Information:
The 008 tag of the MARC Bibliographic format contains
coded information about the rest of the MARC record.
The 008 tag contains forty character positions
numbered from 00 to 39. The codes may be useful in
retrieving records, sorting search results, and data
management. The 008 tag is required in all records.
The 008 tag is defined differently for books,
electronic resources, maps, music, serials, visual
materials, and mixed materials. We will deal below
with the most common codes used with books.
Positions 00-05 Date entered on file
These six characters represent the date the MARC
record was created. These are usually provided by the
software. The date is given with two digits for the
year, two for the month, and two for the day.
Example:
990704 (The record was entered on July 4, 1999)
Position 06 Type of date/Publication status
A single-letter code that tells what kind of date or
dates follow. This may be a single date, either the
exact date or probable date of publication. This may
also be multiple dates: a range of dates for a
multi-volume set, a reprint date and an original
publication date, a publication date and a copyright
date, or a range of probable publication dates when
the publication date is unknown.
s Single known date/probable date
m Multiple dates
r Reprint/reissue date and original date
t Publication date and copyright date
q Questionable date
Positions 07-10 Date 1
Contains the year of publication or the earliest year
in a range of dates. This date will agree with the
date entered in the 260 or 264 tag, subfield c. When a part
of the date is unknown, the missing digits are
represented by the letter u.
Positions 11-14 Date 2
These positions will be blank when a single date is
used. The second date may be the copyright date, the
original date of a reprint, or the latest date of a
range of dates. This date will also appear in the 260 or
264 tag, subfield c or in a 500 tag, original publication
note.
s1999 (The item was published in 1999)
s19uu (Published sometime in the 20th century)
m19891992 (A multi-volume item. The first volume published in 1989, the
last in 1992)
m1989uuuu (A multi-volume set began in 1989, but not yet completed)
r19981969 (A 1998 reprint of an item originally published in 1969)
t19981996 (Published in 1998, copyright 1996)
q19741994 (Published sometime between 1974 and 1994)
Positions 15-17 Place of publication, production, or execution
Two- or three-letter codes for the place of publication from
MARC 21 Code List for Countries published by the Library of
Congress. Most countries have two-letter codes. The United
States, Canada, and Great Britain use three-letter codes
for subdivisions within the country. For the United States
the codes include two letters for the state and end in u for
United States. Provinces of Canada end in c and parts of G
reat Britain end in k. Use xx when no place of publication is
known. With multiple places of publication, the one first
mentioned on the title page is used. This information also
appears in the 260 or 264 tag, subfield a.
Examples:
nyu (Published in New York City)
onc (Published in Toronto, Canada)
enk (Published in London, England and in New York City)
xxu (Published in the United States, but city or state unknown)
xx (Place of publication unknown)
mx (Published in Mexico City)
ne (Published in Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Positions 18-21 Illustrations
Up to four codes that indicate the type of illustrations present in
the item. Codes are entered in alphabetical order. When more
than four codes apply enter the first four. These usually appear
in the 300 tag, subfield b. Plates appear in the 300 tag, subfield a.
blank No illustrations
a Illustrations
b Maps
c Portraits
d Charts
e Plans
f Plates
g Music
h Facsimiles
i Coats of arms
j Genealogical tables
k Forms
l Samples
m Phonodisc, phonowire, etc.
o Photographs
p Illuminations
Examples:
a (Contains illustrations)
abcf (Contains illustrations, maps, portraits, and plates)
b (Contains maps but no other kind of illustrations)
acj (Contains illustrations, portraits, and genealogies)
Position 22 Target audience
One-letter code describes the intellectual level of the target
audience for which the material is intended. When an item
contains information that may be considered appropriate for
more than one target audience, the code is recorded for the
primary target audience. This code must agree with the
information in the 521 tag.
blank Unknown or not specified
a Preschool
(For children up to but not including kindergarten)
b Primary
(For children in kindergarten through third grade)
c Pre-adolescent
(For young people in grades 4 through 8)
d Adolescent
(For young people in grades 9 through 12)
e Adult
f Specialized
g General
j Juvenile
(For children and young people through the age of 15 or the 9th grade)
Position 23 Form of item
One-letter code which indicate that the item is a microform,
large print, Braille, photocopy or an electronic resource.
