IV.24. 752 : Hierarchical Place Name

Owned by Vernica Downey
Last updated: Jul 08, 2022 by Linda Isaac
2 min read


Hierarchical place names are commonly used to provide access to the place of publication in a standardized form.  Houghton's practice is to provide a 752 access point in bibliographic records in Alma, including those imported from OCLC, on all rare, early and early modern printed materials.  The provided access point will be especially useful in a linked data environment.

So long as it is not burdensome to do so, enter a 752 access point for each place of publication recorded in 264 fields.  Follow the MARC21 Format guidelines for applying geographical subdivisions. 

N.B. Due to varying practices of applying established forms of names over the years, there is a mixture of old and new forms in Hollis.  For general Harvard practice, see Metadata Standards Working Group's Hierarchical Place Name.

Common headings

England $$d London
Scotland $$d Edinburgh
Ireland $$d Dublin
Austria $$d Vienna
France $$d Paris
Germany $$d Frankfurt am Main
Netherlands $$d Amsterdam
Spain $$d Madrid
Switzerland $$d Geneva
United States $$b Illinois $$d Chicago
United States $$b Massachusetts $$d Boston
United States $$b Missouri $$d Saint Louis
United States $$b New York $$d New York
United States $$b Pennsylvania $$d Philadelphia

For Latin place names found in early printed materials, follow RBMS guidelines in the Latin Place Names database.

Many places, particularly in Eastern Europe, have changed boundaries and the current name and country may be different.  Also, many well-known foreign places are established under English forms which vary slightly from the vernacular form.  A list of common problem headings is given below.

Problem headings

Antwerp

In Belgium, not Netherlands; not Anvers

Bassano del Grappa

Not Bassano

Belgrade

In Serbia, not Yugoslavia; not Belgrad

Bern

Not Berne

Brussels

Not Bruxelles or Brusselles

Colmar

In France, not Germany; not Kolmar

Cologne

Not Koln

Copenhagen

Not Kobenhaven or Kopenhagen

Douai

Not Douay

Frankfurt am Main

(The variations on these two found in the index were too numerous to mention)

Frankfurt an der Oder

Do not confuse with Frankfurt am Main

Gdansk

In Poland, not Germany; not Danzig

Geneva

Not Genf

Genoa

Not Genova

Ghent

Not Gent

Hague

Not The Hague, Den Haag, La Haye, or 's-Gravenshage

Haguenau

In France, not Germany; not Hagenau

Halle an der Saale

Not Halle

Hannover

Not Hanover (unless it is in the US)

Kaliningrad

In Russia, not Germany; not Konigsberg

Krakow

Not Cracow

Leiden

Not Leyden

Lyon

Not Lyons

Mantua

Not Mantova

Marseille

Not Marseilles

Moscow

In Russia, not U.S.S.R.; not Moskva

Mulhouse

In France, not Germany; not Mulhausen

Padua

Not Padova

Prague

In Czech Republic, not Czechoslovakia

Regensburg

Not Ratisbon

Rotterdam

Not Roterdam

Saint Petersburg

In Russia; not St. Petersburg, Sankt Peterburg, Peterburg, or Leningrad

Seville

Not Sevilla

Stockholm

Not Holmia

Strasbourg

In France, not Germany; not Strasburg, Strassburg, etc.

Szczecin

Not Stettin

Tournai

Not Tournay

Turin

Not Torino

Uppsala

Not Upsala

Wrocław

In Poland, not Germany; not Breslau

Zaragoza

In Spain, not Poland; not Caragoça

False or fictitious imprints

In addition to making a genre heading, follow these guidelines:

For false imprints, trace both the false and real place of printing; if the real place of printing is not known, only trace the false place of printing.

For fictitious imprints, do NOT trace the fictitious imprint but trace the real place of printing. For example, with an imprint reading "A Libidinibus [i.e. Paris, France?] : Chez Sensualité, à la Délicatesse, rue du Tempérament, 10308070 [i.e. 1783?]" make a 752 for Paris, but not for Libidinibus.