Genre and form

Genre/form terms in catalog records describe what an item is (or contains), not what it is about. Genre corresponds roughly to the intellectual content of what is being described: for example, almanacs, depositions, plays, and poems. Form corresponds with physical characteristics. For instance, this catalog record for two copies of a 1635 edition of Sternhold and Hopkins Whole booke of Psalmes has been assigned the genre terms Psalters, Adaptations, Miniature books, and Printing privileges, and the form term Embroidered bindings. In practice, "genres" and "forms" overlap, so the MARC cataloging standard uses the same field for both (the MARC 655 Genre/Form field).

Genre and form in library catalogs

Catalogers use controlled vocabularies to ensure that terminology is more or less the same between different institutions, or can be cross-walked to equivalent terms when sharing data. But as the saying goes, "the great thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from."

Guidance for Folger catalogers can be found in the Folgerpedia article "MARC 655 Index Term - Genre/Form"; the general order of vocabulary preference is:

• RBMS Controlled Vocabulary for Rare Materials Cataloging
• The Getty's Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)
• Library of Congress Thesaurus for Graphic Materials (TGM) or Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms.
• Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) or a local term.

Form subdivisions also appear at the end of a subject heading, though this practice has largely been replaced by separate Genre/Form terms. At the Folger, these include, for example:

• -- Early works to 1800 (material about the named subject that is pre-1801)
• -- Manuscripts (material about the named subject that is manuscript rather than printed)
• -- Pictorial works (material about the named subject that is primarily pictorial rather than verbal)

Searching genre/form terms in the catalog

The Folger catalog has several built-in ways to search for items by their genre and form.

• Begin a search then narrow your search results using the checkboxes in the Genre/form facet in the left-hand side bar (on a mobile device or narrow screen, use the “Options” button to reveal the facets).
• Type genreform: immediately before a keyword search in the main search box (remember to use quotation marks around phrases). For example:
  • genreform:"Embroidered bindings"
  • genreform:(cookbooks AND manuscripts)
  • genreform:(epigrams NOT manuscripts)
• Follow the Advanced Search link near the bottom of the catalog's landing page and select "genre/form (what it is)" from the drop-down menus next to any of the three search boxes. You can search by genre/form alone, or combine it with other searches.
• Follow the Browse records link near the bottom of the catalog's landing page and select "genre/form (what it is)" then hit the "Search" button to browse an alphabetical list.