All, this message is mainly addressed to CONSER members, but there is
information that may be useful to other PCC members in the second part 
--Les

CONSER standard record documentation:

The CONSER Standard Monitoring Group has vetted the CSR guidelines based
on the June 2008 Operations meeting decisions, the recent PCC series
decision, and as much as possible the series related MARC coding
changes. Thanks very much to the group that worked on this!

The draft updated guidelines are posted at:
http://www.loc.gov/acq/conser/new-docs/CONSER_documentation_2008_Draft_Revision.pdf
As usual we have asked the Policy and Standards Division (formerly CPSO)
for a review of this draft before the 2007 version is replaced on the web
site. This is an opportunity for CONSER members to see the revisions as
well, provide your comments, and use the document as a work in progress.
If you have comments, please send them to me by Friday November 7th, 2008.

PCC Series Decision:

I have been asked to clarify the relationship between the statement in the
PCC series policy message of 8/22/08 that says "Transcription of the
series statement is mandatory if applicable" and the CSR guidelines. (The
full message sent on 8/22/08 to various PCC lists is available from:
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/Response-series-policy-2008.pdf)

I have confirmed with the PCC Steering Committee that the statement does
not intend to reverse or contradict CSR guidelines. Transcription is
mandatory and applicable when an 8XX heading is optionally *not* being
provided on a record. Otherwise, the CONSER standard practice of not
requiring a 490 when a series 8XX entry *is* being provided still applies
and will be complemented by the implementation of the $3 for 8XX fields in
the near future. There is no reason this practice couldn't be extended to
BIBCO records. 

There have been additional questions about coding BIBCO records core or
full when optionally not providing series 8XX headings. These questions
are likely to be addressed at the upcoming PCC Policy Committee meeting
Nov. 6-7th when the topic of BIBCO record requirements is discussed. We
should have some more information for you after the meeting on this. 

Les Hawkins
CONSER Coordinator
Library of Congress
Washington, DC
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v. 202 707-5185