blank None of the following
a Microfilm
b Microfiche
c Microopaque
d Large print
f Braille
o Online
q Direct electronic
r Regular print reproduction
s Electronic
Positions 24-27 Nature of contents
One-letter code indicating that the item is or contains one
of the following types of material. An item containing a
bibliography, footnotes, or notes in a separate section will
be coded for bibliography. An item containing a glossary,
however, would not be coded as a dictionary. Up to four
codes may be entered in alphabetical order. Information
related to these codes may be found in the 245 tag, the
504 tag, or the 6XX tags.
blank No specified nature of contents
a Abstracts/summaries
b Bibliographies
c Catalogs
d Dictionaries
e Encyclopedias
f Handbooks
g Legal articles
i Indexes
j Patent document
k Discographies
q Filmographies
r Directories
s Statistics
t Technical reports
y Yearbooks
6 Comics/graphic novels
Examples:
bkq (Contains a bibliography, a discography, and a filmography)
b (Contains bibliographical references)
bf (A handbook with a bibliography)
i (The item is an index to periodical articles or other bibliographic
material. Note: code i is not used when the item contains an index to
its own contents)
Position 28 Government publication
One-letter codes that tell whether the item is a government
publication and what kind of government body published
the work. Publications of state owned colleges and universities
are coded as state government publications. Items
produced by public schools or school districts are coded
as local government publications.
blank Not a government publication
f Federal/national
i International intergovernmental
l Local
s State, provincial, territorial, dependent, etc.
z Other
Position 29 Conference publication
Tells if the work is a conference proceeding or a reprint of papers from a conference.
0 Not a conference publication
1 Conference publication
Position 30 Festschrift
A festschrift is a collection of essays issued in honor of
an individual or a corporate body. Information about the
person or institution honored by the publication is usually
found on the title page and will be entered in the 245 tag.
0 Not a festschrift
1 Festschrift
Position 31 Index
Indicates whether the item includes an index to its own
contents. This information will also be recorded in the
500 or in the 504 tag when the item also includes a bibliography.
0 No index
1 Index present
Position 32 Undefined
This position is always blank.
Position 33 Literary form
One-character codes indicate the literary form of the item.
Numeric codes 0 and 1 provide a generic identification of
whether the item is a work of fiction or nonfiction. Alphabetic
codes may be used to identify specific literary forms.
0 Not fiction (not further specified)
1 Fiction (not further specified)
d Dramas
e Essays
f Novels
h Humor, satires, etc.
i Letters
j Short stories
m Mixed forms
p Poetry
s Speeches
u Unknown
Position 34 Biography
Tells whether the item is biographical and what kind of biography.
blank No biographical material
a Autobiography
b Individual biography
c Collective biography
d Contains biographical information
Positions 35-37 Language
A three-character code indicating the language of the item.
For books in more than one language the predominant
language goes here. The Library of Congress publishes
the MARC 21 Code List for Languages which is the source
of the codes. Some of the most common languages are listed below.
eng English
fre French
ger German
grc Greek, Ancient (to 1453)
gre Greek, Modern (1453-)
ita Italian
lat Latin
spa Spanish
Position 38 Modified record
One-letter code indicating whether the information in the
record has been modified. This was used on older records
when the record was shortened to fit the requirements of
the cataloging system.
blank Not modified
s Shortened
Position 39 Cataloging source
One-letter code indicating the source of the record.
When creating new records, use code d.
blank National bibliographic agency
c Cooperative cataloging agency
d Other
Brief or minimal level records
Brief records contain only the MARC tags up to the 300 tag.
For a brief record the 008 tag must contain the date entered
on file, language, and cataloging source. All other elements
of the 008 are optional.
Examples:
(A brief record using defaults for the optional elements)
981222s19uu xx 000 0 eng d
(A brief record with some of the optional elements included)
960421s1996 nyu 000 0 eng d
National level records
Illustrations, nature of contents, conference publication,
festschrift, and index are optional in the 008 for National
level records.
Example:
(A national level record entered by the Library of Congress)
971007s1998 cauab b 000 0 eng
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