Comments to: WebMaster.© 2004, Technical Services Special Interest Section.
Last modified: August 28, 2004.
URL: http://www.aallnet.org/sis/tssis/representatives/2004/marbi.htm
View PDF version of this report (58 KB PDF)
Susan Goldner
University of Arkansas at Little Rock Bowen School of Law
UALR/Pulaski County Law Library
Although there were fewer MARBI proposals and discussion papers than normal this year and none of them affects legal materials specifically, most do have an impact on our catalogs. The current relative stability in the formats seems to stem from the fact that harmonization with Britain is complete and there have been no recent, major changes in the cataloging rules. We can anticipate more activity in the future as work continues with FRBR and begins on AACR3.
A large issue looming on the horizon is adoption of the Unicode character set repertoire in MARC 21. Unicode was created with the intent of handling all of the world=s languages. It has become the standard to follow, helped by its adoption by Microsoft, Sun (Java), and other software companies. Since not all MARC systems will be able to convert to Unicode at the same time, methods for sharing data between MARC8, the current repertoire, and Unicode have to be developed. This year MARBI considered one report and one discussion paper related to this issue. An aspect of interest to law librarians is that the ' and the & are in Unicode but not in MARC8.
Proposals expanded the ability to link data contained in separate fields and created coding to identify private acquisitions information that should not be shared outside the originating library. The only discussion paper that has not yet resulted in a proposal was one dealing with the non-uniqueness of ISBNs and LCCNs. Developing a new means of coding inaccurate standard numbers is very important since non-unique ones can result in records being erroneously deleted by our systems.
The remaining proposals dealt with records for 19th Century books, music, stamps, and U.S. Copyright Office data. Each is one more sign that the use of the MARC format by groups outside of normal library cataloging continues to increase as other communities realize the value of sharing data through a standard format.
2004-01: Making Subfields $e, $f, and $g Repeatable in Field 260 of the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format.
(http://www.loc.gov/marc/marbi/2004/2004-01.html)
These subfields contain place of manufacture, manufacturer, and date of manufacture. They are used by the rare book community, primarily for 19th century books.
2004-02: Defining New Field Link Type Codes for Subfield $8 (Field Link and Sequence Number) in the MARC 21 Bibliographic and Holdings Formats.
(http://www.loc.gov/marc/marbi/2004/2004-02.html)
Subfield $8 is used to link related fields within a record. There are now two new codes that can be used in this subfield.
2004-03: Designating the Privacy of Fields 541, 561 and 583 in the MARC 21 Bibliographic and Holdings Formats.
(http://www.loc.gov/marc/marbi/2004/2004-03.html)
The first indicator in these fields can now show that there is private information in the field. This will be used by libraries sharing MARC records so that local information such as the appraised value of a collection will not display to other institutions.
2004-04: Definition of Field 258 (Philatelic Issue Data) in the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format.
(http://www.loc.gov/marc/marbi/2004/2004-04.html)
The National Archives of Canada is cataloging stamps. They approved descriptive rules last July, then came to MARBI for approval of a field to contain the issuing jurisdiction and denomination of stamps.
2004-05: Changes Needed to Accommodate RISM Data -- Music Incipits.
(http://www.loc.gov/marc/marbi/2004/2004-05.html)
Music catalogers use the initial sequence of notes of a musical composition in their cataloging because it is sometimes the only practical identifying element. Field 031 will be used to record these incipits. It will contain 20 subfields for recording the complex information needed.
2004-06: Defining the First Indicator and New Subfields in Field 017 to Suppress Display Labels in the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format.
(http://www.loc.gov/marc/marbi/2004/2004-06.html)
The U.S. Copyright Office is migrating from a non-MARC format to MARC 21. They will use Field 017 to record copyright registration numbers. Since the United States has 5 different types of registration numbers, and other countries may have additional ones, an indicator was created to suppress the display content and $i will be used with it to generate display text. These fields will begin appearing in Voyager records by December 2005.
