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Discovery Branch

Shelflisting Procedures and Policies for W1, W2, and WX 2 serials

I. Introduction

The general principles outlined in Shelflisting for Monographs and Classed Serials usually apply to serial shelflisting, including the cuttering treatment of initials, abbreviations, acronyms, and numbers. Please refer to that issuance for additional guidance.

II. W1 serials

A W1 cutter number consists of the first two letters of the primary access point in uppercase, followed by a string of numbers and possibly one or more uppercase letters if needed to make the cutter unique and is recorded in the 060 $b.

A. Determining the Cutter number for W1 serials

After determining the primary access point and the first two letters of the Cutter, look up the first word of the primary access point in the Cutter-Sanborn Three-Figure Author Table.

Scan the NLM online title index to ascertain if the cutter number from the Cutter-Sanborn Table has already been used for another title as follows:

1. In the Voyager Cataloging Module click on Search and select the Index Selection tab

2. Scroll down to select the NLM Classification Number (060ab) search

3. In the “Search for” box type in W1 and the first two letters of the primary access point plus the first number or two of the cutter suggested by the Cutter Sanborn table

4. Click “Do search”

5. If no matches are found, you may use the suggested cutter as is

6. If the cutter is already in use, title index will appear on the screen arranged in alpha/numerical order of the call numbers. Scroll up or down the list to determine where your title properly fits in alphabetically in the Full title list.  Expand the suggested cutter by adding additional digits (1-9), up to a maximum of 4 digits, and then by adding additional uppercase letters to make the cutter unique and fit properly in the alphabetic list.

Some common words used in serial titles include advances, health, international, journal, proceedings, revista, etc.  Extra time and care should be taken with these titles to ensure a unique cutter, based on the titles already in the database.

Re-search the classification number you have assigned to ensure it is unique.

 

III.  W2 Serials

This classification number is used for government administrative reports and statistics, including administrative reports and statistics on several hospitals under government administration.

For documents in this class number, NLM assigns a Table G (geographic grouping number) following the W2 in the 060 $a. The Table G number is taken from the online NLM Classification and corresponds to the geographic or jurisdictional coverage of the publication.  NLM does apply the rules for subordinate political units when cataloging local government documents as described in the Table G Practices in the NLM Classification. See below for the special cuttering instructions for subordinate political units. A W2 cutter number follows the Table G number and is recorded in the 060 $b.  It consists of the first letter of the primary access point, followed by a string of letters and a workmark (lowercase letter) when the title is not the primary access point.

A. Determining the Cutter number for W2 serials

After determining the primary access point and the first letter of the cutter, look up the first word of the primary access point in the Cutter-Sanborn Three-Figure Author Table. If the title is not the primary access point, add a lower-case letter to the cutter number for the first letter of the title.

Scan the NLM online title index to ascertain if the cutter number from the Cutter-Sanborn Table has already been used for another title as follows:

1. In the Voyager Cataloging Module click on Search and select the Index Selection tab.

2. Scroll down to select the NLM Classification Number (060ab) search

3. In the “Search for” box type in W2 and the first letter of the primary access point plus the cutter (and workmark) suggested by the Cutter Sanborn table

4. Click “Do search”

5. If no matches are found, you may use the suggested cutter as is

6. If the cutter is already in use, title index will appear on the screen arranged in alpha/numerical order of the call numbers.  Scroll up or down the list to determine where your title properly fits in alphabetically in the Full title list.  Expand the suggested cutter by adding additional digits (1-9) to make the cutter unique and fit properly in the alphabetic list.

Re-search the classification number you have assigned to ensure it is unique.

