MARC 500 General Note

MARC field 500 in the bibliographic format contains general information that is not suitable for another more specific note field. This field is repeatable.

Commonly-used tags

Indicators

Undefined

Subfield delimiters
ǂa - Note text
ǂ3 - Materials specified
ǂ5 - Institution to which field applies

Policy and formulation

  • Make all notes required by cataloging instructions
  • Prefer transcription when appropriate
  • Routinely make notes in the following circumstances
    • Note the nature, scope, or artistic form if not apparent from the title. (Do not rely on genre/form terms to convey this information.)
    • Note the language and script of the resource, or the fact that it's a translation or adaptation, if not apparent from the rest of the description. (Do not rely on the presence of a uniform title to convey this information.)
    • Transcribe and provide added title access to running titles, half-titles, cover titles, etc., that differ in the first five words from the title proper.
    • Indicate that a publication doesn't carry the author's name, whether or not there's an attributed or conjectured author. (Do not rely on access points to convey this information.)
    • When any part of a publication is printed in more than one color

Examples

500  ǂa With an added engraved title page (lettered: W. Hollar fecit): Instructions for forraine travell. London: Printed by T.B. for Humphrey Mosley....
500  ǂa Title page verso: notice from censor that volume has been approved for publication.
500  ǂa "Seventy-five copies only, printed on Japanese vellum..."--Inscription in Folger copy signed by Richard Savage.
500  ǂa Folger copy lacks title page. Some title information comes from the half-title; other information is inferred based on the other Shakespearean plays published by this publisher.
500  ǂa Shakespeare content :  based on Shakespeare's Macbeth.

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