February 23, 1998; last revised: February 16, 2001

Procedure for checking shelf-shelflist-Unicorn-"pink" barcodes

The purpose of this procedure is to check our online catalog against the items on the shelves and with our shelflist. Although the work is time consuming, the result will be a fully cataloged and barcoded collection, and an online database that can be relied on. Persons assigned a Letter Group should begin with form letter A, and continuing with form letter B and monographs in form letter Z. Leave other form letters to be done later.

Each person will work on a Letter Group (AB, AD, etc.). Before pulling any cards, check the Superseded drawer for your group and pull out A's, B's and monograph Z's. Interfile them with the regular shelflist cards. Start with a batch of 10 shelflist cards in your assigned letters, and check the pink binder for any leftover barcodes that correspond to the group of call letters you have pulled. In Unicorn, call up the short set of call letters that will pull up the 10 cards you pulled. Following is a set of four records which correspond to the 5 shelflist cards on the next page.

I. Unicorn Record and Shelflist Comparison

Browse for Call Number: DZ AAM$

Note that call letter DZ AAM PBA on shelflist card 3 is not found in the online display and has been annotated for checking on the shelves.

Shelflist cards example

When you have identified a missing online record, i.e. a book without an online record, annotate the shelflist so that you can look for the item on the shelf and give it to David to catalog.

We will hand on various problems to David, using the RCP (RetroCon Project) Slip (Microsoft Word document). For the remaining shelflist cards which have online records, display each record.

1. Check the holdings information online against the information on the shelflist card. In some cases the shelflist card will indicate that copies were withdrawn, but they will still be included in the online record. Sometimes the online record will have fewer copies than on the shelflist card because copies were discarded and the shelflist card was not annotated. Note any discrepancies on the shelflist card to check against the shelves.
2. Check that the Library doesn’t have more than 2 copies (except in Open Reserve). If the Library has more than 2 copies, the policy is to discard extra copies. Annotate the shelflist card to check shelves if either the card or the online record show more than 2 copies. If more than two copies are on the shelf, pull extras and put them on the RCP discard shelf to be processed.
3. Check that the online record and bibliographic information matches. If a match, put a checkmark in the lower right corner of the shelflist card. See Card 5 on previous page. If they do not match, note any discrepancies on the shelflist card. If you need more space than the shelflist card allows, make a printout of the online record and annotate it.
4. Check that there are no local subject headings (coded 690 or 650 4 in Marc tagging, reading "Subject (Other)" in Find Item display). You will need to display the record in Title Edit to correct these. Change both 690 and 650 4 to 650 with second indicator 0 and enter; if the heading displays as "Not Authorized," make a printout and give to David to resolve, checking S H Not Authorized on the RCP Problem Slip. (See Record 3 and Record 4)
5. Check for any other problems on the record. Note any minor questions or notes on the shelflist card. If questions are extensive, involve recataloging, or if more than 10 volumes need to be barcoded, make a printout and staple the shelflist card to it. (Examples of problems requiring recataloging found to date: Bibliographic information does not match the item; Shelflist card shows record is closed, online record is still open.)
6. Check that "Type" and "Home Location" are correct. Change home/current location of Superseded to Basement. Make corrections as needed, or note questions on the shelflist card or printout. If the online record indicates the title is in the Basement, note it on the shelflist card. Skip any Goldstar records you find online. If more than 10 volumes need online editing, make a printout and put in the barcoding projects box, for students to work on.
7. Check that the call letter record is set up correctly. Change if fewer than 10. If more than 10 require changes, print out the record and put in the barcoding projects box.
8. Check for "phony" barcodes. See Record 1 (bibliographic information is shortened), with annotated shelflist following. The item with the "phony" barcode online will be given a barcode during the shelf check.
9. Check for WDRN call letters, which resulted when items were withdrawn from Notis, but came across into Unicorn. See Record 2. Check the shelves to be sure the copy has been removed from the collection. If the item is not found, follow the instructions for Deletions or Removals from Unicorn.
10. Skip to Part II if you have a single volume title. Multivolume sets require more detailed checking:
• All volumes must be barcoded.
• Note any discrepancies in the barcoding on the shelflist card:
  ex. 1985 1 vol. online; 1986 not online (See Record 3)
• Marc Holdings may need to be edited. (See Record 3 and Marc Holdings example following; more detailed instructions will be provided for staff unfamiliar with Marc Holdings)
• Many current multivolume sets may indicate multiple copies on the shelflist, although the second copy has in fact been discarded. If no additional copy is found on the shelf or online, assume that the library has only 1 copy. If in doubt, check the Kardex.
11. The Marc Holdings field must be checked for all multivolume records. A separate instruction sheet for staff unfamiliar with this field will be provided. For multivolume sets, you will need to be in the Title Edit display in order to check the Marc Holdings field. Add |t1 to the 852 if lacking, as well as your initials. If the record is open-ended and material has been received since 1995, be sure the 866 is open-ended. Make notes on the shelflist card if the shelf needs to be checked prior to completing the Marc Holdings. Example of Marc Holdings from Record 2 (corrected Marc Holdings)
• Add |t1 to 852 field to complete the holdings; add li:xxx (using your initials)
• Since the last volume received was 1987, do not open the holdings; if additional volumes are received, the holdings can be opened at that time.
• If the title is currently received, the holdings statement would reflect only the beginning date. Example shows holdings for a continuing set. Note the Enc_L in the fixed field becomes a 3, and the indicators for the 866 become 31, indicating that the holdings in the 866 do not correspond to exactly what is on the shelf. These will be open records or simplified records for scattered holdings.
12. Print out any CSUP records, see Record 5, and attach printout to the shelflist card to be given to David, checking CSUP on the RCP Problem Slip to overlay.
13. Look for other types of cataloging problems: separate records for supplements or indexes (see Example); serial records with multiple title changes (using Marc tag 247) on one record (see Record 6). Print out records for problems that you cannot resolve and give to David to resolve or redo. Explain the problem by checking the RCP Problem Slip, or annotating the printout if that is more clear.
14. Frequently there will be records online that are not in the shelflist, since the shelflist was closed in August 1995. These records should already be barcoded, but multivolume records should still be checked to be certain the Marc Holdings are correct. (For a period of time we were unable to create Marc Holdings fields, and the information may be in the COMMENTS field.)
15. Please remember to add your initials in the Comments area whenever you make changes in the record. Please use the format: .COMMENT.li:xxx where xxx represents your initials.

