Music Library Association Best Practices for Work
Prerecording
Prerecording
The recommendations for this entity and its elements generally pertain to authority records for individual works, unless otherwise indicated. These guidelines may be equally applicable to bibliographic records for manifestations embodying a single work; where practice differs this will be noted. Where not otherwise specified, the recording of work attributes in separate MARC fields in bibliographic records is largely a matter to be decided by individual cataloging agencies. The utility of such fields, and the feasibility of encoding them, depends on the presence of authority records for the relevant works and the number of works embodied within a resource, respectively.
Minimum description
Effective description
Effective description
MLA recommends recording all elements that are readily ascertainable when creating or enhancing authority records for individual works.
For authority records representing compilations of works for a specific medium or of a specific type through a conventional collective title (e.g., “Piano music” or "Songs"), MLA recommends encoding only those elements which pertain to all works that can be represented by that access point.
Consult the Descriptive Cataloging Manual, Z1. Name and Series Authority Records (also available through Cataloger's Desktop) for general guidelines for encoding data in authority records.
Option
LC/PCC practice: Apply the option.
Entity boundary
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Cataloger's judgment.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Apply the option if there is a change in the authorized access point representing an agent that was used in constructing the authorized access point for the work. This change may be a change from one agent to another or a change of name for the agent.
LC/PCC practice for multipart monographs: Do not apply the option if a work is identified by a creator agent based on the first or earliest volume received, and subsequent volumes indicate additional creators are involved. Record additional creators when considered important.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Cataloger's judgment.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Apply the option for language versions of a serial work. If the underlying serial work is transformed into a new serial work because of a change in Work: preferred title of work, new descriptions should be made of any language versions based on this new serial work, even if the Manifestation: title proper of an earlier language version is identical to the Manifestation: title proper of the later language version.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Do not apply the option, instead relate the Works as a Work: related work of work or more specific relationship, as appropriate.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Apply the option.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Do not apply the option, instead relate the Works as a Work: related work of work or more specific relationship, as appropriate.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Apply the option.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Do not apply the option, instead relate the Works as a Work: related work of work or more specific relationship, as appropriate. Also update the older work with other changes to reflect the change.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Apply the option.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Do not apply the option, instead relate the Works as a Work: related work of work or more specific relationship, as appropriate. Also update the older work with other changes to reflect the change.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Apply the option.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Do not apply the option, instead relate the Works as a Work: related work of work or more specific relationship, as appropriate. Also update the older work with other changes to reflect the change.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Apply the option.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Do not apply the option, instead relate the Works as a Work: related work of work or more specific relationship, as appropriate. Also update the older work with other changes to reflect the change.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Apply the option.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Do not apply the option if a serial work only changes frequency. Instead follow the instructions at Work: frequency.
LC/PCC practice: Apply the option if a serial work has two frequency editions that are published concurrently and/or there is a change in ISSN.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Do not apply the option. If a separate work is necessary and the works are related, instead relate the Works as a Work: related work of work or more specific relationship, as appropriate.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: In most cases, apply the option. Do not apply the option if the media type varies within the serial work (not a change from one type to another).
LC practice: Do not apply the option for U.S. newspapers in microform. Follow instead the guidelines of the United States Newspaper Program (USNP), which in most cases uses the “master record convention” (i.e., the bibliographic record describing the newspaper as it was originally published) to account for the various physical forms in which a newspaper is held. Refer to the Metadata Guidance documents for further instructions.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Apply the option.
Condition Option
Follow LC/PCC PS.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Do not apply the option, instead relate the Works as a Work: related work of work or more specific relationship, as appropriate.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Apply the option to all diachronic works that are serials (including monographic series), and to series-like phrases. Do not apply the option to integrating works. Multiple minor changes in the title do not equal a major change. When deciding to create a new work, compare the title on that issue or part to the Manifestation: title proper in the serial bibliographic record. Follow the options for the condition at Manifestation: title proper. Change in title proper to determine if a new work is needed.
PCC practice: Apply as needed. When the main series title proper of a Work: subseries appears or disappears, create a new description of the Work. Relate the Works as a Work: related work of work or more specific relationship, as appropriate. If the appearance or disappearance of the title proper of the main series is inconsistent, do not continue to create new descriptions. Use the Work: authorized access point for work of the latest Work and add the relevant relationships and variant access points to that description, as appropriate.
LC/PCC practice: In most cases, consider all changes in the title proper of 17th-19th century U.S. almanacs or session laws of the U.S. states to be minor changes and do not create a new metadata record.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Do not apply the option, instead relate the Works as a Work: related work of work or more specific relationship, as appropriate.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Apply the option.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Do not apply the option, instead relate the Works as a Work: related work of work or more specific relationship, as appropriate.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Apply the option.
Condition Option
LC/PCC practice: Do not apply the option, instead relate the Works as a Work: related work of work or more specific relationship, as appropriate.
Recording
Recording an unstructured description
Recording a structured description
Recording an identifier
Recording an IRI
Elements
- access point for work
- authorized access point for work
- category of work
- creator agent of work
- date of work
- dissertation or thesis information
- key of representative expression
- medium of performance of musical content of representative expression
- nature of content
- numeric designation of musical work
- opus number
- place of origin of work
- preferred title of work
- serial number of musical work
- thematic index number
- variant access point for work
Document Date: 2024/09/21
Document: https://access.rdatoolkit.org/en-US_ala-5b2d316b-ad23-31c9-9511-32d21d969d41