An Introduction to MARC 21 Cataloging

by Stephen Zenn, for LIS 650-04, Fall 2004, LIU Westchester Graduate Campus
Professor Thomas Krichel

Contents

I. Introduction
II. Commonly Used Fields
III. Indicators and Subfields
IV. The Header Field
V. Frequently Asked Questions

IV. The Header Field (008)

The Header, or 008, field is one of the "fixed fields" - fields that possess preset places, spaces, and contents. In the 008 field, located above the main fields in a MARC record, is the most basic information about the book, both physical and intellectual. These are encoded in a 40 space long line (referred to with numbers 00-39), with each space or string of spaces dedicated to a certain aspect. What follows is a description of the 008 field characters usable for all material types as well as those dedicated for an average monograph; for descriptions of the 008 field for other material types, please refer to the LC Concise Formats for the 008 field.

This is an example of an 008 field for a monograph:
.....s1996....nyua.....b.....01.0.eng..d

008 Characters and Descriptions

General Characters: These characters are capable of being used for all material types (books, recordings, etc.)

00-05 - Date on file: the date the record was created, in yymmddformat.
Example: 041123

06 - Type of date/publication status: a single letter that represents the dates of publication in the next two series of characters, Date 1 (07-10) and Date 2 (11-14).
Characters
b - Either no dates are given or the work is far too early (B.C. era) to date. All characters in Dates 1 and 2 should be left blank.
c - A serial that is currently being published. Date 1 contains the starting year of the publication, while Date 2 contains the number "9999".
d - A serial that has since ended publication. Date 1 contains the starting year of the publication, while Date 2 is the ending year.
e - Detailed date: the work's publication date is capable of being traced to the exact day, month, and year. In this case, Date 1 is used for the year, while Date 2 contains the month and day (mmdd).
Example: .....e19970408...
i - Inclusive dates of collection - used mainly for archival purposes, this signifies the date the work was added into the colllection.
k - Range of years of bulk of collection: also use for archival purposes, this is a range of years that is used for the addition to a collection.
m - Multiple dates: used when a work is published over many years; just like with an ended serial, Date 1 is used for the beginning year, while Date 2 is used for the ending year.
n - Dates unknown: no dates at all are known, in which case both Date 1 and 2 are left blank.
p - Date of distribution/release/reissue/ and production/recording session when different: used under the stated circumstances, Date 1 contains the reprint/reissue year and Date 2 is the original year.
q - Questionable dates: when the publication of the work is not certain but known to be within a timeframe; Date 1 is the earliest possible year, and Date 2 is the latest possible year.
s - Single known date: only one year of publication is known, stated in Date 1; Date 2 is left blank.
t - Both publication year, stated in Date 1, and a separate copyright year, stated in Date 2, are known.
u - A started serial with an unknown publication status; Date 1 contains the beginning year, while Date 2 contains the number "9999".

07-10 - Date 1: the first known/surmised publication date as indicated in character 06. If a date is unknown, leave this field blank; if any part of the year/date is not totally known, insert the letter "u".

11-14 - Date 2: the second known/surmised publication date as indicated in character 06. If a date is unknown, leave this field blank; if any part of the year/date is not totally known, insert the letter "u".

15-17 - Place of publication: the two/three letter code for the country and/or state seen in the Library of Congress' MARC Code for Countries. For example, publishing codes for individual states in the United States involves the two-character ZIP code for the state and the letter "u" (ie. "nyu" for New York).

35-37 - Language: the three letter code for language seen in the Library of Congress' MARC Code List for Languages. For example, English would be characterized as "eng", while Russian is "rus".

38 - Modified record: a single character denoting that any changes from the original MARC record had/have been made.
Characters
d - Dashed on information: any info that has been added after an already existing piece of information.
o - Completely romanized/written in script: the entire record has been converted into English/Romanized lettering and language.
. s - Shortened: some data missing due to space limitations within the new system being used.
x - Missing characters: Some characters/lettering could not be converted into machine readable form.

39 - Cataloging Source: a single character denoting the source/creator of the original record.
Characters
a - National Agriculture Library
b - National Library of Medicine
c - Library of Congress cooperative cataloging program
d - Any other unofficial source
n - Report to New Serial Titles
u - Not known

Characters Unique to Manuscripts: These are the unique characters used for describing books or manuscripts.

