When developing this cataloging policy, we drew our initial inspiration from the professional article “Cataloging Three-Dimensional Artefacts and Realia” by Nancy B. Olson in the 2001 issue of Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, which addresses “the special problems of cataloging materials such as games, toys, models and dioramas, realia, and three-dimensional art originals and reproductions” (139). For action figures, Olson and her team constructed their records from the following MARC fields:
245 — Title Statement
260 — Publication, Distribution, Etc. (imprint)
300 — Physical Description
500 — General Note
521 — Target Audience Note
655 — Index Term - Genre/Form
600 — Subject Added Entry - Personal Name
610 — Subject Added Entry - Corporate Name
710 — Added Entry - Corporate Name
Field 260 was immediately removed in favor of field 264 in our cataloging policy, as the current edition of the OCLC MARC Manual notes that “Information in field 260 is similar to information in field 264” and to “prefer use of field 264 for all new cataloging”. 600 and 610 fields were removed in favor of field 700 and 710 fields in order to reduce duplication of access points, as we felt that at least one entry for Corporate or Personal name was also likely to appear in the 100 or 110 Main Entry fields and the RDA 2.4.2 Statement of Responsibility. Finally, from this model we also adopted Olson’s approach to the recording the dimensions of the packaging as part of the MARC 300 — Physical Description field, adding the container dimensions in centimeters after the joining phrase “in container”.
Of particular interest in our model record, we decided to include MARC 774 — Constituent Unit Entry as an optional field for our catalog in order to capture variations in accessory pack outs that may indicate meaningful variants to collectors. Catalogers are directed to create a new entry for each accessory in order to facilitate maximum variation.
Additionally, it was decided to include 787 — Other Relationship Entry. During discussions about possible items that might be included under this cataloging policy, it was established that many items might reference intellectual properties represented in other media. However, the relationship between the item and the IP to which it relates is often unclear, and it can not always be said that the the item “is derivative of” the media to which it bears relationship. For that reason, we have chosen to indicate all relationships in this field as “Manifestation of (work)” with the work referring to the IP the item represents.
Crucially, it was also decided to make MARC field 490 a required field in order to indicate the toyline to which the item belongs. While not all items will have an associated toyline, the possibility for unpackaged items to have unverifiable lines moved us to require the field. To that end any required fields for which the required information is not ascertainable from the item itself will be populated with “Unknown” rather than “N/A” or a similar value.
Finally, it was decided to use the MARC 500 field to record a general summary of the item, its packaging, its accessories and its context. This was to ensure that variations to the item itself would be recorded should they later become the basis for further differentiation between items, so that variations in packaging could also be recorded to distinguish variations, as well as similar distinctions and so that significance could be illuminated with respect to accessories. To this end it was decided to strongly urge any institutions or individuals using this cataloging policy to develop and maintain controlled vocabularies around recurring terms and concepts for each toyline, as these terms are not standardized outside of collecting communities focused specifically on each toy line.
While this cataloging policy is by no means set in stone and we encourage future catalogers to adapt and augment the model in order to incorporate change and innovation both in the subject focus and in cataloging tools and practices, we feel that we have built a tool at once robust enough to achieve disambiguation and specificity, while at the same time offering enough flexibility to allow future catalogers update and adapt records to reflect the consideration of new meaningful variation, to catalog non-conforming items, and to solve heretofore unexplored problems creatively within a clear conceptual framework that will guide their decisions and urge them towards consistency and precision within the model.