Scope: 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 FOLIO 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.

Contact: Pam Stansbury 

Unit: Cataloging and Metadata Services

Date last updated: March 18, 2025

Date of next review: November 2025 

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 .

Most gifts processed by LTS do not have a note on their MARC record noting who gave the gift to the library. It's not typically information that is required. A small percentage of gifts processed by LTS are bound by the terms of their acquisition or by agreement with the donor to have a gift note. Selectors will convey the note requirement to the Gifts Unit (see Swe Swe Myint).  LTS staff will be notified by their supervisor if they are handling material that needs a gift note; normally the note is added by staff outside LTS, although there are sometimes pragmatic exceptions made on a case-by-case basis. 

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 FOLIO database, not just LTS staff. The Batch Processing Unit will make efforts to regularize 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 do not belong on the MARC bibliographic record.  Several historical styles of bib notes are now obsolete:
         500::Gift of (Donor's Name)
         500::Gift of (Donor's Name) $5 NIC
         541::Gift of (Donor's Name)
         541::$3 Olin Library copy 1: $a Gift of (Donor's Name) $5 NIC
         590::Gift of (Donor's Name) $5 NIC
         037::$b (Donor's Name)
         948::20181031 $b i $d pca1 $e lts $hgift of (Donor's Name)
  • Additionally, avoid using an 899 code on the bib to note gifts.

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  • Gift notes should be made on the Holdings record of the item to which it applies using a "Source of Acquisition" note.
  • It is important to consider whether the note should display to the public or not. Consult with the bibliographer and/or your supervisor.

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  • 541 MFHD fields are more extensively used in RMC cataloging, and can be considerably more complicated.  This document does not attempt to address RMC practices, only to note that they occur and are compatible with the more straightforward guidelines.
  • Multiple 541 fields can be linked with matching 583 fields ("Action" notes).  The linking happens through $8s.
  • As throughout MARC21, $3, "Materials specified," may be used to note which portions of a resource have been donated by whom.

Example:
541:0 :‡8 1.1\a ‡3 Books ‡a Louis Dussault ‡b Fonds de recherche sur la société et la culture, U. du Québec ‡c Gift ‡d 1/05 ‡e M051-01 ‡n 65 ‡o v.
583:0 :‡8 1.2\a ‡3 Books ‡a Accessioned ‡c 1/26/05 ‡k Margaret Nichols
541:0 :‡8 2.1\a ‡3 Book with publisher's no. 182 ‡a R. Michael Feener (via Prof. John Wolff) ‡c Gift ‡d 5/05 ‡e M052-07 ‡n 1 ‡o v.
583:0 :‡8 2.2\a ‡3 Book with publisher's no. 182 ‡a Addition ‡c 7/05/05 ‡k Margaret Nichols