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Concise Formats - 2008 Archive >> Holdings >> Introduction

Introduction

This is an ARCHIVED VERSION of the 2008 electronic edition of the MARC 21 Concise Formats. Please see loc.gov/marc/concise/ for the most up-to-date version of the electronic MARC 21 Concise Formats.

MARC 21 Format for Holdings Data is designed to be a carrier for holdings information for three types of bibliographic items that are identified by a code in Leader/06 (Type of record):

• Single-part item - item which is complete in a single physical part, for example, a single map, a score, a one-volume book, a computer file (Leader/06, code x)
• Multipart item - item which is complete, or intended to be complete, in a finite number of separate physical parts, for example, a set of maps, a musical score and parts, a ten-volume encyclopedia, a multimedia kit, a manuscript collection (Leader/06, code v)
• Serial item - item which is issued in successive parts at regular or irregular intervals and is intended to be continued indefinitely, for example, a journal, a serial update service to a looseleaf publication (Leader/06, code y)

In contrast with data elements that are applicable to a universal bibliographic description of these types of items, holdings information may include:

• copy-specific information for an item;
• information that is peculiar to the holding organization;
• information that is needed for local processing, maintenance, or preservation of the item; and
• version information.

Holdings Data Fields

Four sets of holdings data fields are defined for recording information about the items actually held by an organization:

• Captions and Pattern (fields 853-855)
• Enumeration and Chronology (863-865)
• Textual Holdings (866-868)
• Item Information (876-878)

Within each set, separate fields are defined for three categories of material:

• Basic Bibliographic Unit (fields 853, 863, 866, 876)
• Supplementary Material (854, 864, 867, 877)
• Indexes (855, 865, 868, 878)

Separate and Embedded Holdings Information

Field 852 (Location) is defined to contain information in as much detail as is needed to locate an item. It may include such information as a unique shelving designation, copy number, and the address for the current physical location of the item.

Single location field:

When holdings are reported for a single location of an item, the information may be embedded in the related MARC bibliographic record or it may be contained in a single separate holdings record. A single 852 location field and any associated holdings fields are used.

Multiple location fields:

When holdings are reported for multiple copies of an item and the location or call number data elements vary, multiple 852 location fields are required. MARC Holdings does not provide a technique for linking an 852 field to associated holdings information fields. To assure that these fields are implicitly linked, the following record configurations of the holdings information must be applied:

Multiple 852 fields without associated fields:

When multiple 852 location fields have no associated fields, they may all be embedded in the related MARC bibliographic record, may all be contained in a single separate holdings record, or may be contained in multiple separate holdings records.

Multiple 852 fields with associated fields:

When one or more 852 location fields have fields such as 841, 007, 842, 844, 853-855, 86X, or 87X associated with them, each 852 and its associated fields must be communicated in a single unambiguous holdings information cluster. An 852 holdings cluster may be embedded in the related MARC bibliographic record or it may be contained in a single separate holdings record. When the cluster is embedded, no other unassociated 852 location fields or clusters may reside in the bibliographic record; they must reside in separate holdings records.

Multiple 852 fields with equally applicable associated fields:

In special cases, when associated holdings fields may be equally applicable to several 852 fields, all of the 852 fields and the associated fields may be considered a single holdings information cluster. The holdings cluster may either be embedded in the related MARC bibliographic record or contained in a single separate holdings record.

Item information:

A holdings record may contain information for particular physical items at one or more locations. The relationship between field 852, the associated holdings data fields 853-868, and the item information fields 876-878 is included in the section 876-878 Item Information-General Information.

Separate holdings records

A separate holdings record is linked to the related MARC bibliographic record by field 004 (Control Number for Related Bibliographic Record).

The following fields may appear in a separate MARC holdings record:

Holdings fields

• 001  Control Number
• 003  Control Number Identifier
• 004 Control Number for Related Bibliographic Record
• 005  Date and Time of Latest Transaction
• 008  Fixed-Length Data Elements
• 014  Linkage Number
• 035  System Control Number
• 842  Textual Physical Form Designator
• 843  Reproduction Note
• 844  Name of Unit
• 845  Terms Governing Use and Reproduction Note
• 852  Location
• 853  Captions and Pattern-Basic Bibliographic Unit
• 854  Captions and Pattern-Supplementary Material
• 855  Captions and Pattern-Indexes
• 856  Electronic Location and Access
• 863  Enumeration and Chronology-Basic Bibliographic Unit
• 864  Enumeration and Chronology-Supplementary Material
• 865  Enumeration and Chronology-Indexes
• 866  Textual Holdings-Basic Bibliographic Unit
• 867  Textual Holdings-Supplementary Material
• 868  Textual Holdings-Indexes
• 876  Item Information-Basic Bibliographic Unit
• 877  Item Information-Supplementary Material
• 878  Item Information-Indexes

