Provenance Description Guidelines

Melanie Wisner, Manuscript Section

revised 1/13/2021, 2/23/2021, 3/22/2021, 5/21/2021

Objective

The purpose of these guidelines is to promote fuller contextual information for our researchers--to be more transparent about the lifecycle of our books and manuscripts, our acquisition of them, and the parties involved. The Manuscript Section is inspired by recently revised DACS principles, especially Principle 4 which calls us to "...expose contextual significance by describing records, agents, activities, and the relationships between them". The Technical Services Department as a whole is dedicated to the practice of conscious and inclusive description, a practice that inherently rebalances and expands context and results in greater transparency.

The discussion of ArchivesSpace description below benefits the Manuscript Section primarily, but the current overlap of print and manuscript cataloging, however minimal, shows an area of need for both sections to be aware of practices.

The focus of the current effort (May 2021) is the inclusion of dealer and donor information, largely hidden information in past records. We hope to standardize and merge metadata practices between the Manuscript Section and the Rare Book Section as much as possible. This document is therefore meant to serve both the Rare Book Section and the Manuscript Section, though we may enact these changes differently in some cases, as noted in the specifics below. It is important to note, however, that the sections follow different standards for description: Rare Books uses RDA and the RBMS DCRM suite, and Manuscripts uses DACS.

Additional changes may follow from the inclusion of dealers and donors. These include creating MARC 5xx or ArchivesSpace arrangement/processing notes to explain a donor's or seller's actions relevant to the material (for instance, a family re-arranging papers or a dealer inserting penciled notes in a volume).

Some of the following notes overlap with other departmental documentation; in future, the main points here should be incorporated into our manuals and this document archived.

Future developments in Alma and ArchivesSpace will change or replace these recommended practices; these include, for instance, a new module for ASpace which will push agent records to SNAC.

Past practice

Past: MARC Format for Holdings Records

Past: MARC 541: Immediate Source of Acquisition Note

For both books and manuscripts, the 541 field has usually contained some form of the following data points in free text subfields: type of acquisition, dealer/donor name (including intermediaries in the transaction), address, date of receipt, accession number, and, if a purchase, the price paid and the fund name. Typically formatted:

541 $$c Type of acquisition; $$a Dealer/Donor name; $$b Address; $$d Date of receipt; $$e Accession number; $$h Price and Fund $$5 Holding library code

This field has always been assigned the first indicator "0" to suppress addresses, payment details, and sometimes names in the public catalog.

The two sections have differed in the format of the subfield $$d. The Rare Book Section adheres to ISO standard 8601 (example, "2009-01-05" for 5 January 2009) and the Manuscript Section follows the DACS format (YYYY Month DD, "2009 January 5").

Intermediary "agents of transfer" involved in the transaction that brought the material to Houghton, such as booksellers representing Houghton at auction, are generally named in the 541 without any further tracing.

Past: MARC 561: Ownership and Custodial History Note

The 561 field is a repeatable free text field which has been used by the Manuscripts Section to duplicate information found in the 541 such as type of acquisition, donor (but not dealer) name, sometimes fund name, and date of receipt. For Rare Books, prior to October, 2020, a 561 was routinely included at the point of acquisitions and accessioning to record the type of acquisition, date of acquisition and fund (if applicable). The 561 field has always been coded “public” and as such has been treated as the public version of the 541. Additional 561s have been included for additional ownership and/or custodial information.

There are minimal standards for the 541 and the 561 free-text subfields; the data therefore varies considerably across records in both style and content. These can contain content that could go somewhere else in the record.

Past: MARC 852 : Location and Call Number

In past practice both the Rare Book and Manuscript Sections have used the 852 $$x to record previous call and/or accession numbers and 852 $$z to record provenance-related text.

Past: MARC Format for Bibliographic Data

Past: MARC 7xx : Added Entries

Agents identified in the 541 or 561 fields in the holdings record may be traced in a 7xx field in the bibliographic record to which the holdings is attached. The Manuscript Section has not traced dealers or donors with 7xxs unless they are creators, with a subfield $$e relator term, of the material and named in the title of the resource. They have not created SNAC records for dealers or donors to this point.

The Rare Book Section uses the 7xx to trace former owners when provenance evidence exists (e.g., bookplates, inscriptions, etc.) and the former owner(s) can be identified; they have not generally traced dealers or donors.

Past: ArchivesSpace

The ArchivesSpace free-text Immediate Source of Acquisition field has not been used consistently, but it usually includes elements of the MARC 541, particularly subfields $$c, $$a, $$d and $$e, though not in a standardized order.

The free-text Custodial History note has been used less frequently; when used, the text has usually matched the MARC 561 field (which generally matched the 541).

In general, agent records have not been made for dealers or donors unless they have been given 7xxs in the MARC record (rarely or never).

Best practices going forward

General notes

Please note that some points below apply only to the MS Section with a few applicable to both sections.

Both: As of 1 November 2020, newly accessioned materials include a public 541 (first indicator = 1) which no longer includes an address or purchase amount; this information can be found in other acquisition-related records.

MSS: When recording the name of a dealer, use an authorized form, or, if one does not exist, use the name as it appears on an invoice.

MSS: Create an agent record in ArchivesSpace for the dealer or donor.

MSS: Create a level one SNAC record for the dealer or donor.

Both: Sometimes a donor prefers to remain anonymous; the curator should convey this information. See recommendations below under 541 and 561.

