Publishers' Bindings Online:
Bits and pieces of procedures relating to Metadata.

Description, or, Filling out the form

1 Bibliographic

2-5 Cover Material(s)

Describe the overall format and materials which make up the cover. For a full binding, use column 1 only; for bindings combining different materials, use column 1 for the material found on the spine and column 2 for the material found on the “sides” (i.e. front and back cover). Grain pattern should be filled in only when the material is “cloth”

6 Decorative Techniques

If the binding incorporates an inlay or onlay, use column 3 in sections 2-5 (cover materials) to describe it, and the Add’l column in section 6 (this section) to indicate any decorative techniques applied to it.

7 Binding Decoration and Style (“Themes”)

Record decorative content and artistic styles on the back of the form. If you wish to use one of the “fill-in-the-blank” terms, do the following:

1. Check the most recent list of "bindings theme term additions" to see if there is a term which matches what you would like to add.
2. Very clearly write the term in the appropriate blank on the form as you would like it to appear in the metadata. Pay particular attention to capitalization conventions (in almost all cases, the first (and only the first) word will be capitalized.)
3. If the term is a wholly new term (rather than one taken from the accumulated bindings theme term additions), send the complete term (i.e. the exisiting base plus your filled-in content) to the project coordinator (Jessica Lacher-Feldman jlfeldma@bama.ua.edu) with “bindings theme term addition” as the subject line.

If you want to provide additional description of the content or style of the binding decoration beyond what is possible with the thematic subject terms, record this description in section 7 in the space inconveniently not provided for that purpose.

8 Binding Designer

Record the identity of the designer, whether known or surmised, in the first blank. Use AACR2 format for full names.

If the binding is signed with a name or monogram, describe or record this in the second blank and provide a brief indication of its location (e.g. “front cover” is sufficient)

If the binding is not signed, but the designer is known (or believed to be known) on the basis of other factors, provide a reference for this information in the third set of blanks.

9-10 Endpaper Description and Color

If the endpapers are printed, you may provide a description of the pattern or narrative scene in the blanks provided. In addition, use the thematic subject terms on the back of the form to record content or style information pertaining to the endpapers.

11 Edge Treatment

If (and only if) the edges are colored or stained, indicate the color in the third column (Edge color) of section 10

12 Additional Description.

Include additional description if necessary.

13 Scanning Instructions

Indicate in the “To Scan” row those parts of the binding which should be scanned in their entirety. Indicate in the “Detail of” row those parts of the binding for which an isolated detail should be provided as a close-up image. Describe in notes and mark on the diagram the location of the detail to be provided. Give serious consideration to providing a detail of designers’ signatures or monograms, unless these are readily apparent at normal reading distance.

Metadata I

1 Bibliographic

To the extent possible, use bibliographic information from a trusted catalog record rather than from the selection form.

8 Binding Designer

Transcribe the binding designer’s name or other identification from the first blank to the DC.Creator field and append a colon, a space, and the word “Designer” to the end (e.g. Armstrong, Margaret: Designer)

Metadata II, Subject Terms

Please enter subject terms from the “Themes” side of the form in front of any other terms.

For sections 2-5, subject terms are only applied when the material described is cloth

2 Cover Format	Subject Term
(Full)
Quarter	Bookbinding--Techniques--Quarter cloth
Half
Three-quarter

3 Cover material

There are no subject terms for this section

For sections 4 and 5, enter one subject term for each row marked, ignoring columns where the base material is not cloth. Do not combine terms where more than one row is marked, and do not duplicate terms if the same row is marked in more than one column.

4 Cover Color	Subject Term
black	Book-cloth--Color--Black
red	Book-cloth--Color--Red
orange	Book-cloth--Color--Orange
(etc.)	(etc.)

5 Cover Grain Pattern	Subject Term
[none indicated]	Book-cloth--Ungrained
rib	Book-cloth--Grain pattern--Rib
ripple	Book-cloth--Grain pattern--Ripple
wave	Book-cloth--Grain pattern--Wave
dotted-line	Book-cloth--Grain pattern--Dotted-line
(etc.)	(etc.)

For section 6, enter one subject term for each row marked regardless of column. Do not combine or duplicate terms.

6 Decorative Techniques	Subject Term
blind	Bookbinding--Techniques--Blind stamping
gold	Bookbinding--Techniques--Gold stamping
white metal	Bookbinding--Techniques--White metal stamping
black	Bookbinding--Techniques--Black stamping
red	Bookbinding--Techniques--Red stamping
(etc.)	(etc.)
inlay	Bookbinding--Techniques--Inlay
onlay	Bookbinding--Techniques--Onlay

7 Binding Decoration and Style

These terms should be entered verbatim (except for notations in square brackets) from the other side of the form. As mentioned above, these terms should precede any other terms in the list of subjects (i.e. all of the terms from the selection form side)

8 Binding Designer

There are no subject terms for this area

9 Endpaper Description	Subject Term
(colored -- use color 1)	Endpapers--Colored
(color 1) coated	Endpapers--Coated
(color 1) embossed	Endpapers--Embossed
(color 1) marbled	Endpapers--Marbled
(color 1) paste-paper	Endpapers--Paste-paper
_______ pattern	Endpapers--Patterned
narrative scene ________	Endpapers--Printed--Narrative scene

10 Endpaper Color (i.e. columns 1 and 2)	Subject Term
black	Endpapers--Color--Black
red	Endpapers--Color--Red
orange	Endpapers--Color--Orange
(etc.)	(etc.)

