Ask Ms. MARC

Dear Reader:

The implementation date for RDA (January 2013) seems like a long way off.  You may be planning on implementing it but think there is plenty of time to learn about it; or, for one reason or another, you may not even be planning on implementing it in your library, so preparation for it may be the furthest thing on your mind.  However, whether you plan to implement RDA in your library or not, you still need to get ready for it because RDA MARC records from the U.S. RDA test  already exist in shared databases and some libraries that participated in the test have continued to catalog using RDA guidelines.  The Library of Congress will continue to create MARC records using RDA on a small scale in 2012. So no matter what your plans are for the future, you still need to get ready for RDA.

In preparing for RDA, you need to know what RDA MARC records look like, what some of the main differences are between AACR2 and RDA MARC records.  You also need to know about the underlying models on which RDA is based, namely, Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Data (FRBR) and Functional Requirements for Authority Data (FRAD). 

Some ways that you can prepare for RDA…

1.    Visit the Library of Congress link “Resource Description and Access (RDA):  Information and Resources in Preparation for RDA” to keep up with the latest news about RDA as well as to find training materials used by the Library of Congress at: http://www.loc.gov/aba/rda/

2.    View webcasts/webinars and attend workshops.  There are some free webinars on RDA and FRBR at the Library of Congress website at: http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/results.php?cat=2&mode=a

3.    Review recent and past presentations on RDA by people connected to its development at the “Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA” website.  Presentations go back to 2007 and are as current as June 2011. These presentations can be found at:  http://www.rda-jsc.org/rdapresentations.html 

4.    Sign up for a free trial of the RDA Toolkit at: http://www.rdatoolkit.org/

5.    Use the RDA Toolkit to create practice RDA records.  Destiny 10.0 is RDA compliant.  RDA MARC records can be created and imported into the software.

6.    Consult the Library of Congress’ “RDA Transition: Frequently Asked Questions” and find answers to questions you may have at: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/tas/jca/ccda/docs/rdafaq1106.pdf

7.    Talk with colleagues in your own library, district, or consortium.  Share what you know about RDA and learn more about what you don’t know.

8.    Learn what changes were made to the MARC formats for RDA.  See the Library of Congress “RDA in MARC” at: http://www.loc.gov/marc/RDAinMARC29.html


 

Dear Reader:

In my previous Ask Ms. MARC article “Resource Description and Access (RDA),” I stated that RDA will be adopted, with certain conditions, by the three U.S. national libraries (the Library of Congress, the National Library of Medicine, and the National Library of Agriculture).  One of the conditions recommended by the U.S. RDA Test Coordinating Committee is that before RDA is implemented, a replacement for MARC must be initiated and development begun toward that replacement.  To achieve this condition for adoption, the Library of Congress has launched the “Bibliographic Framework Transition Initiative.”  Information, announcements, and resources related to this initiative can be found at: http://www.loc.gov/marc/transition/.

Even though the Library of Congress has launched an initiative for a replacement for MARC, this replacement will not happen overnight and will not happen before January 2013 when RDA is slated to be implemented by the three U.S. national libraries.  Thus RDA will be implemented with the MARC encoding format and RDA MARC records and AACR2 MARC records will coexist in library databases.

Over the past few years, the MARC formats have been updated for use with RDA.  New tags, subfields, and codes (in the 007and 008 tags) were added.  Perhaps the most noticeable addition to MARC 21 is three new tags (336) for RDA content types, (337) for RDA media types, and (338) for RDA carrier types.  When cataloging with RDA, these three new tags will replace the General Material Designators (GMDs) or subfield “h” in the 245 tag, which is used when cataloging with AACR2.  GMDs or General Material Designators are used in AACR2 to give a general description of the content or carrier of the resource that is being described.  The GMD terms used in AACR2 are not consistent, they are a mixture of both content and carrier types and the list provided in AACR2 is not a complete list of terms.  RDA provides a clear separation of content and carrier types and to designate these types, the three new tags (336, 337 and 338) were added to the MARC Bibliographic format. 

There are other MARC changes besides these three new tags.  All RDA MARC changes as well as proposed future changes for RDA can be found at the Library of Congress MARC Standards page titled “RDA in MARC – Summary of Additions” at:  http://www.loc.gov/marc/RDAinMARC29-9-12-11.html.

Dear Reader:

With the increase in digital formats and new ways in which information is published, there came the need for new cataloging rules.  Resource Description and Access (RDA) is a new set of descriptive cataloging rules that will replace the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR2).   AACR2 was written based on the card catalog environment, while RDA is designed for use in the digital environment providing rules for the description and access of all types of resources and content.  These new rules were also written so that one set of standards could be used among various communities such as libraries, museums, and archives both nationally and internationally.

