from AAT. 

    
6. Children's, Medical, and Agriculture Genre/Form terms are valid
   
   

   Genre/Form terms derived from these three subject vocabularies are valid for use in Connexion and Alma, although preference is still for the most commonly used thesauri (LCGFT, AAT, and RBMS).  MARC coding for these three vocabularies is by indicator:
   
   655 _1: Library of Congress Annotated Children's Cataloging Program subject heading
   655 _2: Medical Subject Headings
   655 _3: National Agricultural Library Subject Headings

   
   
   
7. FAST headings should be retained
   
   

   Please note that any FAST genre headings (or FAST headings of any kind), should be retained if present in a record, along with all subfields.
   Example: 655 _7 $$a Requiems. $$2 fast $$0 (OCoLC)fst01726720

   
   
   
8. Continue to use $$5 with local library code for terms related to Harvard local copies.
   When describing characteristics relating only to Harvard’s local copy, these fields are added in Alma after export/merging from OCLC Connexion, and should have a $$5 to indicate the holding library. Supporting evidence for this local information should be placed in the appropriate 56x field in the holdings, along with the local library’s $$5 code.  This information could include evidence of annotations, marginalia, binding, etc.  Codes for $5 use can be found here (note that codes should be intered in lower case letters): https://wiki.harvard.edu/confluence/x/xlfXDQ
   
   Examples:
   655_7 $$a Authors’ annotations (Provenance) $$2 rbprov $$5 mus
   655_4 $$a Manuscripts in books. $$5 hou
   
   
   
9. This policy relates to prospective cataloging.

Although legacy records may be corrected as they are discovered, catalogers should not seek out these records for correction if this is the only reason for this work.