CC:DA/MARBI Rep/2005/2

June 15, 2005; rev. December 14, 2005

Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access

Complete text of the MARBI proposals and discussion papers summarized below is available from the MARC Advisory Committee web page: http://www.loc.gov/marc/marbi/marcadvz.html

Proposal No. 2005-04R: Hierarchical Geographic Names in the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format Source: ALA MAGERT Cataloging and Classification Committee Summary: This paper proposes expanding the definition of Field 752 (Added Entry — Hierarchical Place Name), adding new subfields to 752 and the newly defined 662 and making some current subfields repeatable to enable a hierarchical approach to subject-oriented geographic coverage. Related MARBI Documents: 2005-04 (Jan. 2005); Discussion Paper 2004-DP02 (January 2004); 2004-07 (June 2004) Discussion: Karen Coyle asked about the benefit of keeping these two fields in parallel as regards subfields, etc. Rebecca Guenther responded that the authority component alone was enough. Karen and others agreed. Pat Riva raised the concern of indicator values in regard to existing 752 data. MARBI determined that this concern was not significant enough to warrant defining indicator values at this time. MARBI continues to have problems with the subfields of entry and the overlapping definitions of $a and $f. Sally McCallum pointed out that this is indeed a complicated pair of fields and is understandably giving the committee problems. However, in that there are libraries currently using this field with a high degree of precision and retrievability, perhaps with the editorial changes made here today, MARBI can approve this proposal as imperfect but close enough. The library community could then allow the various thesauri to govern implementation. MARBI action taken: Proposal approved, with significant editorial changes. The approved changes include: revising the definitions of $a and $f; the need to reorder the subfields (i.e., $e will be redefined in relation to Proposal 2005-06); and, removing reference to ending the field with punctuation.

Proposal No. 2005-07: Revision of subfield $b in field 041 in the MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Source: Online Audiovisual Catalogers (OLAC) Summary: This paper proposes changing the coding convention of field 041 (Language code) subfield $b (Language code of summary or abstract/overprinted title or subtitle) for audiovisual materials by removing the phrase “when they [the languages of subtitles] differ from the language of the soundtrack.” It also proposes changing the terminology used for subtitles and clarifies that captions are also covered in the definition of subfield $b. Related MARBI Documents: None. Discussion: John Attig emphasized that OLAC presented this proposal with the sole purpose of clarifying usage of the subfield for audiovisual materials. The subfielding question, and the advisability of defining a new subfield for captioning data is a separate issue. The OLAC Committee will consider this and follow up as necessary. MARBI action taken: Proposal approved, with minor editorial changes to the name of the subfield.

Proposal No. 2005-08: Changes to accommodate IAML coded data in bibliographic fields 008/18-19, 047 and 048 Source: Music Library Association, International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centers Summary: This proposal discusses the changes needed to incorporate IAML form and genre, and medium of performance codes in MARC 21. Related MARBI Documents: None Discussion: [Consideration of the two variable fields in this proposal was addressed separately]. 047 field discussion: Concern was expressed about the ambiguity defined with the existing and past usage of fill characters in the affected fields, and the suggested revision to the definition in Section 2.1.2 of the proposal. MARBI expressed a clear preference for defining new values telling systems to find this information coded elsewhere in the record (i.e., in the 047 field). MARBI also expressed a preference for defining new values for the 008 field: perhaps yy. IAML implementation should use only the legitimate three-character codes, not those IAML three-character codes that end with a blank. Sally McCallum wondered if MARBI should consider defining the IAML codes as MARC relators. 048 field discussion: Marc Truit moved that the 048 component of the proposal be approved with the change to the indicator position (indicator 1 will be moved to the indicator 2 position). MARBI action taken: The 047 field proposal will come back separately, presenting the options raised in our discussions. LC will also attempt to clarify the usage of fill characters in the 041 and 047 fields. The 048 component of the proposal was approved, with the change that indicator 1 will be moved to the indicator 2 position.

Proposal No. 2005-06: Addition of Subfields for Relator Terms/Codes for Subject Access to Images Source: Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) and Visual Resources Association Summary: This paper proposes defining subfield $e in fields 630 and 651 and subfield $4 in fields 630, 650, and 651 in order to use relator codes and terms to enhance the retrieval of visual materials. Related MARBI Documents: Discussion Paper 2005-DP01 (Jan. 2005) Discussion: Issues to be resolved: $e and $4 need to be included in the 652 and 654 fields. $e is already defined in the X11 fields, so we will need to define a separate subfield to contain these relator terms for those fields. MARBI action taken: Approved, with the provision that LC will find a new subfield to use in the X11 fields. LC will also define $e and $4 for the 652 and 654 fields.

Summaries of reports and other business:

Assessment of options for handling full Unicode character encodings in MARC21. Part 2.

Sally McCallum has set up a listserv for those implementing Unicode within their local systems: unicode-marc@loc.gov.

MARBI would like to see guidelines developed documenting “Best implementation practices.” These guidelines should include which of the four Unicode normalization forms is preferred.

MARBI approved a motion not to allow any of the remaining PUA characters henceforth.

Sally McCallum reiterated that this transition to the Unicode environment is an ongoing process for MARBI – a process the committee approved and initiated several years ago.


Using MARC 21 with FRBR: Record Configurations / Sally McCallum

MARBI Committee was pleased to receive this report outlining two potential scenarios described in Barbara Tillett’s “FRBR and Cataloguing Rules,” a report she presented at the IFLA Review Group’s FRBR Workshop held at OCLC in May 2005.

One thing that became immediately apparent to MARBI members during the discussion was the importance of identifiers for the FRBR work and expression entities.

As follow-up, Sally McCallum called on MARBI members and representatives to experiment with how catalogers/libraries may use work and expression authority records to serve as identifiers, and report our findings back to the committee.


Update on AACR3/RDA from the CC:DA Representative / Everett Allgood

MARBI was pleased to receive this update on the current state of the new cataloging code.

Adam Schiff, the MARBI Chair, in response to a suggestion from the CC:DA Representative, expressed interest in forming a task force of interested MARBI members to respond to the RDA drafts as they become available.


Equal access to non-Roman resources – resolution presented to the Saturday ALA Membership meeting

ALA Membership Committee voted to approve this resolution with minor editorial changes. The resolution was then returned to the members for next steps.

One such step is the formation of the Task Force on Non-English Access recently announced by the incoming MARBI Chair, Martha Yee. The Task Force will be chaired by Beth Picknally Camden of Penn. Members include Joan Aliprand, Diana M. Brooking (UW), Karen Coyle (MARBI) and Ann Della Porta (LC).

Everett Allgood,
MARBI Representative to CC:DA