1996 UPDATE:  The following punctuation information is appropriate for use in a card catalog format.  Institutions using the MARC format should also follow MARC punctuation and tagging conventions outlined in MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data .

0C1.    Precede each area other than the first by a period, space, dash, space (. -- ) ( FN 2) unless the area begins a new paragraph.

0C2.    Precede or enclose each occurrence of an element within an area with standard punctuation prescribed at the beginning of each section of this online help.

0C3.    Precede each mark of prescribed punctuation by a space and follow it by a space, except for the comma, period, and opening and closing parenthesis and square brackets.  The comma, period, and closing parenthesis and closing square bracket are not preceded by a space; the opening parenthesis and opening square bracket are not followed by a space.

0C4.    If desirable, record all of the punctuation that is found in the source of information.  When this punctuation is recorded, always give the prescribed punctuation as well even if this results in double punctuation.  When the original punctuation mark and the prescribed punctuation mark are the same, give only the prescribed punctuation mark.  In the latter case, optionally, give both the original and the prescribed punctuation marks. ( FN 3)

0C5.    Do not transcribe the punctuation marks ... or [ ].  Replace them by -- and ( ) respectively (see 1A1.2 for the special spacing prescribed in the title proper).

Example

0C6.    Do not indicate the omission of an entire element or area by the mark of omission, but rather continue to the next element or area with its prescribed punctuation (see 0D).

0C7.    Indicate omissions made by the cataloger when transcribing data by the mark of omission.  Record the mark of omission with a space on both sides of it ( ... ).  If the mark of omission precedes a period, omit the period, even if it is prescribed punctuation.

0C8.    Indicate lacunae in the source of information where text is being transcribed (as, for example, when the material being cataloged is damaged) by the mark of omission enclosed in square brackets [...].

0C9.   When omitting data from the source of information that is not considered part of any area, do not use the mark of omission.

0C10.  Do not transcribe a mark of punctuation that precedes the mark of omission unless it is a mark of abbreviation or a period, exclamation mark, or question mark.

Example

0C11.  When adjacent elements within one area are to be enclosed in square brackets, enclose them in one set, unless one of the elements is a general material designation, which is always enclosed in its own set of square brackets.

Examples

See also:

0.  General Rules