RDA was in the process of being written for a number of years, and after many delayed publication dates, it was published in June, 2010 as a web resource, the “RDA Toolkit. “  You can find ordering information, sign up for a free trial, as well as view some Webinars on how to use the Toolkit at:  http://www.rdatoolkit.org/.   A print version is also available for purchase.

After RDA was published, the Library of Congress, the National Library of Medicine, and the National Library of Agriculture coordinated a test of RDA to determine whether they would implement it as the new cataloging standard. During the test period, June 2010 to March 2011, the three national libraries along with some selected institutions created catalog records using RDA.  If you are interested in how the test was conducted, the methodology used, and would like to view some RDA Train-the Trainer Webcasts that were used in preparation for the test, see the “National Libraries RDA Test” section at: http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/rda/
 

After a thorough review of the test results, in June 2011, the U.S. RDA Test Coordinating Committee issued its recommendation on the implementation of RDA. The committee recommended that the national libraries adopt RDA with certain conditions and that the implementation not occur before January 2013.  The entire report and recommendations of the U.S. RDA Test Committee (192 pages) or a shorter Executive Summary of the report and recommendations can be found under the “Final Report and Recommendations” section at: http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/rda/

As the Library of Congress prepares for RDA, they are launching a new website “Resource Description and Access (RDA) Information and Resources in Preparation for RDA” at: http://www.loc.gov/aba/rda/ .  This site provides links to the Library of Congress’ training documents, presentations, and practice exercises for RDA and also gives examples of RDA MARC records.
 

Dear Reader:

Online Audiovisual Catalogers (OLAC) defines streaming media as “video or audio transmitted over a network that can be played immediately, with no need to download an entire file before playback. Audio and/or video content are sent to the user as a data stream.” 

The first step in cataloging streaming media is to choose the template. If the content is primarily video, the “Video” template in Destiny is chosen.  If the content is primarily sound, either the “Recording (musical)” or Recording (nonmusical) template is chosen.

The 008 tag “Form of Item” position is coded “o” if remotely accessed and “s” if not remotely accessed (downloaded). “Form of Item” is the 29th position for videos and the 23rd position in the 008 tag for sound recordings.

Subfield h of the 245 tag contains [electronic resource].

Many different types of files are used for streaming video and audio. Some of the common files are wma, wmv, mp3, mp4, wav, etc. Entry of the 300 tag for streaming media is optional. However, if entered, information about the type of file, number of bytes, and transmission speed are considered important if it is available. Following are examples of how the 300 tag may be entered for streaming video and audio.
 

A 500 tag is always added with the source of the title, for example, “Title from resource home page” and the date the title was viewed is also always added e.g. (viewed on Feb. 10, 2011).

Include system requirements (538 tag) for playback whenever the information is available.


The 856 tag should provide a direct link to the resource.

For a sample MARC record for a streaming video, see The Tag of the Month example

For a sample MARC record for a streaming audio, see The Tag of the Month example 




 

Dear Reader:

If there is no title page and the cover is being used for the title information, no brackets are necessary in the 245 tag according to Anglo-American Cataloging Rule (AACR2) 2.0B1 which states: “The chief source of information for printed monographs is the title page or, if there is no title page, the source from within the publication that is used as a substitute for it. For printed monographs without a title page…use the part of the item supplying the most complete information, whether this be the cover …” The rule then states to specify the part of the item used for the title in a note.

When cataloging a book without a title page, record the information in the 245 as you would normally do when looking at a title page. Add a 500 note indicating that the title was taken from the cover as the following example shows.

Dear Reader:

Podcasts are video or audio digital media files maintained on a distributor’s server as a web feed, which can be remotely accessed or downloaded and stored locally on a user’s computer or some other portable device such as a smartphone or MP3 player. The first step in cataloging podcasts is to determine the primary content (audio or video) and then select the template for that content. In Destiny, the “Videos” template is used for podcasts that are predominantly video and either the “Recordings (nonmusical)” or “Recordings (musical)” template is used for podcasts that are predominantly audio.

After the template is chosen, enter data in the tags and subfields as applicable making changes as needed. The primary changes are outlined below.

Because podcasts are continuously added to and updated, they are considered to be integrating resources, so Leader “Bibliographic Level,” 7th position is coded “i.”

Podcasts are digital so the 008 tag “Form of Item” position is coded “o” if remotely accessed and “s” if not remotely accessed (downloaded). “Form of Item” is the 29th position for videos and the 23rd position in the 008 tag for sound recordings.

