Contents:

9.4.1 Element information

9.4.1.1 Link to RDA Toolkit

9.4.1.2 Sources of information

9.4.2 RDA definition and scope

9.4.2.1 A broad unstructured description of one or more attributes of an item.

9.4.25.1 See:

  • Modification of item for item-specific alterations; provenance evidence; item-specific binding details; etc.
  • Custodial history of item for summaries of the past ownership of an item
  • Immediate source of acquisition of item for acquisition information
  • Bound with for items bound together subsequent to publication
  • Note on extent of item for notes on missing pages or leaves or differences, and when the number of physical units in which a publication is bound differs from the number in which it was actually issued
  • Note on dimensions of item for notes on dimensions of an item differing from the dimensions of the manifestation as issued, folded dimensions of a sheet not folded as issued, and dimensions of a container not issued with the resource

9.4.3 General rule

9.4.3.1 Make a Note on item for any special features of the item being described when they are considered important. Item-specific information is highly desirable in the context of rare materials cataloging, which puts greater emphasis on materials as artifacts than is usual in general cataloging practice. Notes on item can also provide warrant for recording relationships (e.g., names of former owners or binders) or genre terms (e.g., various kinds of provenance evidence, binding characteristics, etc.). Carefully distinguish Notes on item (those recording information about the item itself) from Notes on manifestation (those recording information about the manifestation in general).

9.4.3.2 For many older publications, however, it will not be readily ascertainable whether the characteristics of a single item are in fact shared by other exemplars of the manifestation. In case of doubt, consider that the characteristics of the item in hand are not shared by other items exemplifying the manifestation.

9.4.3.3 The extent and depth of detail provided in Note on item will be determined by the local policies of the cataloging agency. The rules set forth in this element are intended primarily to provide guidance and examples; the instructions are not to be seen as prescriptive.

9.4.3.4 Always include in Note on item a designation of the holding institution (e.g., a name, acronym, or code). Provide identification such as a designation of the item’s physical location (e.g., a shelfmark) or an indication of the item’s copy number (if the institution holds more than one exemplar of the manifestation) if considered important.

9.4.31 Statements relating to a substantially unchanged impression or state

9.4.31.1 Record information about statements relating to a substantially unchanged impression or state, if such statements have not been recorded as a Designation of edition and if considered important (see 3.22.33.1).

Example:
Library copy: “Ninth printing, December, 1954”– title page verso

Example:
Library copy: “Fifth ten thousand”

Example:
Library copy: “51st-100th”– title page verso

Example:
Library copy: Publisher’s code “B-O” on title page verso indicates printed Feb. 1914; see Boutell, H.S. First editions (4th ed., rev. and enl.)

9.4.32 Edition statements on nonce collections

9.4.32.1 If Edition statements of parts in a nonce collection vary between copies, always record the edition statements of the item in hand as a Note on item (see 3.21.36.2).

9.4.33 Exhibition history

9.4.33.1 Record where and when the item has been exhibited if considered important.

Example:
Exhibited: “Illustrating the Imagination: Celebrating Children’s Illustrators from the Cornish Colony and Today” at the Cornish Museum, Windsor, VT, 2009-2010

9.4.34 Copy numbers from limitation statements

9.4.34.1 For items with limitation statements which include a unique number of the item being cataloged, record the copy number as a Note on item if considered important. See Note on manifestation, 9.3.35 for recording limitation statements.

Example:
Library has no. 20

Example:
Library copy: Identified as number 97 of 250 copies on recto of final printed leaf

Example:
Library copy: Identified as number 141 of a limited edition of 150 copies printed on laid Holland paper

9.4.35 Completed blanks in transcribed elements

9.4.35.1 If a blank has been completed in the item being described, indicate this in a Note on item if considered important (see Transcription, 0.4.64.2). For title access to item-specific titles, see 1.27.31.1.

Example:
Library copy has date of auction supplied in manuscript: [Wednesday] the [26th] day of February, 1755

9.4.35.2 Make a Note on item to indicate the presence or absence of manuscript execution in the copy if considered important (see Transcription, 0.4.65.3).

Example:
Library copy: Printed guide letter “H” at beginning of title not executed in manuscript

9.4.36 Notes relating to bound-with elements

9.4.36.1 If it is considered that the works in a bound-with volume are too numerous list to exhaustively, make a Note on item to describe the item’s location in the volume if considered important (see Bound with, 9.45.3.3).

Example:
Library copy: No. 29 of 31 titles bound together with binder’s title: Scottish chap books

Example:
Library copy bound with 13 other titles by, or edited by, Hermann Conring

Example:
Library copy is bound with 12 other titles on American history

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