Note

Repeatable

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General textual information relating to a resource

Table of Contents

1. Purpose
2. Guidelines
3. Attributes
   1. Type
4. See Also

Purpose

• To provide additional information about the resource that cannot be adequately captured in other fields

Guidelines

• Use the free text field to enter a note
• Ensure a note Type is selected
• For notes describing the physical details of the original object, use the Note subelement of Physical Description
• Use inclusive descriptive practices

See Reparative Description › Workflows for workflows to follow in the event you wish to use the Note element to indicate description or content found to be harmful, biased, offensive, outdated, or inaccurate.

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Attributes

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Type

Required if Applicable

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Identifies what type of note is recorded

Guidelines

• Select a Type for every Note element
  • See MODS <note> Types for a complete list of types
  • Refer to MARC Equivalent column to see corresponding MARC field for each type
  • Look up fields in the OCLC Bibliographic Formats and Standards for more detailed documentation
• Select admin for notes that should not appear publicly on Digital Collections
  • Admin notes can be used for:
    • Identifying uncataloged material
      • Use Uncataloged (YYYY-MM-DD INITIALS)
    • Documenting reparative description changes
    • Indicating known issues with digitized assets
    • Storing box and folder information from finding aid imports
      • Check with the division as to whether adding box and folder information to Note (admin) or Location (Call number/Shelf Locator) is preferred
      • It is not necessary to sign admin notes that contain box and folder information
  • Sign admin notes that you write yourself with (YYYY-MM-DD INITIALS)
    • Replace YYYY-MM-DD with the date in ISO 8601 format
    • Replace INITIALS with your initials (see MMS Database › Quick Reference › User IDs 🔒)
    • Wrap the signature in parenthesis with no other punctuation as consistent usage will allow staff to locate signed admin notes in the future
• If there is not an appropriate Type for the information in your respective note, use content
  • See MARC 500
  • Do not use Note type content for individual contents of a resource, instead see Table of Contents or Abstract

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See Also

• Top-level Element: <note> for official MODS documentation from the Library of Congress
• MODS <note> Types for a complete list of types