Cataloging British and Irish government documents

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Documents emanating from, or principally recording the activities of, the governments of England, England and Wales, Great Britain, Scotland, and Ireland present a special set of challenges.

Chronology

England: 927-1536
England and Wales: 1536-1707
Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales): 1707-
Scotland: -1707
Ireland: -1801

Proclamations

Folger catalogers deviate from RDA in creating authorized access points for British and Irish government documents, choosing instead to follow the general lead of the ESTC. The purpose in doing so is 1) most or all of the cataloging copy for these materials come from the ESTC, and 2) a hierarchical uniform title formulation allows for easy search and sorting of acts, proclamations, etc., in contrast to the disorganization that would result from RDA instructions on access points for laws.

  • Use the name valid for the government at the time the document was issued.
  • For collections of acts of the English and British Parliament and other enacted laws that are complete within a chronological period, use (for example)
240 10 Public general acts. 1685-1707
  • For collections of acts and other enacted laws corresponding to a particular session of Parliament, use the collective uniform title followed by the ESTC citation, which is formulated by a combination of the calendar year of enactment, the reigning monarch's regnal year.
240 10 Public general acts. 1731. 4 Geo.II
  • For selected collections of acts, &c., add the form term |k Selections at the end. (Deviation from ESTC style)
240 10 Public general acts. 1742. |k Selections
  • For individual acts, &c., use the uniform title as above, but add the chapter number.
240 10 Public general acts. 1731. 4 Geo.II.c.6
  • For Scottish laws and other kinds of documents (e.g., bills, parliamentary papers, speeches, treaties), consult the head of cataloging.

Crawford

  • Add a 510 reference citation to
510 Crawford, J.L.L. Bibliography of royal proclamations of the Tudor and Stuart sovereigns and of others published under authority, 1485-1714
Note that the ESTC refers to this bibliography as "Steele."
  • Add the Crawford notation. Example:
500 Crawford notation: Arms 10 Scotland mother Raigne.
  • If the item is not in Crawford, give the notation, preface it "Crawford-style notation:" and add the full citation to the bibliography. Example:
Crawford-style notation: Arms 24 are any per- . See Crawford, J.L.L. Bibliography of royal proclamations of the Tudor and Stuart sovereigns and of others published under authority, 1485-1714. </code

Year books

Year books are the law reports of medieval England. Written in Law French (language code roa), they were reprinted through the end of the 17th century.

Example records

Genre/form

  • Add appropriate genre term: Laws, Legal documents, Legal instruments, Legislative proceedings.

External links