John Updike Deposits

Owned by Megan McNiff
Last updated: May 22, 2020
3 min read
Overview
  • Houghton Library is a depository for John Updike publications and translations.  They are gifted to Houghton by the Updike Literary Trust.
  • All deposits are sent to HD in paige boxes.  The Bibliographic Assistant receives each item, assigns an accession number, catalogs it, and sends it to end-processing for ownership labels and plates only, with instructions to return it to the Bibliographic Assistant.  Items are stored in a paige box until it is full.  One item record in Alma is selected for the paige box barcode.  All other items receive 977 fields in their holdings, linking back to the ‘barcoded’ item record.  If a patron requests any one of the titles, the entire box will be recalled from HD.
  • As with serials, New Directions, Marguerite Yourcenar, Gore Vidal, and Houghton Publications Archive group boxes, these items do not need Technical Services Aeon slips, either individually or for the box. They remain in the Acquisitions & End-Processing Section until delivery to HD.  Individual items do not receive the HD location designation until after the paige box has been filled, and is ready to be sent to the Depository.
Sample Holdings Record

541  0_  |c  Gift;

              |a  John Updike Literary Trust;

              |b  c/o The Wylie Agency, 250 West 57th Street (Suite 2114), New York, NY 10107;

              |d  date received, or approximation if there is no receipt;

              |e  current accession number.

              |5  hou

563         |a  As issued, in printed illustrated paper covers; in group box with other John Updike titles.   Or for hardcover:   Bound in publisher’s dark blue cloth over boards, with printed purple and gray dust jacket; in group box with other John Updike titles   |5  hou

852 8_    |b  HOU  |c  HD  |h Houghton Call Number


Sample Routing Slip for the Box

Classification

The procedure for assigning a call number to Updike deposits has changed over time.  Some titles have LC call numbers; some translations have not been assigned Updike title numbers.  The current practice is to assign a Houghton call number to the item in hand.  The prefix and cutter for John Updike have already been established as AC95.Up174.  Every work by Updike has also been given its own cutter–the first letter of the title followed by a number.  For example, Seek My Face has been assigned "S9".  To ascertain the specific designation of your work in hand, go to Hollis and search by title.

 AC95.Up174S9.2012 can be broken down as follows:

AC – American author, late 20th century

Up174 – John Updike

S9 – Seek my face

2012 – The publication date

If a work was printed by multiple publishers in a given year, assign an additional letter after the publication year to differentiate between them.  (There will be separate bibliographic records as well).

AC95.Up174C7.1979    The Coup  (New York : Knopf, 1979, c1978)

AC95.Up174C7.1979b   The Coup  (Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1979, c1978)

AC95.Up174C7.1979c   The Coup  (London : Deutsch, 1979, c1978)

If a work has been translated, first search in Hollis for the English title to ascertain the identifying number.  Then consult the Houghton Classification Manual for the correct translation codes.  (These are located on page 6 of the document.)  A French translation of Seek My Face would be classified as follows:

AC95.Up174S9.Eh2012k  ('E' indicates this is a translation, 'h' indicates the translation is French.  The ending 'k' is the first initial of the translator's last name.)