11 Edge Treatment	Subject Term
Edges colored (color 3).	Bookbinding--Edge treatment--Colored
Edges stained (color 3).	Bookbinding--Edge treatment--Stained
Top gilt.	Bookbinding--Edge treatment--Top gilt
All gilt.	Bookbinding--Edge treatment--All gilt
Marbled edges.	Bookbinding--Edge treatment--Marbled
Fore-edge painted.	Bookbinding--Edge treatment--Painted fore-edge

10 Edge Color (i.e. column 3)	Subject Term
black	Bookbinding--Edge color--Black
red	Bookbinding--Edge color--Red
orange	Bookbinding--Edge color--Orange
(etc.)	(etc.)

Metadata III, description

1 Bibliographic

None of the “standard” bibliographic information goes into the description, but see section 12 below eventually.

2 Cover Format	Description
(Full)	[Material 1].
Quarter	Quarter [Material 1] with [Material 2] sides.
Half	Half [Material 1] with [Material 2] sides.
Three-quarter	Three-quarter [Material 1] with [Material 2] sides.

Where [Material n] is constructed from sections 4, 5 and 3 as follows:

[4 Cover Color] [5 Cover Grain Pattern]-grain cloth

OR

[4 Cover Color] ungrained cloth

OR

[4 Cover Color] [3 Cover Material other than cloth]

Be sure to check for additional description to be incorporated at this point. Additional description precedes the main descriptive term and will be attached to it with a hyphen. E.g. “Sky-blue diagonal-fine-rib-grain cloth.” You may have to determine whether on rare occasions the additional description is, in fact, replacement description. E.g. “Pink ungrained cloth” is more likely than “Pink-red ungrained cloth”

6 Decorative techniques (Location column)	Description
Front	[Technique] on front.
Spine	[Technique] on spine.
Back	[Technique] on back.
Add’l	with [Technique].

Where technique is generated as follows:

6 Decorative techniques	Description
[none indicated]	No decoration
blind (stamping)	Blind stamping
gold (stamping)	Gold stamping
white metal (stamping)	White metal stamping
(etc.)	(etc.)
inlay	[Material 3] inlay [Add’l technique(s) if any]
onlay	[Material 3] onlay [Add’l technique(s) if any]

Inlay and onlay material descriptions are generated as for other cover materials (above)

Consolidation rules:

1. Consolidate multiple instances of stamping into a single list
2. Consolidate multiple techniques applied a single location into a single list
3. Consolidate locations exhibiting identical sets of techniques into a single list.

Consolidation examples.

1. Blind stamping on spine. + Gold stamping on spine. + Red stamping on spine. à Blind, gold and red stamping on spine.
2. Blind and gold stamping on front. + Red leather onlay with gold stamping on front. à Blind and gold stamping and red leather onlay with gold stamping on front.
3. Blind and gold stamping on front. + Blind and gold stamping on rear. à Blind and gold stamping on front and rear.

Note: Always apply consolidation rules in the order given; do not consolidate locations based on partial sets of techniques

(WRONG: “Blind stamping on front and back. Gold stamping on front and spine.”)

(RIGHT: “Blind and gold stamping on front. Gold stamping on spine. Blind stamping on back.”)

7 Binding Decoration

Transcribe any additional description concerning the binding decoration and style provided by the describer at this point in the description. You should probably check the other side of the form as well.

8 Binding Designer	Description
(Unsigned binding)
Signed binding:	Signed binding: [transcribe additional description]
Attributed to [Binding Designer]	Attributed to [transcribe binding designer from first blank, but in “normal” first-name-last-name order]. (Source: [transcribe source info here])

9 Endpaper Description	Description
(colored -- use color 1)	[color 1] endpapers
(color 1) coated	[color 1] coated endpapers
(color 1) embossed	[color 1] embossed endpapers
(color 1) marbled	[color 1] marbled endpapers
(color 1) paste-paper	[color 1] paste-paper endpapers
	If neither of the following apply, add a period now.
______ pattern	…printed with [color 2] [transcribe description, if any] pattern.
narrative scene _____________	…printed with [color 2] narrative scene [transcribe description, if any, following “of” if necessary to maintain some faint resemblance to English].

Where [color n] is taken from the appropriate column of section 10 Endpaper Color.

Consilidation rule:

1. Consolidate multiple colors in the same column into a single list

Optional endpaper omission rule:

2. Nondescript endpapers (i.e. cream or white endpapers with with no printed content) need not be noted in the description.

11 Edge Treatment	Description
Edges colored (color 3).	Edges colored [color 3].
Edges stained (color 3).	Edges stained [color 3].
Top gilt.	Top gilt.
All gilt.	All gilt.
Marbled edges.	Marbled edges.
Fore-edge painted.	Fore-edge painted.
______ .	[transcribe description].

12 Additional Description:

Anything else can be transcribed here, including, if desired, notes from the bibliographic record, or subject terms related to the content of the book (“Book Topics”)