Summary of Final Punctuation in Bib Record Fields:
Book Cataloguing

This document currently covers fields typically used in cataloguing books (print monographs).  It does not include all fields used in cataloguing other types of materials, such as serials, electronic materials, or maps.

This guide is intended for use in original cataloguing.  Copy cataloguers may find it of interest for information but should not take the time to edit final punctuation in existing copy.

The list here has been compiled as a brief summary guide to an area that in AACR2/LCRI has become very complex.  For further details and examples, please see LCRI 1.0C.

Always a final period

245 and 250 fields should each always end with a period.   This rule applies even if the final period immediately follows a different punctuation mark.   (A period at the end of an abbreviation that ends the field content is not followed by a second period.)

• 245

  E.g.    245 10  ... / ‡c by Hermione Gundelswich ... [et al.].

  E.g.    245 10  Where does Circle Lane lead?.

              [245 ‡a only; no 245 ‡b or ‡c present]

• 250

  E.g.    250      3. ed. (1. ed. en Colección interminable).

  E.g.    250      3. ed.

Final punctuation or ‡5, but only sometimes a period

A final punctuation mark is needed unless ‡5 is present.  However, if a hyphen, closing parenthesis, closing bracket, question mark, or exclamation mark is present, no period is needed.   Please note that a closing quotation mark should be placed after a period, so the quotation mark counts as final punctuation.

A partial exception:  5xx:  A period generally does follow a parenthesis or closing bracket at the end of a note; see 5xx below for examples.

Any ‡5 subfield should follow the period or other punctuation ending the preceding content of the field.

• 1xx

  E.g.    100 1    Gundelswich, Hermione.

  E.g.    100 1    González González, Alejandro, ‡d 1927-

  E.g.    110 2    Bibliothèque nationale (France)

  E.g.    130 0    Beowulf. ‡l Danish.

• 260

  E.g.    260      ..., ‡c c1999.

  E.g.    260      ..., ‡c 1998-

  E.g.    260      ..., ‡c [2000?]

• 300

  E.g.    300      ... ‡c 24 cm.

  E.g.    300      ... ‡c 28 cm. + ‡e 1 atlas (12 p. : 4 col. maps ; 18 cm.)

• 5xx

  5xx notes generally end with periods, as in a regular sentence.  A period follows a parenthesis or closing bracket at the end of the note.

  E.g.    504      Includes bibliographical references (p. 234-246).

  E.g.    500      "Compiled by the Committee on Collectible Cork Crafts."--P. [4].

  Exceptions (some already noted above):

  1. Other types of punctuation marks that end sentences -- an exclamation mark (!) or question mark (?) -- may be used instead of a period.

     E.g.    500      No more published?

  2. A note may end with a hyphen instead of a period.

     E.g.    500      Vol. 3- consist of reports on excavations conducted 2004-

  3. A final quotation mark should be placed after a period.

     E.g.    500      “Based on a true story.”

  4. Any ‡5 subfield should follow a period.

     E.g.    500      Library’s copy defective; all leaves after p. 316 lacking. ‡5 LNT

  5. Incomplete 505 fields do not end with periods.

     E.g.    505 1    v. 1. Francesco Petrarca -- v. 2. Giovanni Boccaccio

  6. Rare-book 510 citations do not end with periods.

     E.g.    510 4    Brunet, ‡c II, p. 221

• 6xx

  E.g.    651    0  Guatemala ‡x History ‡y 1945-1985.

  E.g.    651    0  Guatemala ‡x History ‡y 1985-

  E.g.    650    0  Natural disasters ‡z Mexico ‡z Teziutlán (Puebla)

• 700-740

  E.g.    700 1    Gundelswich, Hermione.

  E.g.    700 1    González González, Alejandro, ‡d 1927-

  E.g.    710 2    Bibliothèque nationale (France)

  E.g.    710 2    Project “Mapping Orkney.”

  E.g.    730 02  Journey of an intrepid traveller.

  E.g.    740 02  Two towers.

  E.g.    740 02  Around the world (again)

  E.g.    740 02  New Orleans connections. ‡5 LNT

                                [a locally inserted section]

• 800-830

  E.g.    800 1    Rotondo, ‡c il Magnifico. ‡t Works. ‡f 1924 ; ‡v v. 14.

  E.g.    830    0  Historia (Wiesbaden, Germany). ‡p Einzelschriften ; ‡v Heft 99.

  E.g.    830    0  Colección bibliográfica (Bogotá, Colombia)

Never a final period

A period should never appear as the ending designation of any of the following fields:

• 240

  E.g.    240 10  Hamlet. ‡l Italian

  E.g.    240 10  Plays. ‡k Selections

• 246

  E.g.    246 30  Testimonios de mujeres de desaparecidos

  E.g.    246 14  Archaeology & entomology in the Mediterranean

• 490

  E.g.    490 1    Colección básica de escritores ecuatorianos ; ‡v 43

  E.g.    490 0    Biblioteca breve

Apparent -- but not actual -- exception:  A period at the end of an abbreviation that ends the field content is retained, including a period at the end of an ordinal number.

E.g.    246 18  Welsh garden design history, late 19th cent.

E.g.    490 1    Probleme der Ägyptologie ; ‡v 27. Bd.

E.g.    490 1    Conférence de Talcy ; ‡v 8.

               [lecture series; statement appears in book as "huitième Conférence de Talcy"]

List by field

• Always = Always ends with period
• Sometimes = Always ends with punctuation or ‡5, but only sometimes a period
• Never = Never ends with period

1xx		Sometimes
240		Never
245		Always
246		Never
250		Always
260		Sometimes
300		Sometimes
490		Never
5xx		Sometimes (usually)
6xx		Sometimes
7xx		Sometimes
8xx		Sometimes

HTML document last reviewed:  6 April 2011