Physical Description

Repeatable

Physical characteristics of the resource

Purpose

To provide information about the physical details of the analog source object including physical format or medium, length, number, size, or duration
To provide a means of disambiguation when multiple versions of a resource are held by the library

Repeatable

A particular physical presentation of a resource, including the physical form or medium of material for a resource

Use Form to describe the physical carrier of the content
Guidance for which Form terms to use can be found on the work-in-progress Genre + Form + Extent 🔒 spreadsheet
When adding a new Form element, start by searching within the available controlled vocabularies using the MMS authorities module
- Select the radio button for Authority data search
- Click Select from controlled terms to bring up the authorities module
- Look up the form you wish to add in the search box
- For all materials excluding audio and moving image (non-AMI), select a Form that is more granular than Genre
- The order of preference for adding additional Form values absent from the Genre + Form + Extent 🔒 spreadsheet is:
  - LC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials (LCTGM)
  - LC Genre/Form Thesaurus (LCGFT)
  - Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)
- For audio and moving image (AMI), only terms from the Form (AMI) tab of the Genre + Form + Extent 🔒 spreadsheet may be used
- To verify a result is appropriate, click the linked Authorized Term to view the corresponding record in the source authority
- Once you have chosen the controlled term, click the Use this term button
- Do not add Free text values for Form
When the analog source is a reproduction of the original (e.g., microform), Form is required

Repeatable

A statement about the physical extent of the resource, in terms of units of measurement and material

Format the Extent string according to the relevant content standard
- Include the extent, other physical details, and dimensions
See MARC 300

Repeatable

General textual information about the physical description of a resource

Select a note Type for all notes
- See MODS <physicalDescription><note> 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 details documentation
Format the Note string according to the relevant content standard
- Include textual information about the physical details of the source object
A separate Note subelement should be used for each distinct note
Always select an appropriate Type from the dropdown menu
For notes describing the content, provenance, or other details, use the Note element at the record level