Subfield h of the 245 tag contains [electronic resource].

Because podcasts are frequently updated, they will have a beginning and an open ended date. Dates of publication may be entered in either subfield c of the 260 tag or in the 362 tag. If a beginning date is explicitly stated in the resource, this date is entered into subfield c of the 260 tag. If a beginning publication date is not explicitly stated in the resource, a probably date is given in the 362 tag.

Many different types of files are used for video and audio podcasts. Some of the common files are mpeg, mp3, mp4, wav, etc. Entry of the 300 tag for podcasts is optional; however, if it is entered, the type of file and number of files should be included if the information is readily available. Following are examples of how the 300 tag may look for podcasts. 

If known, frequency of updates for podcasts is entered into the 310 tag, using words such as updated daily or updated weekly.

A 500 tag is added with the source of the title, for example, “Title from title screen” or “Title from webpage (viewed on Feb. 10, 2011).”

If the resource is available only by remote access, a note should be added in the 538 tag beginning with the words: “Mode of Access” followed by what the mode of access is such as “World Wide Web.”

The 856 tag should provide a direct link to the resource.

For a sample MARC record of a video podcast, see the Tag of the Month example

For a sample MARC record of an audio podcast see the Tag of the Month example 

Dear Reader:

A MARC Organization Code is a short alphabetic code used to represent names of libraries, organizations, and institutions that need to be identified in cataloging and in bibliographic control. For example, the organization responsible for creating or modifying a MARC record or the organization holding a copy of the resource needs to be identified. These organizations are identified in the MARC record by the MARC organization code in the 040 and 852 tags respectively.

MARC organization codes generally follow the same structure based on geographic location and name of the organization. Codes are composed of one to four subunits. The first subunit represents a geographical jurisdiction such as a state or territory (if the organization is outside the United States, this could be a country), followed by a local jurisdiction such as a city or town, and followed by the name of the institution. Some codes have a fourth subunit when larger organizations are broken down into subdivisions.

Some examples of MARC organization codes are: “DLC” for the Library of Congress. The subunits for this code are “D” for District of Columbia and “LC” for Library of Congress. Follett Software’s MARC organization code is: “IMchF.” The subunits are “I” for Illinois, “Mch” for the city of McHenry and “F” for Follett.

The Library of Congress assigns codes for free to any organization requesting one. A request for a code can be made via this link “How to Request a MARC Organization Code” at: http://www.loc.gov/marc/organizations/form-eng.html

Dear Reader:

The name of the publisher may be entered differently depending on what rules/guidelines were followed when the MARC record was created.

In the above example of “Chelsea House Publisher,” when the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR2) are followed, you may see “Publisher” abbreviated in subfield c of the 260 field or not entered at all. AACR2 rule 1.4D2 states: "Give the name of a publisher, distributor, etc., in the shortest form in which it can be understood and identified internationally."

When the Library of Congress Rule Interpretation (LCRI) is followed, you may also see “Publisher” abbreviated or not entered in the 260 field. The LCRI for name of publisher is as follows: “Shorten the name or not, whichever is more efficient and effective in the particular case--according to judgment. Do not, however, attempt to judge how well the name is known internationally."

Some cataloging agencies follow the AACR2 rule while others follow the Library of Congress Rule Interpretation, thus creating different ways that you will see the name of the publisher entered in MARC records. Abbreviating the name, spelling it out, or not entering part of it are all acceptable cataloging practices depending on the rules that are being used for the description of that area.

With the new cataloging rules Resource Description and Access (RDA), the publishers name will be entered as it is found on the resource, if "Publisher" is spelled out on the resource, it will be spelled out in the MARC record. If it is abbreviated on the resource, it will be abbreviated in the MARC record. If it is misspelled on the resource, it will be misspelled in the MARC record.

When the name of the publisher appears as “Chelsea House Publisher” on the resource, subfield c of the 260 tag would be entered in the following ways according to the rules used in describing the resource.

Dear Reader:

A form subdivision indicates a specific kind or genre of material. The terms used for this subdivision are taken from the subject heading thesaurus being used. Entry of a term into subfield v is only appropriate when added to a main term. For example, the form subdivision of “Dictionaries” may be added to a main term such as “Animals” if the book is a dictionary of animals.

Terms used most often in subfield “v” in the 6XX tags are listed below. All the terms listed can be used with Library of Congress Subject Headings, with the exception of the three that are marked (Sears only). The terms that can be used with the Sears List of Subject Headings have two asterisks before them.

