Statement of
Responsibility
Title Statement – MARC tag 245
Identifies the resource, including the title proper, other
titles, numbering, part titles, and statement of
responsibility
Statement of responsibility: MARC tag 245, subfield c
Definition
AACR: A statement transcribed from the item being described,
relating to persons responsible for the intellectual or artistic
content of the item, to corporate bodies from which the content
emanates, or to persons or corporate bodies responsible for the
performance of the content of the item.
RDA: A statement relating to the identification and/or function of
any persons, families, or corporate bodies responsible for the
creation of, or contributing to the realization of, the intellectual or
artistic content of a resource.
Where do you look?

AACR: Chief source of information
 Differs
depending on format
 Books—title
page
 Sound recordings—disc or cassette label, then container, etc.
 Videorecordings—credit frames, then container, etc.

RDA: Preferred source, or the part of the item that provides
the most complete information
What if there’s no statement of
responsibility on the chief source?


Take the statement of responsibility from somewhere else on the
item if available
AACR-Record the statement of responsibility in brackets
 Do


not have to include a note to indicate source
RDA—Does not have to be in brackets
If statement of responsibility is absent, MARC tag 245 will not
have a subfield c
MARC coding and ISBD punctuation




245 _ _ $aTitle proper :$b other title information /$c
statement of responsibility.
Subfield c is preceded by a slash (/)
Within subfield c, functions are separated by
space ; space
MARC tag 245 always ends in a period
245 10 ‡aOh say can you seed? :‡b[all about flowering plants] /‡cby
Bonnie Worth ; illustrated by Graphic Design Associates.
Recording responsibility

Transcribe responsibility as it appears on the source, in the order
indicated by the sequence or layout
 If

order isn’t apparent, transcribe in the most logical order
Transcribe wording as it appears on the source
On title page: Written by Victor Columbo, Illustrations by Jo Brown
245 _ _ /$cwritten by Victor Columbo ; illustrations by Jo Brown.
On title page: Victor Columbo with Jack Jordan
On t.p verso: Pictures by Lucy Poe
245 _ _ /$cVictor Columbo with Jack Jordan ; [pictures by Lucy Poe].
Recording responsibility—cont.

Add a word or phrase in brackets if needed to clarify the function
On title page: Henderson family history
by Sylvia Henderson
In introduction: This family history was compiled by Sylvia Henderson from
church and census records…
245 00 $aHenderson family history /$c[compiled] by Sylvia Henderson.
Recording responsibility—more than three
If more than three persons or corporate bodies perform the same
function
On title page: Written by Claire Collins, Rob Smith, Rolando Lopez, and Jean
Miller

AACR: Record the first name only, followed by … [et al.]
245 /$cwritten by Claire Collins … [et al.].

RDA: 2 options
 Record all names
245 /$cWritten by Claire Collins, Rob Smith, Rolando Lopez, and Jean Miller
or
 Record
one or more names followed by phrase [and (number) others]
245 /$cWritten by Claire Collins, Rolando Lopez [and two others].
Recording responsibility—noun or noun
phrase


AACR—record in subfield b
RDA—treat as part of statement of responsibility—record in
subfield c
AACR 245 10 $aTime after time :$ba novel /$cby Karl Alexander.
RDA 245 10 $aTime after time /$ca novel by Karl Alexander.
Recording responsibility--titles and other
information associated with the name

Titles of nobility, address, honor, and distinction, other
information
 AACR—omit
these
On title page: Katherine Corman, M.D., chair of Corman Foundation, and
Michael F. Royce, M.D., founder of Royce Medical Institute
245 _ _ /$cKatherine Corman and Michael F. Royce.
 RDA—transcribe all
245 _ _ /$cKatherine Corman, M.D., chair of Corman Foundation,
and Michael F. Royce, M.D., founder of Royce Medical Institute.
Recording responsibility--titles and other
information associated with the name—cont.

Titles of nobility, address, honor, and distinction, other
information—AACR exceptions

Retain if the omission would leave only a given name or surname
245 _ _ /$cby Miss Jane.
245 _ _ /$cwritten by Dr. Johnson.
 Retain
if necessary to identify the person
245 _ _ /$cby Mrs. Charles H. Gibson.
Recording responsibility—functions

Not every function is recorded in 245 $c, even if it’s on the chief
source
 Differs depending on format
Statement of responsibility—
Books and graphic novels

245 $c
 Author
 Adaptor
 Editor/compiler
 Illustrator/photographer
 Translator
 Author of foreword, introduction and/or preface
 Inker
 Penciller
 Colorist
Other responsibility—
Books and graphic novels

Do not include in 245—can add in a note if desired
 Designer
 Cover illustrator
 Consultant/researcher
Statement of responsibility—
Sound recordings

245 $c
 Composer
 Performer
 Author
245 14 $aThe Joshua tree$h[sound recording] /$cU2.
245 10 $aCrossfire$h[sound recording] /$cDick Francis and Felix
Francis.
Other responsibility—
Sound recordings


511 note:
Narrator/reader
Individual artists if performing group is noted in 245 $c
Other featured performers
Conductor
508 note:
Producer/director
Sound engineer/mixer
Statement of responsibility—
Videorecordings

245 $c
 Production companies
 Writer
 Director
 Producer (executive producer may be listed here if no
producer)
245 00 $aSyriana‡h[videorecording] /‡cWarner Bros. Pictures presents
in association with Participant Productions ; a 4M Film ; a Section Eight
production ; produced by Jennifer Fox, Michael Nozik, Georgia
Kacandes ; written and directed by Stephen Gaghan.
Other responsibility—
Videorecordings


511 note:
 Cast (including voices for animated films)
 Narrator
 Host/presenter
508 note:
 Executive producer (if producer is listed in 245 $c)
 Composer of music
 Director of photography
 Costume designer
 Film editor
 Etc.
For more information-
MARC Coding
 OCLC Bibliographic Formats and Standards
Through Connexion
 On OCLC website: www.oclc.org/bibformats/en.html

 MARC21


format for bibliographic data
On Library of Congress website: www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic
Cataloging rules
 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd ed. (AACR2) – print only
 Resource Description and Access (RDA)
Print
 Online: www.rdatoolkit.org (subscription required)
