CC:DA/MARBI Rep/2006/1

January 17, 2006; rev. June 6, 2006

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. 2006-01: Changes to accommodate IAML form/genre codes in field 047 in the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format Source: Music Library Association, International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres Summary: This paper discusses the changes needed in order to incorporate IAML form and genre codes in MARC 21 fields 047 and how to code 008/18-19 if only IAML codes are used. Related MARBI Documents: 2005-08 (June 2005) MARBI action taken: Approved, with the following minor revisions: The 2nd indicator in field 047, rather than the 1st indicator, will be used to indicate the presence of subfield $2 ($2 will identify the source of the code in the 047 field) Field 047 will be made repeatable. The code 'mu' used in 008/18-19 will indicate the presence of codes in the 047 field.

Proposal No. 2006-03: Standardized terminology for access restrictions in field 506 of the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format Source: DLF/OCLC Digital Registry Working Group Summary: This paper proposes a method for providing access restrictions using standardized terminology suitable for retrieval or reporting in Field 506 (Restrictions on Access Note) of the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format. It also proposes defining the field in the MARC 21 Holdings Format. Related MARBI Documents: None. MARBI action taken: Approved with the following revisions: Addition of subfield $f for standardized terms Addition of subfield $2 for the source of the terms An indicator position showing if there are restrictions on access

Proposal No. 2006-02: Adding subfields for relator terms to X11 fields in the Bibliographic and Authority formats Source: MARBI Summary: This paper proposes adding subfields for relator terms to X11 fields in the Authority and Bibliographic formats. Related MARBI Documents: DP2005-01 (December 10, 2004); 2005-06 (May 27, 2005) MARBI action taken: Approved. In so doing, MARBI reaffirmed the principle that fields and subfields, once defined and implemented, should never be redefined for a different purpose. MARBI therefore approved the addition of subfield $j to the X11 fields to contain relator term information.

Proposal No. 2006-04: Technique for conversion of Unicode to MARC-8 Source: Unicode-MARC Forum Summary: This paper summarizes the discussion on the Unicode-MARC Forum for converting Unicode to MARC-8 for systems that cannot handle Unicode records. The Forum consensus was for defining a placeholder character that was to be substituted for each unmappable Unicode character. Related MARBI Documents: Assessment of Options for Handling Full Unicode Character Encodings in MARC 21 — Part 1: New Scripts (January 2004); Assessment of Options for Handling Full Unicode in Character Encodings in MARC 21 — Part 2: Issues (June 2005) MARBI action taken: Approved; however, MARBI expressed concern that this “placeholder” technique will not allow the round-trip mapping of data. Therefore MARBI recommended that a more complex technique allowing round-trip conversion without the loss of meaning or data be developed as well.

Proposal No. 2006-05: Changes to Holdings data fields to accommodate ONIX for Serials in the MARC 21 Holdings Format Source: Library of Congress Summary: This paper proposes three changes to allow for compatibility with ONIX for Serials. They include 1) the addition of subfield $o (Type of material) in fields 853 and 863, equivalent to subfield $o in 854-855 and 864-865; 2) the addition of subfield $2 in 853-855 to designate an authoritative source for caption abbreviations used in subfields $a through $h; and, 3) the addition of subfield $r for language of caption information. Related MARBI Documents: 2001-DP07 (June 2001) MARBI action taken: Approved the following portions of the proposal: Addition of subfield $o for Type of Material in 853/863 fields Addition of subfield $2 for source of caption abbreviations in fields 853-855 Made subfield $o repeatable in 854/864 and 855/865 fields. MARBI asked that consideration of language of captions be developed with the proposal that will come out of Discussion Paper No. 2006-DP05.

Discussion Paper 2006-DP05: Indicating coverage dates for indexes in the MARC 21 Holdings Format Source: Library of Congress Summary: This paper discusses the need for index coverage dates in addition to issuing dates in MARC 21 holdings field 865. The development of ONIX for Serials, Serial Release Notice will necessitate mapping from SRN to MARC 21 because publishers will be communicating this information. SRN is more granular in its distinctions of date types for indexes and includes both coverage and issuing dates, while MARC 21 does not. Related MARBI Documents: 2006-05 (Jan. 2006) MARBI action taken: MARBI agreed that this distinction between index coverage dates and index issuing dates is significant. A proposal will be developed. As mentioned above, the proposal will also contain further development of the remaining component of Proposal No. 2006-05, that is, language of captions information.

Discussion Paper 2006-DP02: Addition of coded value to 008 for content alerts in the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format Source: Revealweb Union Catalogue Summary: This paper discusses adding a coded value to the 008 in the Bibliographic formats to carry coded warnings to certain types of content in items for visually impaired users. Related MARBI Documents: None. MARBI action taken: MARBI agreed with the concept, but expressed concern whether a single byte of coded date was adequate. A proposal will be developed.

Discussion Paper 2006-DP01: Recording geographic coordinates in the MARC 21 Authority Format Source: George A. Smathers Libraries (University of Florida) and ALA/MAGERT Cataloging and Classification Committee Summary: This paper suggests adding field 034 to authority records for geographic coordinates associated with places. This field would eventually form the basis for coordinates-based retrieval of all cataloged records containing those geographic terms. Related MARBI Documents: None. MARBI action taken: MARBI endorsed the concept and made a number of detailed suggestions regarding coding conventions. A proposal will be developed.

Discussion Paper 2006-DP03: Incorporation of Former Headings into MARC 21 Authority Records Source: Program for Cooperative Cataloging, Task Group on the Function of the Authority File Summary: This paper discusses the incorporation of former heading information into MARC 21 authority records, in cases where the former heading might not be considered a valid or useful reference, to facilitate the locating of instances of the former headings in bibliographic records that may need to be corrected. A note field for this requirement is discussed to hold former headings in authority records. Related MARBI Documents: None. MARBI action taken: MARBI agreed with the concept, but appeared to prefer the expanded use of 4XX See from references to recording former headings in a note field. A proposal will be developed exploring multiple options.

Other business and reports

The Deutsche Bibliothek is leading the German and Austrian effort to adopt the MARC 21 formats. The library is developing proposals addressing missing or conflicting data elements, and may be ready to present them for MARBI discussion at the 2006 Annual Conference.

The MARC Content Designation Utilization Project is collecting data at a high level of granularity regarding the content of the catalog record. The project’s data is based on records in the WorldCat database.

RDA: Resource Description and Access update: Jennifer Bowen, the ALA Representative to the Joint Steering Committee for Revision of AACR (JSC), suggested that MARBI may be interested in working with the JSC, to develop a mapping between RDA and MARC 21 data elements. MARBI tentatively agreed.


Note: I was unable to attend Midwinter at the last minute. Consequently, I am indebted to John Attig and Sherman Clarke for sharing their notes with me in order to compile the details within this report.

Everett Allgood,
MARBI Representative to CC:DA