2004-08: Changing the MARC-8 to UCS Mapping for the Halves of Doublewide Diacritics from the Unicode/UCS Half Diacritic Characters to the Unicode/UCS Doublewide Diacritic Characters.
(http://www.loc.gov/marc/marbi/2004/2004-08.html)
This changed the way that MARC systems handle a short list of diacritics -- an issue for our system vendors.
2004-07: Applying Field 752 (Added Entry -- Hierarchical Place Name) for Different Purposes in the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format.
(http://www.loc.gov/marc/marbi/2004/2004-07.html)
Field 752 is currently used to record hierarchical place names for a variety of types of material. Most notable are maps, photographs and newspapers. It contains a mix of place of production information and subject information. The proposal suggested assigning indicators to the field which would convey the kind of information is contained in the field. MARBI preferred the alternative offered in the proposal, using the 752 field for place of production and assigning a 6XX field to contain the hierarchical place name as a subject. This will reappear at ALA Midwinter as a revised proposal.
2004-DP01: Changes Needed to Accommodate RISM Data--Music Incipits.
Resulted in Proposal 2004-05.
2004-DP02: Applying Field 752 (Added Entry Hierarchical Place Name) for Different Purposes in the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format.
Resulted in Proposal 2004-07.
2004-DP03: Changing the Mapping for the Double-Wide Diacritics from MARC8 to Unicode/UCS from the Unicode/UCS Half Diacritic Characters to the Unicode/UCS Double-Wide Diacritic Characters.
Resulted in Proposal 2004-08.
2004-DP04: Use of ISBNs and LCCNs in MARC 21 Bibliographic Records.
(http://www.loc.gov/marc/marbi/2004/2004-dp04.html)
Standard numbers such as ISBNs and LCCNs are used for matching and overlaying records. Unfortunately, the numbers printed on material are not completely dependable as unique identifiers. The way they are currently entered can cause records to overlay improperly. Now there is a subfield to use for cancelled or invalid numbers (those whose check digits do not work). A future proposal will define a new subfield for inaccurate numbers and numbers that apply to different manifestations of the work.
Report: Assessment of Options for Handling Full Unicode Character Encodings in MARC 21. Part 1, New Scripts. Written by Jack Cain for the Library of Congress.
(http://www.loc.gov/marc/marbi/2004/2004-report01.pdf)
This report was discussed at both ALA Midwinter and the ALA Annual Meeting. It describes a number of possible options for sharing MARC records that contain the full Unicode character encodings with systems that cannot handle them. Discussion is ongoing.
Understanding MARC Authority Records, 2nd ed. was just published by the Library of Congress.
MODS, the MARC companion for digital material, has been revised. MADS, its authority counterpart, is available for review.
Starting in January, publishers will put 13 digit ISBNs in material. This means that the Library of Congress will start adding them to records in October. Both the 13 digit number and the 10 digit number will appear in material and in MARC records. They will either be placed in multiple 020 fields or in multiple $a in a single 020 (LC was still undecided). RLG expects to implement this in October. OCLC will not be able to fully implement it soon, but will put the 13 digit ISBN in an 024 field and index it as a standard number in the interim.
Diane Hillman is chair of the CONSER Publication Pattern Initiative Task Force to Explore the Use of a Universal Holdings Record, a super-record. The idea is to create a national holdings record pulling together all the linked records for a publication. It would be created from existing MARC records and give the complete history of a serial in one place. It would not replace our successive entry records but would work along with them. It could be used for an OPAC display that would simplify all of the serial title changes and formats available. It could make inclusion of aggregator records in your catalogs more useful and possibly eliminate the need for serial finding aids outside of the catalog.
The MARC Format Interest Group is creating a Web site. It will have links to working projects and (possibly) library documentation and training materials.
Cornell is trying to use MARC Classification to create browse displays and patron interfaces.
Comments to: WebMaster.