The Slavic Cataloging Manual is an evolving resource and we welcome new content and proposals for revisions to maintain its currency and extent. Prior to starting work on a chapter, please inform the Manual’s Editorial Board of your potential contribution by sending a message to slaviccatalogingmanual@gmail.com. The Editorial Board must approve the proposal in order to avoid duplication of content and also to make sure that the topic and scope of the proposal are relevant to Slavic cataloging. Please note that under the umbrella “Slavic” we include matters relating to Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Upon receiving submitted materials the Board will review them and will work with authors to make any necessary changes/corrections.
The following guidelines should be followed to ensure that the Manual maintains consistent style and structure.
Content: In general, the content of proposed chapters should address issues in Slavic cataloging and offer solutions for dealing with them. Please start with describing the issue, and give a clear explanation of the concept or concepts in question. Where it would be helpful, provide a historical or cultural background for the issue.
Continue by describing a cataloging solution that is supported by current cataloging standards such as RDA instructions, LC-PCC Policy Statements, PCC NACO and SACO rules, and other relevant documentation.
Clearly state and explain any recommended solutions that are optional or non-standard, i.e. those that are not fully addressed in other official cataloging documentation but which have evolved out of Slavic community cataloging practices. Provide examples to support the case.
Images: Use illustrations, maps, diagrams, etc. to illustrate a point where strictly necessary only. Please be aware that anything other than high-definition images will look blurry once loaded. Please consult the SCM Editorial Board team before deciding on images.
Style: There is no prescribed writing style for the Manual. However, it is desired that all authors write concisely and communicate facts and ideas clearly, using standard terminology adopted by the Anglo-American cataloging community. US English is used as the standard.
Context: Some concepts that are well-known to Slavic catalogers may be quite unfamiliar to catalogers who have little experience with Slavic subjects. For example, whereas Slavic catalogers will readily recognize the notion of “pre-reform orthography of Russian”, many non-specialist catalogers will most likely not. One of the goals of the SCM is to help catalogers who are not specialists but who need to deal with Slavic-language materials in the course of their work. Thus, consider carefully whether there are any concepts in the page that may be a stumbling block for the non-specialist. If there are, provide a concise explanation of the concept or concepts in question.
Citations: When citing a rule, quote or paraphrase rather than simply giving a link to the rule. Quoting or paraphrasing will ensure that the SCM does not become simply a portal of links to other resources, but stands as an authoritative guide in its own right. It will also allow catalogers who do not have ready access to the sources available via sources such as Cataloger’s Desktop to benefit fully from the information given in the Manual.
Examples: Currently there are two types of examples in the SCM: those encoded in MARC format, and format-neutral examples. All MARC format examples should be labeled as “Example (in MARC format)”. Please ensure consistency in your examples (e.g., in terms of use of double dagger or dollar sign for subfields).
Tables: While Google Sites can reproduce tables, this can only be done by embedding the data through a Google Sheet. Please just provide any table in your submission as a normal inserted table and leave the Google transformation to the SCM web team. If tables can be avoided without loss to the SCM user, please avoid them!
Format: Please submit your proposal as a Google Doc (or, if not available to you, as a Word document), using 12-point Arial font (Unicode), with single spacing. Titles at the head of the document should be in 14-point font. In examples pertaining to materials in a Cyrillic-script language, please include both - fields in LC romanization and paired fields in the original script.
Please also note that Google Sites does not always faithfully reproduce complicated use of spacing (e.g., pressing the space bar multiple times between one piece of data and another to try to give the idea of two columns). Please stick to simple formatting as much as possible.
Plus, please note that Google Sites does not support in-page hyperlinking.
Placing your chapter within the SCM: Please include at the end of your submission some suggestions about [a] other SCM chapters your new chapter should link to or link from and [b] where on the SCM Subject Index you think your chapter should feature (this can be in more than one location).
Crediting your work: The SCM team standardly nowadays gives the author or editor of each new or newly revised chapter credit at the end of the chapter. We will add this unless you request otherwise. Before the chapter is loaded, we will also ask you to give a brief summary of the addition or update to add to the What’s New page.
Revised February 14, 2025