Fixed Fields
Information Session
29 February 2012
Originally researched & presented in 2010 by:
Andrew Gloe
Julie Watson
Map Acquisitions & Cataloguing Team
Australian Collections Management
& Preservation Branch
Purchased Monographs Unit
Overseas Collections Management Branch
tToday ‘s Presenter: Fran D’Castro, Standards & Training , NLA
Today’s session
• Overview of the Fixed Fields in MARC
bibliographic records
– What are they?
– What do they do?
– Why are they important?
• Fixed Fields cataloguing tips
• Questions
Out of scope
• Specific Fixed Field information for special
material formats
– MARC21 format for bibliographic data
website: http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/
– Refer to your local & LA manuals
– Ask your supervisor if unsure
What are the Fixed Fields?
• Leader
– 000 field
(mandatory)
• Variable control fields
– 001, 003, 005 fields
– 006, 007 fields
– 008 field
(system generated)
(optional)
(mandatory)
Why called Fixed Fields?
• Coded data in fixed
character positions
• All data elements
have a specific
character position
System generated Fixed Fields
• 001 Local System Number
• 003 Control Number Identifier
• 005 Date & Time of Last Transaction
001 in Libraries Australia
001 fields from External databases
003 Control Number Identifier
• Identifies the origins of a record
– MARC Code List for Organisations:
http://www.loc.gov/marc/organizations/org-search.php
• 003 & 001 transfer to the 035 System Control
Number field in Voyager eg:
History workshop journal [electronic resource]
– 035 $a (WaSeSS)ssj0003649
– 003 = Serials Solutions, 001 = ssj0003649
005 Date & Time of Latest Transaction
• Representation of Dates & Times standard
(ISO 8601) , 16 characters
– Date format: yyyymmdd Time format: hhmmss.f
• This LA record last saved:
– 20080904 093812 .0
– yyyymmdd hhmmss .f
– 4 September 2008 at 9:38am & 12 secs
Fixed Fields for Cataloguing
• 000 Leader
• 008 Fixed-Length Data Elements
• 006 Fixed-Length Data Elements Additional
Material Characteristics
• 007 Physical Description Fixed Field
000 Leader
Leader/05 – Record Status
Leader/06 – Type of Record
Leader/07 – Bibliographic Level
Leader/08 – Type of Control
Leader/17 – Encoding Level
Leader/18 – Cataloguing Form
Leader/19
Linked Record Requirement
000 Leader Summary
Leader Cataloguing Tips #1
• Always check the Leader!
• Upgrading a less than full level record to full
level
– Record status: ‘a’ (Increase in encoding level) or
‘p’ (Increase in encoding from pre-publication)
– Encoding level: ‘_’ (Full level)
– Cataloguing form: ‘a’ (AACR2)
Leader Cataloguing Tips #2
• Check ‘Type of record’ especially when editing
older catalogue records
– Electronic resources ‘a’ (Language material) not
‘m’ for (Computer file)
– ‘m’ for computer software programs
– Sound recordings: ’i’ (Non-musical), ‘j’ (Musical)
– Pictorial formats: ‘k’ for pictures not ‘g’ for films
• Match 245 $h [gmd] with ‘Type of Record’
008 & 000 Leader
008 Fixed-Length Data Elements
• Coded information about bibliographic
aspects of a resource
• Mandatory, non repeatable field
• Leader determines 008 format specific
elements
• 40 character positions (00-39)
– 00-17 and 35-39 defined the same for all formats
008 Common Data Elements
Positions 00-17 & 35-39
008 character
position
Data element
00-05
Data entered on file
06
Type of date/Publication
status
07-10
Date 1
11-14
Date 2
15-17
Place of publication,
production, or execution
18-34
[Various data elements
across formats]
35-37
Language
38
Modified record
39
Cataloguing source
008 Cataloguing Tips – Book example
008 Fixed Field Data Element
Variable Data Field
008/ 07-14
Date of publication
260 $c
008/15-17
Place of publication
260 $a
008/18-21
Illustrations
300 $a plates $b ill, facsims., maps, music, ports., etc.
008/24-27
Nature of contents
Bibliographies
500 $a Includes bibliographical references and index.
500 $a Includes bibliographical references (p. 264).
008/28
Government Publication
- Specify type eg national, state, local
008/29
Conference publication
650 $v
008/ 30
Festschrift
650 $a
008 /31
Index
500 $a Includes index.
500 $a Includes bibliographical references and index.
008 /33
Literary Form
650 $v
008/34
Biography
650 $v
008 /35-37
Language
041
008/39
Cataloguing source
040 $a
006 Fixed-Length Data Elements Additional Material Characteristics
• Coded information about the resource that
cannot be coded in the 008 Fixed-Length Data
Elements field eg:
– a DVD or CD accompanying a monograph
– an electronic (online) serial
• Optional and repeatable field
• 18 character positions (00-17). 01-17 relate to
positions 18-34 from the 008 configurations
006 – CD-ROM example
007 Physical Description Fixed Field
• Coded information about the physical
characteristics of a resource eg:
– map, computer file, microform, kit, sound
recording or text
• May represent the whole resource or parts
such as accompanying material
• Optional and repeatable field
• Number of character positions depends on
the code contained in 007/00 category of
material
007 – Microform example #1
007 – Microform example #2
006 & 007 – Website example
Fixed Fields evolution
• In 2010, additional codings added to 008,
improving description of electronic resources
• For more details see the MARC website:
http://www.loc.gov/marc/up10_11bibliograp
hic/bdapndxg.html
Why Fixed Fields are important
• Provide search limit options & facet searching
• Internal collection management and reporting
• Match/merge processes in systems eg
Libraries Australia
Fixed Field Search Limit Options
Questions?
Useful Resources
Understanding MARC
http://www.loc.gov/marc/umb/
MARC 21 format for
bibliographic data
http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/
Fixed fields elements
http://www.oclc.org/bibformats/en/pdf/ffe.pdf
Relationship of fields 006, 007,
and 008
http://www.loc.gov/marc/formatintegration.html
When to add 006 & 007 fields
http://ccslib.org/Catalogers/index.php?title=
When_to_add_006_and_007_fields
Guidelines for coding electronic
resources in leader/06
http://www.loc.gov/marc/ldr06guide.html