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DATE: May 22, 2014
REVISED:
NAME: Adding Dates for Corporate Bodies in Field 046 in the MARC 21 Authority Format
SOURCE: British Library
SUMMARY: This discussion paper considers the options for accommodating date of establishment and date of termination of a corporate body.
KEYWORDS: Field 046 (AD); Special Coded Dates (AD); Period of activity of the corporate body (AD); Date of establishement (AD); Date of termination (AD); RDA
STATUS/COMMENTS:
05/22/14 – Made available to the MARC community for discussion.
06/29/14 – Results of MARC Advisory Committee discussion: The Committee preferred Option 1, which sets out to define new subfields in field 046 (Special Coded Dates) in the Authority format, along with other amendments, as follows: 1) Definition of subfield $q (Establishment date). 2) Definition of subfield $r (Termination date). 3) Expansion of the field definition and scope for a corporate body to include ‘period of activity’. 4) Replacement of the first sentence in the definition for $s (Start period) with ‘Earliest date in a period of activity.’ 5) Replacement of the first sentence in the definition of $t (End period) with 'Latest date in a period of activity.' The paper will return as a proposal at Midwinter 2015.
The 046 field (Special Coded Dates) was added to the MARC 21 Authority Format following Discussion Paper 2008-DP05 and Proposal 2009-01. It was defined in order to support the recording of date details in RDA.
Field 046 is currently defined in the Authority format as follows:
The element sub-type ‘Period of Activity of the Corporate Body’ was added to RDA as part of the April 2014 Update. To ensure correlation between RDA and the 046 field is maintained, we suggest two options for how MARC coding could be changed. One solution would be to define new subfields so that dates relating to a period of activity could be coded separately from dates relating to the establishment and termination of a corporate body. Alternatively, the subfield names and scoping of 046 $f (Birth date) and $g (Death date) could be expanded to accommodate dates of establishment and termination for corporate bodies. We also suggest that the 046 field definition and scope is changed as it relates to corporate bodies, and that the subfield labels and definitions of 046 $s (Start period) and $t (End period) are changed to make them more indicative of their scope.
2.1. Date of Establishment and Termination of a Corporate Body
The 2013 meeting of the JSC approved proposal 6JSC/BL11 (http://www.rda-jsc.org/docs/6JSC-BL-11-Sec-final.pdf). This adds to RDA the element sub-type Period of Activity of the Corporate Body:
“Period of activity of the corporate body is a date or range of dates indicative of the period in which a corporate body was active […] If a corporate body’s date of establishment and date of termination are both unknown, record a date or range of dates indicative of the corporate body’s period of activity”.
Discussion Paper 2008-DP05 originally suggested that separate subfields be defined in 046 for:
$f - Birth date
$g - Death date
$o - Period of activity (start)
$p - Period of activity (end)
$q - Date of establishment
$r - Date of termination
However, in the absence of any RDA element for Period of Activity of the Corporate Body, 2009-01 proposed that the same subfield be used to record, respectively, period of activity (start) for persons and date of establishment for corporate bodies, and period of activity (end) for persons and date of termination for corporate bodies:
$f - Birth date (NR)
$g - Death date (NR)
$o - Start period (NR)
$p - End period (NR)
This was implemented, using $s and $t instead of $o and $p. So whereas dates of birth and death ($f and $g) can be distinguished from dates for period of activity ($s and $t) for persons, the same distinction cannot be made for corporate bodies, between dates of establishment and termination, and dates for period of activity. This is no longer tenable, as “date of establishment and date of termination” are now distinct, in RDA, from “a date or range of dates indicative of the corporate body’s period of activity”. They can be recorded distinctly in the authorized access point:
110 2# $aBrigham Young University.$bDepartment of Education (1970-1972)
[represents dates of establishment and termination]110 2# $a Harrison & Leigh (active 1810-1818)
[represents dates indicative of a period of activity]
OPTION 1
Follow the original proposal in 2008-DP05: define new subfield $q for date of establishment and $r for date of termination. These subfields would then be used to code the definite start and end dates of a corporate body. Subfields $s and $t would be used for dates indicative of the start and end of periods of activity, both for persons and for corporate bodies. This approach would be preferable from the perspective of more granular coding. The following text includes possible subfield labels and definitions for $q and $r.
