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DATE: December 18, 2014
REVISED:
NAME: Adding Dates for Corporate Bodies in Field 046 in the MARC 21 Authority Format
SOURCE: British Library
SUMMARY: This paper proposes that date of establishment and date of termination of a corporate body are accommodated in Field 046 (Special Coded Dates).
KEYWORDS: Field 046 (AD); Special Coded Dates (AD); Period of activity of the corporate body (AD); Establishment date (AD); Termination date (AD); RDA
RELATED: 2014-DP05; 2008-DP05; 2009-01
STATUS/COMMENTS:
12/18/14 – Made available to the MARC community for discussion.
01/31/15 – Results of MARC Advisory Committee discussion: Approved as submitted.
03/23/15 - Results of MARC Steering Group review - Agreed with the MAC decision.
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 propose that new subfields are defined so that dates relating to a period of activity can be coded separately from dates relating to the establishment and termination of a corporate body. We also propose that the 046 field definition and scope is changed as it relates to corporate bodies, and that the subfield 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-rev.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]
This paper recommends the definition of a 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. Meanwhile, 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. The following text includes proposed subfield labels and definitions for $q and $r.
$q - Establishment date (NR)
The year a corporate body was established. Date of establishment may also include the month and day of the corporate body’s establishment.$r - Termination date (NR)
The year a corporate body was terminated. 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 proposed 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 Definitions
Amending the definitions for 046 subfields $s and $t would make it clearer that they relate to the earliest and latest dates in a period of activity. The following text includes proposed amendments (< > in italics indicates additional text; deleted text is struck through).
$s - Start period (NR)
Start<Earliest> datefor a significant period associated with the entity<in a period of activity>$t - End period (NR)
End<Latest> datefor a significant period associated with the entity<in a period of activity>
The following examples provide illustrations of how establishment and termination dates associated with a corporate body would be coded using subfields $q and $r.
Example 1:
046 ##$q1977
110 2#$aDouble Image (Musical group : 1977-)
Example 2:
046 ##$q1970$r1972
110 2#$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 they will be added soon if they are needed. This would be one aspect of names that would be on that list for analysis.
In the MARC 21 Authority Format:
5.1. Define a non-repeatable subfield $q "Establishment date" and non-repeatable subfield $r “Termination date” in field 046.
5.2. Expand the 046 Field Definition and Scope for corporate bodies.
5.3. Amend the definitions for 046 subfields $s and $t to make them more indicative of their scope.
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