EXAMPLES:

110 2_  $a East Africa High Commission
245 10  $a Annual report.
060 00  $a W2 HA15 $b E13a

060 breakdown:

W2         Classification number
HA15     Table G number for Eastern Africa
E13        Cutter Sanborn number for primary access point East
a            Workmark for title Annual

245 00  $a Australian life tables
060 00  $a W2 KA8 $b A9

060 breakdown:

W2          Classification number
KA8        Table G number for Australia
A938      Cutter Sanborn number for primary access point Australian

When using a subordinate political unit in the Table G number, follow the cuttering instructions above with these exceptions:

110 1       $a Saskatchewan. $b Bureau of Public Health.
245 10     $a Annual report.
060 00      $a W2 DC2.1 $b S2B8a

060 breakdown:

W2          Classification number
DC2.1    Expanded Table G number for Canada
S2          LC cutter number for primary access point Saskatchewan
B8          LC cutter number for Bureau
a            Workmark for title Annual

Warning: Do not rely on existing Voyager records as models for cuttering W2 call numbers. Many older records in the database were established incorrectly.

 

IV. WX 2 Serials

This classification number is used for hospital administrative reports and statistics, including administrative reports and statistics on single government hospitals. For special instructions on how to cutter reports from U.S. military hospitals see the section on U.S. Military Hospitals in the Table G Practices section of the NLM Classification

For documents in this class number, NLM assigns a Table G (geographic grouping number) following the WX 2 in the 060 $a. The Table G number is taken from the online NLM Classification and corresponds to the geographic or jurisdictional coverage of the publication. Use the main Table G number, not the numbers supplied for subordinate political units. A WX 2 double cutter number generally follows the Table G number.  This double cutter contains a letter and number for the city (if not applicable, this may be omitted) and a letter and number for the hospital name and is recorded in the 060 $b.  It is followed by a workmark (lowercase letter) when the title is not the primary access point.

A. Determining the double Cutter number for WX 2 serials

Look up the first letters of the city name in the LC Cutter Table for the first cutter and assign that. Then add a letter and number for the name of the hospital. If the title is not the primary access point, add a lower-case letter for the first letter of the title.

Scan the NLM online title index to ascertain if there are other hospital reports from the same city that have already been assigned a cutter number for that city.  Use that cutter for your piece, even if it is not the cutter in the LC Cutter Table.

1. In the Voyager Cataloging Module click on Search and select the Index Selection tab.

2. Scroll down to select the NLM Classification Number (060ab) search

3. In the “Search for” box type in WX 2 and the appropriate Table G number and the first letter of the city cutter suggested by the Cutter Sanborn Table

4. Click “Do search”

5. If no matches for the city are found, you may use the suggested cutter from the LC Cutter Table. If a match for the city is found, use the cutter that has already been assigned for the city. Then check to see if we have other serials from the same hospital as your piece.  If so, use the same cutter as on those records as the second part of the double cutter, even if that is not the cutter in the LC Cutter Table.  Otherwise assign the correct cutter number from the LC Cutter Table.

6. Re-search the classification number you have assigned to ensure it is unique. If it is not unique, expand the suggested cutter by adding additional digits (1-9) to make the cutter unique and fit properly in the alphabetic list.

EXAMPLES:

110 2         $a Hermann Hospital (Houston, Tex.)
245 10       $a Annual report.
060 00       $a WX 2 AT4 $b H6H4a

060 breakdown:

WX 2    Classification number
AT4      Table G for Texas
H6        LC cutter for Houston
H4       LC cutter for hospital name Hermann
a         Workmark for title Annual

110 2_       $a Mount Zion Hospital (San Francisco, Calif.)
245 10       $a Bulletin
060 00       $a WX 2 AC1 $b S1M9b

060 breakdown:

WX 2   Classification number
AC1    Table G for California
S1       Although LC cutter for San Francisco is S2 other hospital reports from San Francisco have already been assigned the cutter S1, so we continue to use that
M5     LC cutter for the hospital name Mount

Warning: Do not rely on existing Voyager records as models for cuttering WX 2 call numbers. Many older records in the database were established incorrectly.

 

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Last Reviewed: April 2, 2024