Tip of the Week

Tip for: 09.16.02

MARC Reference Sheet

MARC Basics:

There are three basic parts to a MARC record. These are Tag, Indicator, and Subfield. A Tag is the three-character numeric label for the different datafields in a MARC record (i.e. Title, Author, Subject, etc.). The Indicators are the first two characters of information that are entered in the data field. They help interpret and supplement the data in the field. For example, in the data field for title the second indicator is used to determine the number of characters that should be ignored in the case of a leading article such as a, an, and the. The Subfield is the two characters which precede each section of information included in the different data fields. For example, in the 245 tag which is title information, _a represents the subfield for the title of the book and precedes the title in the MARC record.

Alexandria MARC Editors:
When looking at the Title, Author, and Subject Editors, the user will notice
three icons. These are +, a, and -. The + is used when a new tag is desired. A window with a pulldown comes up allowing the user to select which related tag to add to the record. For example, when entering a record for Rough-faced girl, you may want to add Cinderella as a uniform title so that patrons can find that title when searching for Cinderella. In the title editor, you would select 730 Uniform Title from the pulldown. Then enter Cinderella in the _a subfield. The a is used to add a subfield. As with the +, it brings up a pulldown with the appropriate subfields for that MARC tag. For example, when adding an illustrator to an item record, you may wish to add the information that they are the illustrator of the book. You can do this by first adding a tag (discussed above) of 700 . Then, click on the a and select _e from the pulldown and then enter the abbreviation Illus. to the record. The - is used when you desire to remove a full tag. If you desire to remove the information in a subfield simply delete the information in the subfield to be removed and then the next time you open the editor it will only show the tags and subfields with entries in them. Some MARC tags can occur multiple times on the same item record; some subfields may occur multiple times with a MARC tag. Such tags or subfields are repeatable; nonrepeatable tags and nonrepeatable subfields or tags can only occur once in an item record. For more indepth MARC information, access the Library of Congress at http://www.loc.gov/marc.

Tag and Subfield Descriptions:

Title MARC Editor:
(Click on the book icon by the title field or select Show Title Editor from
the Items pulldown.)

245 - Title Statement (Not repeatable)
- Enter the name of the book along with subtitle and statement of
repondsiblity.
_a: Title - The name of the book or item.
_h: Medium - Also known as the GMD.
_b: Remainder of title - This is the subtitle field (Anne Frank:Diary of a young girl).
_c: Statement of respondsibility - Type in the name of the
author and illustrator, etc.(i.e. By Don and Audrey Wood)

246 - Varying Form of TItle (Repeatable)
- This tag is used to enter a form of the title on different parts of the item or
an alternate form of the title from what is in the 245 tag.
_a: Title proper/Short title - Thevarying form of title for an item.
(i.e. Rutan & Yeager for the title Dick Rutan & Jeana
Yeager)
_h: Medium - Also known as the GMD.
_b: Remainder of title - This is the subtitle field for the varying
form of the title(Jaguar: Tale of the cat).

730 - Added Entry - Uniform Title (Repeatable)
- Enter title information here to indicate a uniform title (i.e. Bible, Mother
Goose, Cinderella, etc).
_a: Uniform title - The uniform title entry.

Author MARC Editor:
(Click on the Shakespeare icon by the author field or select Show Author
Editor from the Items pulldown.)

100 - Main Entry - Personal Name (Not repeatable)
- This tag is used to indicate the name and other information for the main
author of a work.
_a: Personal Name - The name of the author is entered last
name , comma, then first name.
_b: Numeration - This is where you would indicate if a number
is associated with an author's name (i.e. Louis XVI).
_c: Title(s) - Indicate if a title is associated with the author
(i.e. Dr. or Pope).
_q: Fuller form of name - Used to show a fuller form of a name
where _a contains initials.
_d: Dates of birth - and death if deceased.

700 - Added Entry - Personal Name (Repeatable)
- Extra authors or illustrators can be entered using this tag. This makes them
searchable under a work along with the primary or main author.
_a: Personal Name - The name of the person is entered last
name , comma, then first name.
_b: Numeration - This is where you would indicate if a number
is associated with an author's name (i.e. Louis XVI).
_c: Title(s) - Indicate if a title is associated with the author
(i.e. Dr. or Pope).
_q: Fuller form of name - Used to show a fuller form of a name
where _a contains initials.
_d: Dates of birth - and death if deceased.
_e: Relator term - Use this to indicated the added authors
relationship to the item being cataloged (i.e. illus.).

Subject MARC Editor:
(Click on the Subjects tab.)

600 - Subject Added Entry - Personal Name (Repeatable)
- Use this tag when adding a subject entry using a personal name.
_a: Personal Name - The name of the person is entered last
name , comma, then first name.
_b: Numeration - This is where you would indicate if a number
is associated with person's name (i.e. Henry VIII).
_c: Title(s) - Indicate if a title is associated with the person
(i.e. King, Emperor of France, etc).
_q: Fuller form of name - Used to show a fuller form of a name
where _a contains initials.
_d: Dates of birth - and death if deceased.
_v: Form subdivision - indicates genre (i.e. fiction).
_x: General subdivision (i.e. History).
_y: Chronological subdivision - The time period it took place.
_z: Geographic subdivision - The setting in which it took place.
_2: Source of heading or term (i.e. Sears).

610 - Subject Added Entry - Corporate Name (Repeatable)
- Use this to indicate a corporation or jurisdiction name as a subject (i.e.
Titanic, Salvation Army, United States, etc.).
_a: Corporate or jurisdiction name (examples above).
_v: Form subdivision - indicates genre (i.e. fiction).
_x: General subdivision (i.e. History).
_y: Chronological subdivision - The time period it took place.
_z: Geographic subdivision - The setting in which it took place.
_2: Source of heading or term (i.e. Sears).

650 - Subject Added Entry - Topical Term (Repeatable)
- This tag is used to indicate a subject which is a topical term (i.e. cats).
_a: Topical term or geographic name as entry.
_v: Form subdivision - indicates genre (i.e. fiction).
_x: General subdivision (i.e. History).
_y: Chronological subdivision - The time period it took place.
_z: Geographic subdivision - The setting in which it took place.
_2: Source of heading or term (i.e. Sears).

651 - Subject Added Entry - Geographic Name
(Repeatable)
- Enter geographic location as a subject term.
_a: Geographic name or place (i.e. Hawaii).
_v: Form subdivision - indicates genre (i.e. fiction).
_x: General subdivision (i.e. History).
_y: Chronological subdivision - The time period it took place.
_z: Geographic subdivision - The setting in which it took place.
_2: Source of heading or term (i.e. Sears).