Upgrade StorageEnglish Short Title Catalogue - Connector improvement
it would be really important for my research if the zotero connecter could capture full physical description references on the English Short Title Catalogue (http://estc.bl.uk/).
Currently, an item with a physical description such as:
'[2],95,[1]p. ; 12⁰.'
will simply be captured as '2'
I work alot with early printed material, and knowing the physical description of works is very important to my research (often involving capturing hundreds of entries). If the connecter could capture that material accurately, it would be extremely helpful!
Thanks.
Currently, an item with a physical description such as:
'[2],95,[1]p. ; 12⁰.'
will simply be captured as '2'
I work alot with early printed material, and knowing the physical description of works is very important to my research (often involving capturing hundreds of entries). If the connecter could capture that material accurately, it would be extremely helpful!
Thanks.
http://estc.bl.uk/F/Q4U77G2TIR5649FD68EP6NSXP1XM214CNEM1DVE68QHUKU4M88-11173?func=full-set-set&set_number=052103&set_entry=000001&format=999
The key information for this entry is described as follows in the ESTC:
Author - personal Law, William, 1686-1761.
Title The absolute unlawfulness of the stage entertainment, fully demonstrated. By William Law, A.M.
Edition A new edition.
Publisher/year London : printed and sold by Kent and Co. No. 7, Russel Court, Covent Garden; J. Denis, Middle-Row, Holborn; and by Darton and Hervey, Gracechurch Street, 1798.
Physical descr. [2],95,[1]p. ; 12⁰.
The zotero connector captures only part of this information however, turning the library's 'physical discr.' of '[2],95,[1]p. ; 12⁰.' into '# of Pages 2' in the zotero entry:
Type Book
Author William Law
Edition A new edition
Place London
Publisher printed and sold by Kent and Co. No. 7, Russel Court, Covent Garden; J. Denis, Middle-Row, Holborn; and by Darton and Hervey, Gracechurch Street
Date 1798
Library Catalog estc.bl.uk Library Catalog
# of Pages 2
Date Added 30 July 2014 20:25:57
Modified 30 July 2014 20:25:57
Ideally, the Zotero connector would be able to capture the full physical description as stated on the ESTC website. Note that the physical descriptions used by the ESTC can vary considerably in form, as these random examples show:
http://estc.bl.uk/F/Q4U77G2TIR5649FD68EP6NSXP1XM214CNEM1DVE68QHUKU4M88-04647?func=full-set-set&set_number=053530&set_entry=000008&format=999
http://estc.bl.uk/F/Q4U77G2TIR5649FD68EP6NSXP1XM214CNEM1DVE68QHUKU4M88-09559?func=full-set-set&set_number=054579&set_entry=000019&format=999
Thanks for the quick response, its a real help. If I haven't been clear just say, and I'll try to better describe the problem
Jamie
In any case, Zotero does not store physical book dimensions, so that's irrelevant. I think my first assumption about the pages is probably correct, and we have had some recent discussion on this here. The consensus was to import such information in the form 2+95+1 (for number of pages).
I'll have to take a look at a number of different MARC data providers (the catalog you link to exports MARC, which is what Zotero imports) to see if we can make a general adjustment to how these are imported.
Edit: sample records with "interesting" formatting would be helpful (like the ones above)
Does this mean that it would be impossible to capture the book size as well as the pagination?
Looking at my records, they all conform to the formula you suggest, but the system seems to be flexible and is not applied consistently, becoming quite convoluted.
for example these:
[2],xxiii,[7],198,[2]p. ; 8⁰.
(perhaps: front matter + dedication + introduction + main text + advertisements?)
http://estc.bl.uk/F/71PDCDLMD9G7SJ2MB7P4QEMJD4K2V875VTPCBKMA4NHUH3ATXR-11977?func=full-set-set&set_number=060637&set_entry=000001&format=999
or this:
[2],3,6-83,[1]p. ; 8⁰.
again perhaps the first two numbers mark various sub-sections of prefatory material.
and finally, this one looks like it could be two essays or tracts in one book:
71,82-129,[1]p. ; 12⁰.
I meant to supply links to the last two records, but I'm getting a message that the system in on downtime.
Once again, thanks for the help.
I'll wait for others to pitch in to decide what to do with this data, but here are the above "Physical desc." examples with permalinks.
estc.bl.uk:
[2],95,[1]p. ; 12⁰.
[2],xxiii,[7],198,[2]p. ; 8⁰. (With a final advertisement leaf)
[2],3,6-83,[1]p. ; 8⁰.
71,82-129,[1]p. ; 12⁰.
(will look for examples in other catalogs later)
It is useful to know that information for other research purposes however, (which I admit will not be of interest to all), such as collecting statistical data on early modern and 18th century books.
For now, however, being able to accurately capture the pagination would make a big difference!
What this translates as is actually the title page [2], the main text, which is paginated, 38, a printer's epistle [4], and a ten-leaf additional pamphlet [20]. Anything in brackets doesn't have an actual page number on the page. The collation formula, which would be GREAT to have as part of any identifying physical description, is actually better for piecing that together:
A-E⁴ F² ²A-B⁴ ²[C]².
Having the collation formula would be great, but it's inconsistently marked in ESTC records, usually under 'notes' and preceded by the word 'signatures'. I would say, though, that the size IS incredibly useful for differentiating between items, particularly when the collation formula cannot easily be captured.