$q - Date of establishment
The year a corporate body was established. Date of establishment may also include the month and day of the corporate body’s establishment.$r - Date of termination
The year a corporate body was terminated. Date of termination may also include the month and day of the corporate body’s termination.
OPTION 2
Broaden the definition of subfields $f and $g to include dates of establishment and termination (as dates of birth and death are also definite start and end dates). These subfields would then be used to code the definite start and end dates of a corporate body. Subfields $s and $t would be used for dates indicative of the start and end of periods of activity, both for persons and for corporate bodies. This approach would be preferable from the perspective of requiring no additions to existing coding. The following text includes possible amendments to subfield labels and definitions for $f and $g (< > in italics indicates addition).
$f - Birth date <or date of establishment>
The year a person was born <or the year a corporate body was established>. Date of birth may also include the month and day of the person’s birth. <Date of establishment may also include the month and day of the corporate body’s establishment.>$g - Death date <or date of termination>
The year a person died <or the year a corporate body was terminated>. Date of death may also include the month and day of the person’s death. <Date of termination may also include the month and day of the corporate body’s termination.>
2.2. 046 Field Definition and Scope
In order to encompass the addition of a new element sub-type ‘Period of Activity of the Corporate Body’ in RDA, it would be useful to expand the 046 Field Definition and Scope as it relates to corporate bodies. The following text includes possible amendments (< > in italics indicates addition).
For a corporate body: a date or range of dates on which a conference, etc., is held, or a date with which the corporate body is otherwise associated (e.g., date of establishment, date of termination, < period of activity>).
2.3. 046 Subfield $s and $t Labels and Definitions
Renaming 046 subfields $s and $t would make them more indicative of their scope. At present “Start period” and “End period” are suggestive of “period at the start” and “period at the end”, rather than a range denoting the start and end of a period. Instead, the labels “Start of period” and “End of period” would be preferable. Changes could be made to the existing definition of subfields $s and $t which complement a change of labels. The following text includes possible amendments to subfield labels and definitions for $s and $t (< > in italics indicates change or addition).
$s - Start <of> period
Start date for a significant period <of activity> associated with the entity.
The date is recorded as specified in the field definition and scope.
$t – End <of> period
End date for a significant period <of activity> associated with the entity.
The date is recorded as specified in the field definition and scope.
The following examples provide illustrations of current 046 coding compared with how this coding would change if either option listed under 2.1 were applied.
Example 1:
Current Practice:
046 ##$s1977
110 2#$aDouble Image (Musical group : 1977-)Proposed Practice (Option 1):
046 ##$q1977
110 2#$aDouble Image (Musical group : 1977-)Proposed Practice (Option 2)
046 ##$f1977
110 2#$aDouble Image (Musical group : 1977-)
Example 2:
Current Practice:
046 ##$s1970$t1972
110 2#$aBrigham Young University.$bDepartment of Education (1970-1972)Proposed Practice (Option 1):
046 ##$q1970$r1972
110 2#$aBrigham Young University.$bDepartment of Education (1970-1972)Proposed Practice (Option 2):
046 ##$f1970$g1972
110 2#$aBrigham Young University.$bDepartment of Education (1970-1972)
There are several characteristics of names that have been added to the MARC format but not to MADSRDF yet, and we have been planning to investigate what is needed. This would be one aspect of names that would be on that list for analysis.
5.1. Which option do you prefer in order to code dates which relate to a period of activity separately from dates which relate to the establishment and termination of a corporate body?
5.2. Should the 046 field definition and scope be expanded to specify that the period of activity is a type of date which can be associated with a corporate body?
5.3. Do the subfield field labels and definitions for 046 $s and $t require amendment to make them more indicative of their scope?
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