The terms used in subfield “v” of the 6XX tags will appear in the “Genre” list under “Narrow Your Search” in a Destiny “Quest” search.

** Adaptations
Almanacs
** Anecdotes
Art
** Atlases
Audio adaptations
** Bibliography
** Biography
Blogs
** Book reviews
Caricatures and cartoons
** Cartoons and caricatures (Sears only)
** Case studies
** Catalogs
** Charts, diagrams, etc.
** Chronlogy
** Comic books, strips, etc.
Computer games
** Cross-cultural studies
** Databases
** Diaries
** Dictionaries
Dictionaries, Juvenile
** Drama
Drawings
**Encyclopedias
Encyclopedias, Juvenile
** Exhibitions
** Fiction
** Folklore
** Guidebooks
** Handbooks, manuals, etc.
** Humor
** Interactive multimedia
** Interviews
Juvenile
** Juvenile drama
** Juvenile fiction
Juvenile films
Juvenile humor
** Juvenile literature
** Juvenile poetry
Juvenile software
Juvenile sound recordings
** Legends
** Literary collections
** Maps
Maps for children
Methods
** Miscellanea
Music
Newspapers
Notation
Online chat groups
Pamphlets
** Periodicals
** Personal narratives
Photographs
** Pictorial works
Picture Bibles
** Poetry
** Portraits
** Posters
** Prayers
Prayers and devotions
** Problems, exercises, etc.
** Programmed instruction
** Quotations
** Reading materials (Sears only)
Readers
Relief models
** Reviews
** Romances
Sacred books
Scores
Self-instruction
Slides
Software
** Songs (Sears only)
Songs and music
** Sources
Specimens
** Statistics
** Stories, plots, etc.
Studies and exercises
** Study guides
** Tables
** Terms and phrases
Tours
Trials, litigation, etc.

Dear Reader:

The statement of responsibility or subfield c of the 245 tag is entered based on the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR2) rule 1.1F1 which states “Transcribe statements of responsibility appearing prominently in the item in the form in which they appear there.” The statement of responsibility is transcribed from the chief source of information for the material that is being described. For books, the chief source of information is the title page; thus, if the word "by" or “text by” appears on the title page before the author's name, those words are entered, preceding the author’s name, into subfield c of the 245 tag. If the word “by” or “text by” or similar words do not appear before the author’s name on the title page, those words are generally not entered into subfield c of the 245 tag.

An exception to the rule is if the relationship between the title and the person’s name is not clear; for example, if the item is an edited work or a collected work but this is not noted on the title page, the phrase “edited by” or “collected by” may be added to the statement of responsibility. The words are enclosed in square brackets when added.

Dear Reader:

The MARC 21 standard contains a 586 “Awards Note” field where information pertaining to any awards associated with the item may be entered. For an in-depth explanation of the Awards Note field as well as sample entries for the 586 tag, see Follett’s “Tag of the Month” article: Tag of the Month Bibliographic Archives.

Dear Reader:

The entry of the statement of responsibility in subfield c of the 245 tag is determined by the level of description that is used when creating the bibliographic record. Rule 1.0D of the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR2) outlines three levels of detail that can be used in bibliographic descriptions. Each level gives the minimum requirements as to what elements are to be entered for that level. The first level includes the least number of elements or least amount of detail in the description. When cataloging at the first level, the author’s name need only be entered in subfield c or the 245 tag if different from the main entry (100 tag) or if there is no main entry. The second and third levels of description require that the statement of responsibility be entered. There may be differences in what you see in subfield c of the 245 tag as it is based on the level of description that was used in the creation of the MARC record. Most cataloging agencies catalog at the second or third level of description.

Dear Reader:

There are two schools of thought regarding the cataloging of a multivolume set. One way is to catalog the set in a single bibliographic record using one barcode for the entire set or using multiple barcodes for each individual volume. When creating one MARC record for the entire set, titles of the individual volumes (when each volume has its own title) are entered into the 505 tag. The 300 and 505 tag for “History’s Turning Points II,” a multivolume videocassette set would be entered as follows:

If each volume in the multivolume set does not have its own unique title, such as a set of World Book encyclopedias, the total number of volumes is entered in the 300 tag and a 505 tag is not needed.

The second way to catalog a multivolume set is to create separate bibliographic records for each part of the set with each volume having its own barcode. If the publisher has packaged the item as a single set, a single bibliographic record to represent the entire set is commonly used; however, if separate bibliographic records would better meet the searchers needs in selecting and obtaining the item, then separate MARC records for each volume should be created.

