3b. Indexes

Indexes to publications may be issued as part of the publication or issued as stand-alone publications (e.g., The New York Times index). When an index is issued as a stand-alone publication, it is cataloged separately on its own bibliographic record and its holdings are recorded in field 863 in the holdings record linked to that bibliographic record.

When an index is published as part of the publication it indexes, the index may appear as part of a volume, issue, etc., or may be issued as a separate piece. In either instance, the index may be annual, may cover one volume, number, etc., or may be cumulative covering more than one complete segment of a work (e.g., more than year, volume, number).  Fields 855 and 865 (and 868) of the holdings format have been designed primarily to describe cumulative indexes. If, however, a non-cumulative index is considered important it may be recorded in paired fields 855 and 865 in the holdings record.

Bibliographic field 555 (Cumulative Index/Finding Aids Note, which for serials contains a statement of volumes and/or dates covered by cumulative indexes) in the record for the basic bibliographic unit describes any index that has been published; fields 855/865 in the holdings record specify which index(es) the reporting unit actually holds.

Example 61: Coding the 855/865 fields

In the holdings record, each individual cumulative index is recorded in a separate 865 field. Holdings data for indexes are not to be compressed because intelligibility is lost: Vols. 1/5, 1935/1940, and Vols. 6/10, 1941/1945, are not the same as Vols. 1/10, 1935/1945.

When a cumulative index covers volumes cataloged on more than one bibliographic record (i.e., earlier and later titles of a title change), the index should be recorded on the holdings record for each title. A note in the subfield |z of field 865 gives the specific location or extent of the index if it is bound in another volume.

Holdings record:
008/22-24: eng [language code English]
853 00 |8 1 |a v. |b no. |i (year) |j (month)
863 40 |8 1.1 |a 1-5 |i 1980-1984
855 ^^ |8 1 |a v. |i (year)
865 41 |8 1.1 |a 1/5 |i 1980/1984 |z Bound in v. 5

Example 62: Recording the type of index or the title of an index

Record the type of index in subfield |o of the 855 field:

Holdings record:
855 ^^ |8 1 |a v. |o General index
865 41 |8 1.1 |a 11/20
865 41 |8 1.2 |a 21/30

Record the title of an index in subfield |o of the 865 field:

Holdings record:
855 ^^ |8 1 |a v.
865 41 |8 1.1|a 3/4 |o Author index
865 41 |8 1.2 |a 3/7 |o Subject index

Subfield |o may be used in both field 855 and 865 of any one holdings record:

Holdings record:
855 ^^ |8 1 |a v. |o Alphabetical index
865 41 |8 1.1 |a 1/5 |o Authors
865 41 |8 1.2 |a 1/5 |o Subjects
855 ^^ |8 2 |a v. |o Chronological index
865 41 |8 2.1 |a 1/5

Note: The HOLLIS user interface currently displays either 855 subfield |o or 865 subfield |o, but when both are present, HOLLIS displays only the 865 subfield |o. Code records correctly in anticipation of correct display generation in the future.