18-21 - Illustrations: these characters are used to describe as many recognized types of illustrations as possible (up to three, after the universal illustration signifier, "a").
Characters
a - Illustrations: if there are any kinds of illustrations, even if not made specifically clear in the body of the record, the character "a" must be used.
b - Maps: used when there are maps of any kind, either as full maps or as a smaller version. The age of the map (for example, one made in the 15th century as opposed to a current one) does not matter.
c - Portraits: any photographs or illustrations that might be considered an artistic portrait of a person/group.
d - Charts: any scientific, mathematical, etc. charts that are included within the work.
e - Plans: any architectural or sketeched building plans that are included within the work.
f - Plates: plates dedicated to artwork, either included within or outside of the page count. If they are outside the page count given in the 300 field, include the number of plates in $a after the normal page count.
g - Music: any musical sheets or musical notation of works within the work.
h - Facsimilies: any reproduced versions of printed/published material in part or whole within the work.
i - Coats of arms: any family coats of arms, either reproduced or illustrated, seen in the work.
j - Genealogical tables: any family trees or other charts of familial/personal relation within the work.

22 - Target audience: a single character denoting the age group/educational group that the work is geared towards. If no audience is specified, leave it blank.
Characters
a - Preschool
b - Primary school
c - Elementary-junior high school: traditionally associated with Grades 1-8.
d - Secondary: senior high school, traditionally associated with Grades 9-12.
e - Adult: intended for either college/graduate level students or adults in general.
f - Specialized
g - General: intended for general reading audiences of all ages.
j - Juvenile: intended for general reading audiences of children.

23 - Form of item: the general material descriptor, or medium of the item.
Characters
a - Microfilm
b - Microfiche
c - Microopaque
d - Large print
f - Braille
r - Normal, eye readable print

24 - Nature of contents: any additional material, such as addendums, or specialized types of literature.
Characters
a - Abstracts or summaries: includes any brief descriptions or summaries of the work's contents.
b - Bibliographies: includes any bibliographic references, either as a specialized section or footnotes/notations.
c - Catalogs: the work in question is an art catalog featuring the collection of a museum or other art repository.
d - Dictionary, including glossaries or gazetteers.
g - Legal articles
h - Handbooks
i - Indexes: the item includes an index to materials other than itself; the traditional index section has its own character in the 008 field.
j - Patent document
k - Discographies: includes any musical references, either as as specialized section or footnotes/notations.
l - Legislation: includes any full or partial works of legislation from official governing bodies.
n - Surveys of literature in a subject area: the work in question is a literary anthology or collection of works in a scholarly manner of a given subject.
p - Programmed texts
q - Filmographies: includes any film references, either as a specialized section or as footnotes/notations.
r - Directories: the work in question is or contains a directory of addresses/companies.
s - Technical reports
v - Legal cases and case notes
w - Law reports and digests

28 - Government publication: a single character designating if the item was made for or by a government agency and what division/jurisdiction it addresses.
Characters
a - Autonomous or semi-autonomous component.
c - Multilocal: reserved for regional jurisdictions.
f - Federal or national
i - International or intergovernmental: reserved for multinational bodies like the U.N.
l - Local
m - Multistate
o - Undetermined government publication: the work in question was created by a government, but the level is unknown.
s - State, providential, territorial, dependentc etc.
u - Government responsibility unknown: it is not certain if the work in question is a government-made publication
z - Other source

29 - Conference publication: a single character determining if the work in question was generated from a conference.
Characters
0 - Not a conference publication
1 - Conference publication

30 - Festchrift: a work containing scholarly or tributorial essays/articles from academic experts.
Characters
0 - Not a festchrift
1 - Festchrift

31 - Index: the work contains an index to its own contents, usually found after the work or in separate volumes (for encyclopedias, etc.)
Characters
0 - No index
1 - Contains an index

32 - This character is undefined, having no meaning; it should be left blank.

33 - Fiction: determines whether the work is of a fictional nature or not.
Characters
0 - Not fiction/nonfiction
1 - Fiction

34 - Biography: dermines whether the work is of a biographical nature or contains elements of biographies.
Characters
a - Autobiography: the work is a biographical work written by/organized by the subject him/herself.
b - Individual biography: the work is a biographical work of a single subject written by a third party.
c - Collective biography: the work in question is a collection of short biographical essays of multiple subjects, usually compiled by a number of contributors.
d - Contains biographies: the work in question is not a dedicated biographical piece, but does contain brief/short biographical essays.

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