II. Pink Binder Barcode Check

The object of this check is to eliminate all pink binder barcodes that match the call letters you are checking.

1. Pull any barcodes that fall within the call letter range of your 10 shelflist cards and check each one against your cards and online.
2. Wand in the barcode. If the response is "Item not found", search by call letters.
3. If a barcode does not have an online record or a shelflist card, discard it.
4. If there is a shelflist card and a matching online record which does not indicate that the material is checked out, clip the barcode to the shelflist card to check the shelf. (Use a small piece of wax paper to prevent the barcode from sticking to the card.)
5. If the online record has a different barcode (i.e. not a smart barcode), clip the barcode to the shelflist card to check shelf. Discard the smart barcode if the item is found on the shelf and is barcoded.

III. To the Shelves!

When you finish a call letter group online, put all shelflist cards, pink binder barcodes, a legal pad, some RCP Problem Slips, and a sheet of double dumb barcodes on a cart and go to the shelves for the call letters you are working with.

1. Check each shelf list card against the shelf, starting with the first floor and continuing to the Basement.
2. In your shelf check, you may discover that material is misshelved. If the misshelving is minor, involving less than a shelf of books, correct the problem by reshelving the books in the correct order. If you identify a major problem, notify Kathy by email (see Sample Message) about major shelving projects that need to be done and she will coordinate these with Access Services.
3. If the item is on the shelf, resolve any questions or problems you noted on the shelflist card, including barcoding if necessary. Put a second check on the shelflist card if complete.
4. If the item is not on the shelf in either the first floor or the basement, and it was not checked out in Unicorn, note msg. 2/5/98 (today’s date) on the shelflist card. Call up the record online, and add to the COMMENT line: .COMMENT.msg.2/6/98:xxx (use today’s date and your initials). Print out the record and attach it to the shelflist card. Put the record and the shelflist card in the RCP problem box.
5. If the book is missing from the shelf, and the shelflist card notes the item as missing with a date of 1988 or older, assume the item is lost. If there are multiple copies, delete the single missing copy. If the only copy is missing, withdraw the item as follows: In the Edit Item screen, make the Current Location Withdrawn, shadow the copy, and in the COMMENT field put the following: .COMMENT.lwd:xxx/lost (where xxx represents your initials). Make a printout labeled "Deletion", and put it in the Deletion box for Kathy, who will remove it from RLIN and Unicorn.
6. Check the shelves for the pink binder barcodes.
• Insert barcodes if you find the matching volume (or follow procedure described in section i below if a multivolume set).
• Check the volumes for items that were found online with regular barcodes. If the items are barcoded, discard the pink binder barcode.
• If volumes corresponding to the barcodes are missing, print out a copy of the online record, attach the barcode and shelflist card to the printout, and put this in the RCP problem box for David.
7. Some shelflist cards lack online records. If the book is on the shelf, pull it and give to David with the shelflist card, inserting the RCP Problem Slip in the book and checking Not Online. If no book is on the shelf, attach the shelflist card to the RCP Problem Slip and annotate Not Online/Not On Shelf and give to David to resolve. If you find a book that has no online or shelflist record, annotate the RCP Problem Slip: not online, no s.l. and put it in the RCP problem box.
8. Frequently you will find additional material on the shelf that was cataloged after August 1995. Ignore these items unless you are checking them for Marc Holdings. If you find any older material lacking a shelflist card, check Unicorn. If there is no online record, give the item to David to resolve, annotating RCP Problem Slip as Not Online.
9. Be very selective about bringing up materials for binding or relabeling. If the cover is falling off a volume, it can be given to the bindery, but we will assume that bindery staff will catch paperbound material that needs binding in their routine shelf checks. We also will use whiteout or black marker to correct labels rather than printing new labels whenever possible. Remember to change the inside label if necessary.
10. For multivolume sets, some or all of which are not barcoded:
    • fewer than 10, barcode all volumes and enter them online, using doubledumb barcodes, adding a second checkmark to the shelflist card when complete
    • more than 10, printout the online record, staple the shelflist card to the printout and put in the barcoding projects box to have barcoding done by the students. Please initial the shelflist card. When the barcoding is complete, David will perform final checking and discard of the shelflist card.
    • some multivolume sets are split between the first floor and the basement. Follow the above criteria in completing these sets.
    • If volumes are missing follow the procedure in d. above, noting which volume was not found on the shelflist card. Put the shelflist card in the missing file.

IV. Take statistics following these instructions:

On the Statistics Sheet (Microsoft Word document) provided, keep a count of total number of shelflist cards pulled. Keep a count of the number of records that required the following maintenance:

1. Bibliographic record, including local subject headings and CSUP records;
2. MARC holdings;
3. Merging of separate records for supplements, indexes, etc.

V. Discard the shelflist cards for all completed items. Batch is DONE!