Both: It is the cataloger's choice to create agent records for intermediary "agents of transfer".

MSS: Use Alma and ArchivesSpace templates (under construction) if helpful; also see examples below.

MSS: Make sure the data in the MARC 541 and the ArchivesSpace Immediate Source of Acquisition fields match.

MSS: Make sure the data in the MARC 561 and the ArchivesSpace Custodial History fields match.

MSS: As put forward in DACS, we should tell researchers "what archivists (and catalogers) know, what they don't know, and how they know it". Use the sentence "Ownership prior to this acquisition is unknown" in the 561 and the ArchivesSpace Custodial History fields if there is no information.

Best practices: MARC Bibliographic record: 7xx Added Entries

As of this writing, the Manuscript Section will not adopt the practice of creating 7xxs for donors/dealers in the interest of work time. For the Rare Book Section, and the MS Section if this step is chosen, follow these guidelines.

For any item- or collection-specific 7xx and/or agent record, use a relator term ($$e) from this list to express the relationship of the dealer/donor to the material (definitions from MARC and RDA shown with term). RDA allows the "use [of] another concise term to indicate the nature of the relationship" where none are appropriate or specific enough.

Bookseller:

MARC: "A person or organization who makes books and other bibliographic materials available for purchase. Interest in the materials is primarily lucrative"

Collector:

MARC: "A curator who brings together items from various sources that are then arranged, described, and cataloged as a collection. A collector is neither the creator of the material nor a person to whom manuscripts in the collection may have been addressed"
RDA: Use for the entity responsible for bringing together material from various sources, which has been arranged, described, and cataloged as a collection. The collector is neither the creator of the material nor the entity to whom manuscripts in the collection may have been addressed.

Donor:

MARC: "A former owner of an item who donated that item to another owner"

Former owner:

MARC: "A person, family, or organization formerly having legal possession of an item"

Seller:

MARC: "A former owner of an item who sold that item to another owner"

Depositor:

MARC: "A current owner of an item who deposited the item into the custody of another agent, while still retaining ownership"

Best practices: MARC holdings record specific notes: 541

Though usual practice is to make the 541 public, it should be suppressed in the case of a donor who prefers to remain anonymous. See related change under 561.

$$b Address DO NOT USE

$$d Date material was received, in format YYYY Month DD.

2020 January 9
1999
1950 March
date unknown

$$a Name, using a woman's full name where applicable, or phrase below in the case of an anonymous donor.

Autographs, Inc.
Alice Roosevelt [not Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt]
anonymous donor

$$e Accession number. If material was transferred from another library and shows physical evidence of an earlier call or accession number, provide it in the subfield $$e preceded by phrase in parentheses:

"(previous identifier: [LIBRARY NAME] [NUMBER])".

2020M-3
93M-2 (previous identifier: Widener 14569.35)
no accession number

$$h Price DO NOT USE

$$h Fund name(s), taken from official and updated list.

Amy Lowell Trust, Jean and Harrison Horblit Fund
Louis J. Appell Jr. Fund for British Civilization in HCL

Best practices: MARC holdings record specific notes: 561

In the case of a donor who prefers to remain anonymous, write the 561 note without reference to a donor, e.g. "Gift of an anonymous donor, 2021 March 13".

The 561 will no longer be used to duplicate 541 data but rather to trace ownership prior to the Library's acquisition--preferably as far back as information is available.

Justify statements made in the 561 by citing the source or other evidence.

Best practices: ArchivesSpace resource record specific notes: agent records

See list of relator terms above.

Best practices: ArchivesSpace resource record specific notes: custodial history

Follow the practice outlined for the MARC 561 field.

Best practice examples

EXAMPLES: MARC bibliographic records, 7xx

710 2_ $$a Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, $$e bookseller.

700 1_ $$a Blaine, Nell, $$e seller.

700 1_ $$a Freilicher, Jane, $$d 1924-2014, $$e donor.

700 1_$$a Vidal, Gore, $$d 1925-2012, $$e former owner.

EXAMPLES: MARC holdings records, 541

541 1_ $$c Purchase; $$a Glenn Horowitz Bookseller (via Mildred Smith); $$d 2020 June 26; $$e 2020M-3; $$h Amy Lowell Fund. $$5 hou

541 1_ $$c Gift; $$a Jane Freilicher; $$d 2008 May; $$e 2007M-33. $$5 hou

541 1_ $$c Transfer; $$a Widener Library; $$d 1954; $$e no accession number (previous identifier: Widener Bot 154.3). $$5 the

EXAMPLES: MARC holdings records, 561

This collection was given to Jane Freilicher by Nell Blaine, 1960 (noted in their correspondence, 1957-1960 (MS Am 2072)).

Purchased by Betty Binder Bookseller from the Abby Lister estate sale (bookseller's description).

Ownership prior to this acquisition is unknown.

From the library of Gore Vidal.

Armorial bookplate with motto: Malo mori quam foedari.

Illustrated bookplate: Ex libris liber Libero Marzetto.

EXAMPLES ArchivesSpace Immediate Source of Acquisition field

2021M-1 (previous identifier: Widener 1234.56). Purchased from Betty Binder Bookseller with the Amy Lowell Fund, 2021 April 1.

No accession number. Bequest of Tillie Westford, 1942 November 1.

54M-312. Source and date of acquisition unknown.

EXAMPLES ArchivesSpace Custodial History field