Bibliographic Format fields

• 007 Physical Description Fixed Field
• 010  Library of Congress Control Number
• 016  National Bibliographic Agency Control Number
• 020  International Standard Book Number
• 022   International Standard Serial Number
• 024   Standard Recording Number
• 027   Standard Technical Report Number
• 030   CODEN Designation
• 541   Immediate Source of Acquisition Note
• 561   Ownership and Custodial History
• 562   Copy and Version Identification Note
• 583   Action Note

Of these fields, the following are required in a separate MARC holdings record: Leader, Directory, 001, 004 and 852. For interchange purposes, the related MARC bibliographic record is distributed to exchange partners prior to the distribution of a separate holdings record.

Embedded holdings information

Holdings information may be added to an existing MARC bibliographic record rather than being in a separate linked holdings record.

Embedded holdings information may include the following Holdings Format fields:

• 841  Holdings Coded Data Values
• 843  Reproduction Note
• 845   Terms Governing Use and Reproduction Note
• 852   Location
• 853  Captions and Pattern-Basic Bibliographic Unit
• 854  Captions and Pattern-Supplementary Material
• 855  Captions and Pattern-Indexes
• 856  Electronic Location and Access
• 863  Enumeration and Chronology-Basic Bibliographic Unit
• 864  Enumeration and Chronology-Supplementary Material
• 865  Enumeration and Chronology-Indexes
• 866  Textual Holdings-Basic Bibliographic Unit
• 867  Textual Holdings-Supplementary Material
• 868  Textual Holdings-Indexes
• 876  Item Information-Basic Bibliographic Unit
• 877 Item Information-Supplementary Material
• 878 Item Information-Indexes

• Of these fields, only field 852 is required in a holdings statement that is embedded in the related MARC bibliographic record.

  In general, the guidelines in this document describe separate holdings records. Specific instructions for embedding holdings fields in the related MARC bibliographic record are given in the Input Conventions area of the field descriptions. (The first example in Appendix B: Full Level Record Examples illustrates holdings information reported as a separate holdings record and as a holdings cluster embedded in the related bibliographic record.)

  Compression and Expansion

  Compression or expansion (itemization) of detailed enumeration and chronology data may be done by computer algorithm if no break exists within the levels of enumeration or chronology. A fuller description of this capability is given in the 853-878 Holdings Data-General Information section. The data elements that are required to be present for the compression or expansion of the contents of the enumeration and chronology fields for basic bibliographic units (field 863) and supplementary material (field 864) are described in the Input Conventions area of the 853-855 Captions and Pattern-General Information section. The content of an enumeration and chronology field for indexes (field 865) may not be automatically compressed or expanded because of the potential for an ambiguous holdings statement.

  Typographical Conventions

  Throughout this document, the following typographical conventions are used:

  • 0 - The graphic 0 represents the digit zero in tags, fixed-position character positions, indicator positions, and other places numerics are used. This character must be distinguished from an uppercase letter O in examples or text.
  • # - The graphic symbol # is used for a blank in coded fields and in other special situations where the existence of the character blank might be ambiguous. (In most textual examples, the blank is represented in the conventional way, by the absence of a character.)
  • $ - The graphic symbol $ is used for the delimiter portion of a subfield code. Within the text, subfield codes are referred to as subfield $a, for example.
  • /- Specific character positions of the Leader, Directory, field 007, field 008 are expressed using a slash and the number of the character position, e.g., Leader/06, 007/00, 008/12.
  • 1 - The graphic 1 represents the digit one (hex 31). This character must be distinguished from a lowercase roman alphabet letter l (hex 6C) and uppercase alphabetic letter I (hex 4C) in examples or text.
  • | - The graphic | represents a fill character in MARC examples.

  
  

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  Concise Formats - 2008 Archive >> Holdings >> Introduction Library of Congress >> Librarians, Archivists >> Standards >> MARC (08/01/2009)

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