Placement of barcodes
These guidelines apply to all new monograph acquisitions in book format. This does not affect special format items, such as CDs, DVDs, Maps, Scores, etc.
• Barcodes will be affixed on the front cover, top left corner, not more than 1” from the top edge and not more than 3” from the left edge
• Call number labels that had formerly been placed in this location should now be placed in the lower left corner, in line approximately with where spine labels are located
This practice will be used as new items are acquired, existing items are sent to storage, or as items require re-barcoding for other reasons. A major effort to re-barcode or replace call numbers on the collection is not warranted. Preservation Services recommends that we do not razor out barcodes. The preferred method of replacing barcodes is to apply a new one or to duplicate (if we decide to implement barcode duplicators).
Three types of barcodes used on collections and when to use:
• Single – used for cloth monographs and/or items going to HD
• Piggyback – used for monograph paperbacks, rare books going into Rotch’s LMTA Collection, or when uncertain of proper placement; on items going to Preservation Services for repair/rebind
• Duplicate – used by some local processing units for matching multiple format items, e.g.: items with phase boxes, enveloped items, etc. No longer to be used on items going to HD, unless HD item is enveloped or boxed..
Placement for cloth
Single barcode should be placed on the front cover, top left corner, no more than 1” from the top edge and not more than 3” from the left edge, regardless of the cover design.
Placement for paperback
Piggyback barcodes should be placed inside the back cover, 1” from the top and centered. Local processing units will move these barcodes to their final destination, as described for cloth books, after the book has been through Preservation Services and a binding decision has been made.
Placement for items going to HD
Single barcodes should be placed in the standard position as described above. HD does not require that we use duplicate barcodes, as we have been doing.
Placement for “Limited Access” items (****)
Barcodes should NEVER be affixed to items going into the LMTA collection. A piggyback barcode should be applied to the ATTN flag, to be relocated to an acid free flag by the Rare Books Cataloger.
Placement of duplicate barcodes for items with enclosures
One barcode is placed in the upper left corner of the box or envelope; the other barcode is placed inside the back cover of the book.
Barcoding for older items going to storage
As material is pulled from our collections for storage, we will encounter material that was barcoded before this new standardized location was put into place. In those instances, the original barcode should be crossed out with a permanent marker and the new single barcode should be placed on the front cover as described above.