G 750  Law and Legal Materials:  General  (LC-Specific Information)

BACKGROUND:  The Law Library has custody of that portion of the collections classed in J1-J9 (official gazettes), JX1-JX1304 (an obsolete subclass international law), JX2000-end (an obsolete subclass for international relations), K (law), and LAW, including Asian materials, Hebrew materials, and rare materials.  Microforms, bound and unbound serials, books in manuscript, and manuscripts of books in these classes are also included in the law collections.  In addition, the Library of Congress may purchase materials with Law Library funds that are classed elsewhere.  These items are identified by the abbreviation LL written beneath the accession stamp number six that is generally stamped on the verso of the title page.  This instruction provides guidelines for the shelflisting of materials in the custody of the Law Library as well as for materials purchased with Law Library funds that are to be maintained in the general collections.  It includes material that was formerly in G 2010, an instruction sheet that is now obsolete.

PROCEDURES:

1.  Materials classed in J1-J9, JX1-JX1304, JX2000-end, and K

a.  Processing

J1-J9:  Process materials according to regular shelflisting procedures.

JX1-JX1304, JX2000-end:  No new titles are classed here.  However, copies and added volumes are still added to already-established bibliographic records.

K:  Process according to regular shelflisting procedures for law and legal materials.

b.  Forwarding instructions

(1)  Dewey items.  Forward materials that are in scope for the Decimal Classification Division, including priority reference assignments, to that division.  Exception:  Do not forward class K loose-leaf or materials containing CD-ROMs, disks or videos to Dewey.  These exceptions are forwarded directly to the Law Library after shelflisting and labeling by Law Team staff.

(2)  Loose-leaf materials.  Slip loose-leaf materials with a Processing Instructions slip indicating that the item should be forwarded to the Law Library.

(3)  Non-Dewey items.  Forward the following materials directly to the Law Library:

Loose-leaf items

Other materials requested and authorized by Law Library staff

Materials containing CD-ROMs, disks or videos

Forward all other non-Dewey materials to the Binding Office.

c.  Arabic, Asian, and Hebraic materials.  Do not assign Arabic, Asian, or Hebraic materials to the African and Middle Eastern Division or the Asian Division.

d.  Duplicates.  Forward slips in duplicate.  Process according to copy retention decision and reference assignment(s) on slips.  If there is no copy retention decision or reference assignment on slips, follow the Law Library default decisions listed below:

e.  Added volumes.  Review the copy retention decision.  Review the holdings and item records.  If needed, create holdings and item records for any replacement, revised, or recompiled volumes (bound or unbound).  Re-sequence item records, if necessary, to ensure that the item follows the volume that the replacement volume supersedes.

f.  Serials.  All new serials are processed by Serial Record Division (SRD) staff except items forwarded by SRD requiring complex Cutter numbers.

g.  CIPs.  See ILS Supplement Workflow #5.

h.  Library of Congress publications.  LC publications that are law materials are treated as follows:  Copy 1 is classified by subject and assigned to LLRBR; Copy 2 is classified by subject and assigned to LL; Copy 3 is classed in Z663 and assigned to GenColl.  The 925 field should read:  925 0 $a acquire $b Copy 1=LLRBR; Copy 2=shelf; Copy 3=GenColl.

2.  Materials purchased with Law Library funds classed A-H, J10-JV, JX1305-JX1999, L-Z

a.  General.  Materials purchased by the Law Library ("LL" appears under the purchase stamp on the verso of the title page) will have the location set to c-LL in 852 $b at the time of receipt.  When the materials are classified, however, some of them may not get classified in J1-J9, JX1-JX1304, JX2000-end, or K, in which case the location in 852 $b should be changed to the appropriate location, most likely c-GenColl.

Conversely, some material may initially receive a location other than the Law Library.  The material ends up being classified in one of the ranges listed above.  If the initial location was c-GenColl, change the location in 852 $b to c-LL.  If the initial location was one in which subfield $m is also used, e.g., c-Asian, not only change the location in 852 $b to c-LL, but also delete subfield $m, since that subfield is not used by the Law Library.

b.  Materials with reference assignments.  Do not assign materials purchased with Law Library funds and classed A-H, J10-JV, JX1305-JX1999, L-Z to the Law Library unless a reference assignment is specified beneath the accession source.  These reference assignments are:

Collection Services Office (LL CSO)

Eastern Law Division (LL EAST)

Law Library Automation Collection (LL AUTO)

Office of the Law Librarian (LL O)

Rare Book Room (LL RBR)

Reading Room (LL RR)

Reading Room Reference Collection (LL RR DESK)

Research And Reference Support Unit (LL RRSU)

Western Law Division (LL WEST)

c.  Materials without reference assignments.  If LL appears beneath the accession source without appropriate assignment, after shelflisting forward the material, via the Decimal Classification Division, if appropriate, to the LL CSO for consideration.  Insert a Special Attention slip indicating that the item is for examination by LL CSO.  A selection officer initiates an assignment recommendation and submits it to LL CSO staff for completion.  If an accession source with a LL has been slashed, do not assign the item to the Law Library.

3.  Materials classed in LAW

a.  Completing the call number.  Send items with the call number LAW to the Law Library Collection Services Office for completion of the call number.  Include a printout of the bibliographic record annotated with "LAW" at the top.  Please note:  Almost all of LAW has been reclassed to J1-J9, JZ, and K.

b.  Reclassifying monographs and serials

(1)  Send a copy of the bibliographic record with the proposed new classification number to the LL CSO.  Stamp and date the printout.  In addition, notify the LL CSO of any pieces already in hand.  Do not use the call slip to retrieve the item(s).  The LL CSO retrieves the items to be reclassified and annotates the Law Library's shelflist.  The LL CSO also indicates retention decisions.

(2)  When the LL CSO returns the printout and the items being reclassified, complete the shelflisting process and forward the item(s) following regular procedures.

(3)  Follow normal procedures for reporting holdings.

(4)  LAW materials.  Items being reclassed from LAW to Class K, including serial continuations, should always be assigned the Class K number.

4.  Shelflisting conference publications

If all single works letters have been used in shelflisting conference publications (see G 230, section 2.c.), the general procedure is to add double letters to the date in the call number.  For legal materials, if all single work letters have been used, add double letters to the date in the call number stating with "za."

Example:

KF27 .I549 1996y
KF27 .I549 1996z
KF27 .I549 1996za
KF27 .I549 1996zb

If all double work letters have been used, add triple letters to the date in the call number starting with "zza."

Example:

KF27 .I549 1996zy
KF27 .I549 1996zz
KF27 .I549 1996zza
KF27 .I549 1996zzb

To return:

LC Specific Information