Dear Reader:

According to AACR2 rule 21.10A, the main entry for a work that is a paraphrase, rewriting, adaptation for children, or a version that is in a different literary form should be entered under the heading for the adapter. A name/title entry would be made for the original work. If it cannot be determined whether the work is an adaptation, the author of the original work is given the main entry.

Title, main and added entries for the adaptation of Treasure Island by Catherine Nichols and The Emperor's New Clothes by Eric Metaxas would be entered as follows:

Dear Reader:

A helpful way to determine which code to use is by looking at definitions for kits and mixed materials.   

The Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR2) define a kit as an item containing two or more categories of material, in which no one item is determined to be predominant. AACR2 does not give a definition for mixed materials, so with just the definition for a kit it still is not clear as to when code p would be used. The following definitions from the MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data help make it clearer.

MARC 21 defines a kit as a mixture of various components issued as a unit, where no one component is predominant, and with the intended purpose for instructional use. An example of a kit may be a package of assorted materials such as a set of school math curriculum materials which includes rulers, clocks, number lines, pattern blocks, activity cards, teacher guides, etc.

The definition of mixed materials in MARC 21 is two or more forms of materials that are usually related by having been accumulated by or about a person or corporate body. The intended purpose for these materials is for other than instructional use. An example of mixed materials could be a “package/item” containing a book, sound recording, video and photographs of an individual person.

When cataloging an item with multiple materials, examine the materials that are contained in the item as to predominance and purpose of use to determine which code to use in the Leader “Type of Record” position. School libraries would only on very rare occasions use code p for mixed materials as most materials in the school library are used for educational purposes.

Dear Reader:

When there are two works bound together in one volume and there is no collective title, and no work predominates, the cataloging rules indicate to describe the item as a unit following rule 1.1G3 of AACR2. This rule states that if the individual works are by different persons, follow the title of each work by other title information and the statement of responsibility. Separate the groups of data by a period followed by two spaces.

When there are two works bound together in one volume and there is no collective title, and no work predominates, the cataloging rules indicate to describe the item as a unit following rule 1.1G3 of AACR2. This rule states that if the individual works are by different persons, follow the title of each work by other title information and the statement of responsibility. Separate the groups of data by a period followed by two spaces.

Following the above guidelines, the 245 tag would be entered as follows for an individually bound item with the following two titles: Life-size sharks: killer creature reptiles written by Daniel Gilpin and illustrated by Martin Knowelden; and Life-size reptiles written by Hannah Wilson.  
       245 10 _aLife-size sharks :
                  _bkiller creature reptiles /
                  _cwritten by Daniel Gilpin ; illustrated by Martin Knowelden. Life-size 
                     reptiles / written by Hannah Wilson. 

A 700 and 740 tag would be added as follows: 
       700 12 _aWilson, Hannah.
                  _tLife-size reptiles.
       740 02 _aLife-size reptiles.

If both titles are by the same author, AACR2 rule 1.1G3 states to transcribe the titles in the order in which they appear on the chief source of information or in the order in which they appear in the item, separating the titles of the works by semicolons.

For an individually bound item containing these two works by Dr. Seuss, Green eggs and ham and One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish, the 245 tag would be entered as follows.  

      245 10 _aGreen eggs and ham ;
                 _bOne fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish /
                 _cDr. Seuss.

As above, a 700 tag with the author and title of the second item and a 740 tag with the second title would also be added.

If each title has its own page numbering, give the number of pages of each title. For example, if the first title has 28 pages and the second title has 36 pages, give the page numbers in the 300 tag as follows.

         300   _a28, 36 p.

Dear Reader:

As Ms. MARC, I often receive questions about entering the number in a series. The series number is entered into subfield v of the 490 and 8XX tag when it appears on the physical item (a publisher's catalog is not the physical item, it must be the actual book/material). MARC records on Alliance will not contain the series number if it is not printed on the item itself. However, if you deem that the series number is important, you can add the number within square brackets in the subfield mentioned above.

As of June 2006, the Library of Congress enters all series in the 490 tag with a first indicator of zero. Many cataloging agencies continue to do authority control on series and enter them into the 490/8XX tags. Because of the different practices, you will find series entered in various ways on Alliance.

In December 2008, the 440 tag was made obsolete. The 490 and 830 tags are now used in place of the 440 tag. The 490 tag should always be entered in the record if a series statement appears on the item and it should be entered exactly as it appears on the item. The 830 tag should contain the authorized form of the series title as found in the Library of Congress Name Authority file or established according to AACR2 rules on series uniform titles. Often the 490 and 830 tags will be identical.