MARC 21 Concise Community Information: Introduction

This is an ARCHIVED VERSION of the 2003 electronic edition of the MARC 21 Concise Formats. Please see www.loc.gov/marc/concise/ for the most up-to-date version of the electronic MARC 21 Concise Formats.

The MARC 21 Format for Community Information is designed to be a carrier for descriptions of non-bibliographic resources that fulfill the information needs of a community.

Kinds of Community Information Records

MARC community information records are distinguished from all other types of MARC records by code q (Community information) in Leader/06 (Type of record). The MARC 21 Format for Community Information further identifies five kinds of community information records in Leader/07, (Kind of data):

Individual

A record in which the data pertain to an individual with a particular expertise (e.g., storyteller, civic leader).

Organization

A record in which the data pertain to an organization or group (e.g., corporation, club).

Program or service

A record in which the data pertain to an offering or activity which carries out the purposes of an organization or group (e.g., driver education, blood bank).

Event

A record in which the data pertain to a scheduled happening (e.g., lecture, regularly scheduled meeting).

Other

A record in which the data pertain to a kind of community resource not mentioned above. For instance, information about a facility, such as a planetarium on a university campus).

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Typographical Conventions

Throughout this document, the following typographical conventions are used:

0 - The graphic 0 represents the digit zero in tags, fixed-position character position citations, and indicator positions. This character is distinct from an uppercase letter O used in examples or text.

# - The graphic symbol # is used for a blank (hex 20) in coded fields and in other special situations where the existence of the character blank might be ambiguous.

$ - The graphic symbol $ is used for the delimiter (hex 1F) portion of a subfield code. Within the text, subfield codes are referred to as subfield $a, for example.

/ - Specific character positions of fixed-length data elements, such as those in the Leader, Directory, and field 008, are expressed using a slash and the number of the character position, e.g., Leader/06.

1 - The graphic 1 represents the digit one (hex 31). This character must be distinguished from a lowercase roman alphabet letter l (el) and the uppercase letter I (eye) in examples or text.

| - The graphic | represents a fill character (hex 7C)

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Organization of the Electronic Version of the Concise Format

This electronic concise format is organized into parts that generally mirror the tabbed sections of the full printed format documentation. Each part is divided into chapters that usually cover a single field and all the data elements possible within it (that is, character positions for fixed-length fields and indicators and subfield codes for variable length fields). The Leader and the Directory are described in the first main part, followed by parts containing the variable control fields and variable data fields arranged in numerical field tag order.

Obsolete and deleted content designators are not listed. They are found in the full printed version of the format and in the electronic MARC field lists.

Information for Translators and Other Users
Items highlighted in red indicate changes made after the 2002 edition of the MARC 21 Concise Formats was published and are included in the 2003 printed edition of the MARC 21 Concise Formats.

For information about ordering the full MARC 21 Format for Community Information, please see: Print | CD-ROM

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