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Home > Minerva > Cataloging > How To's > Suppress Bib & Item Records

How To Suppress Bib and Item Records

A suppressed record is retained in the database.  It behaves like a normal record within Millennium Circulation, but does not appear in the OPAC, nor is it contributed to MaineCat.

Why Suppress Records?

There are several reasons one might suppress a record:

  1. Cataloging work is not complete and staff do not wish users to see an incomplete record.
  2. The item represented by the record is by its nature out of place in the OPAC, e.g. AV equipment.
  3. The item is indefinitely unavailable, due to loss or for some other reason, but there remains a possibility of recovering or replacing it and using the existing cataloging record.

How To Suppress Records

Item records can be suppressed by changing the value for ICODE2 from "-", which is the default, to "n" Suppress.  Note that the value "w" Withdrawn has a similar effect.  When an item is specified as Missing in circulation, one of the options available to staff members is to Withdraw it, thereby automatically setting ICODE2 to "w".

Bib records may be suppressed by changing the value of Initials from whatever library-specific value it has to "n" Suppress.

Cautions

Do not suppress a bib record if item records from a library other than your own are attached to it.  Instead, just suppress your own item record.

If your library is the only one with items attached to a bib record, and all item records are to be suppressed, also suppress the bib record.  A bib record with no visible locations serves no purpose in the OPAC.  Note, however, that if a cataloger at another library chooses to attach an item record thereafter, she/he will also unsuppress the bib record in the process.

Updates

This document is updated as required, and in response to user suggestions and questions.  If you have comments in this regard, send feedback.