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RISM Cataloging Guidelines

1 – Introduction

This website presents the international guidelines developed by RISM to document and describe musical sources as applied to the cataloging program Muscat. Muscat is used by RISM’s working groups and contributors, available free of charge to anyone who is interested. It enables direct access to the RISM database hosted by the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz. If you are interested in becoming a contributor, contact the RISM Editorial Center (Zentralredaktion).

Muscat is developed jointly by the two RISM Centers, the RISM Editorial Center and the RISM Digital Center. It is based on a program that was jointly developed by RISM Switzerland and RISM UK.

Muscat data is structured around the MARC21 library standard. The numbers and letters next to field names, such as 245 $a, refer to the MARC21 field.

Refer to the contents on the right for an overview of this document. The sections 2-Using Muscat and 3-General cataloging principles explain how to use the program: general functions, templates, how to catalog certain formats.

The section 4-Cataloging guidelines for musical sources contains the RISM cataloging guidelines for musical sources for use with Muscat. The guidelines are listed in the order they appear in the program. When working with Muscat, you will also find the guidelines for each field linked to their respective field. Examples are included throughout.

The middle sections (5-9) contain the guidelines for RISM’s authority files. The final sections (10-11) offer various lists containing RISM’s standardized vocabulary and abbreviations.

Visit RISM’s Muscat page for more information about Muscat.

The guidelines are maintained by the RISM Editorial Center in Frankfurt, Germany.

Should anything be unclear, do not hesitate to contact us. Currently only the English guidelines are available on this website and futher translations will follow in due time.

We would also like to extend our gratitude to our translators, past and present, whose efforts make Muscat more easily accessible to our colleagues worldwide.

  • Catalan: Ferran Jorba
  • Italian: Claudio Bacciagaluppi, Rodolfo Zitellini
  • French: Claudio Bacciagaluppi, Rodolfo Zitellini, Laurent Pugin
  • Korean: JeongYoun Chang
  • Polish: Marcelina Chojecka, Katarzyna Diehl
  • Portuguese: André Guerra Cotta (†), Diósnio Machado Neto, Beatriz Magalhães Castro, Silvia Sequeira, Marcos Virmond
  • Spanish: Rodrigo Balaguer, Antonio Ezquerro, John Lazos, Lucas Reccitelli, Oliver Schöner, Luciana Giron Sheridan