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Scope: Gift Gift notes are notes on a MARC record of who gave the library a physical copy of a resource. This procedure documents a regularized way to make gift notes in the Voyager databaseFOLIO record. 

Note: This is not a procedure for recording who gave us the money to buy an item. That situation is handled in the Batch Processing Unit by a 902 code and an electronic or physical bookplate. This procedure is also not related to the 948:0 : $h, which LTS uses as a quick way to code gifts for statistical purposes only, not as a full gift statement.

Contact: Pam Stansbury 

Unit: Cataloging and Metadata Services

Date last updated: 12/17/2019 March 18, 2025

Date of next review: November 2020 2025 

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Individual catalogers are not responsible for adding gift notes. Do not devise a gift note for an individual title or group of titles merely because they have a gift flyer in them .

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Historically in the Cornell database, gift notes have had been made in a wide variety of styles and formats. This procedure gives the preferred way to record the gift information. The procedure should be used by all contributors to the Voyager FOLIO database, not just LTS staff. The Batch Processing Unit will make efforts to regularize Voyager gift data programmatically by removing it from older-style fields and moving it to the field(s) outlined below. If the format does not work for an individual situation, please do not invent a novel method of noting the gift.  Check with the Gifts Unit to find a way to record the needed information.

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• Gift notes should be made on the MFHD Holdings record of the item to which it applies .
• Do not use a public or private note in the 852: 
    852::    ...  $z Gift of (Donor's Name)
    852::    ... $x Gift of (Donor's Name)
• Use a 541, "Immediate using a "Source of Acquisition Note" on the MFHD.For MARC21 Holdings guidelines on this field, see http://www.loc.gov/marc/holdings/hd541.html" note.
• It is important to consider whether the note should display to the public or not, and to use the 541 first indicator correctly:

First Indicator - Privacy

Whether the contents of the field are private or not. The state of being private includes information that institutions do not want to display to the public because it is sensitive or restricted.

# - No information provided

0 - Private

1 - Not private

• Usual format of a simple 541 note:
  541:1 : $a (Donor's Name) $c Giftor not. Consult with the bibliographer and/or your supervisor.

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