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DATE: December 9, 2015
REVISED:
NAME: Expanding the Definition of Subfield $w to Encompass Standard Numbers in the MARC 21 Bibliographic and Authority Formats
SOURCE: British Library
SUMMARY: This paper discusses expanding the scope of subfield $w (Bibliographic record control number) in the MARC 21 Bibliographic and Authority Formats.
KEYWORDS: Authority record control number or standard number (AD, BD); Subfield $w (AD, BD); Bibliographic record control number (AD, BD); URIs (AD, BD)
RELATED: 2010-06 ; 2011-08 ; 2015-07
STATUS/COMMENTS:
12/09/15 – Made available to the MARC community for discussion.
01/10/16 – Results of MARC Advisory Committee discussion: The Committee agreed that this paper should return as a proposal. The label and definition of subfield $w (Bibliographic record control number) should be expanded to encompass the recording of URIs for bibliographic records in the MARC Authority and Bibliographic formats.
The MARC Authority and Bibliographic formats make provision for recording identifiers associated with persons, corporate bodies and meeting names in subfield $0 (Authority record control number or standard number). Subfield $0 supports both the encoding of system control numbers and standard numbers. The MARC Authority and Bibliographic formats also make provision for recording identifiers associated with resource descriptions. However, the scope of subfield $w (Bibliographic record control number) is limited to covering system control numbers and does not encompass standard numbers. The British Library suggests that linked data applications would be rendered more capable of exploiting MARC based bibliographic data if the scope of subfield $w were expanded in line with subfield $0.
MARC subfield $0 encompasses both the recording of system control numbers and standard numbers. This follows MARBI’s approval of MARC Proposal 2010-06 which amended the subfield label and scope as follows:
$0 - Authority record control number or standard number
Subfield $0 contains the system control number of the related authority record, or a standard identifier such as an International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI). The control number or identifier is preceded by the appropriate MARC Organization code (for a related authority record) or the Standard Identifier source code (for a standard identifier scheme), enclosed in parentheses. See MARC Code List for Organizations for a listing of organization codes and Standard Identifier Source Codes for code systems for standard identifiers. Subfield $0 is repeatable for different control numbers or identifiers.
The following example demonstrates the coding of a system control number in relation to a name authority heading:
100 1# $a Bach, Johann Sebastian. $4 aut $0 (DE-101c)310008891
The following example demonstrates the coding of an ISNI standard identifier in relation to a name authority heading:
100 1# $a Trollope, Anthony, $d 1815-1882. $0 (isni) 0000000121358464
Since the scope of $0 was broadened to encompass standard numbers, this subfield has been defined in additional MARC fields belonging to the Authority and Bibliographic formats as a means of further supporting linked data applications. The approval of MARC Proposals 2011-08 and 2015-07 enabled the use of subfield $0 for encoding URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers) associated with controlled vocabularies. URIs for terms relating to carrier characteristics are available from the RDA Registry; URIs for terms relating to content, media and carrier type are available from the RDA Registry and id.loc.gov.
The following example demonstrates coding of the URI for a vocabulary term available from the RDA Registry:
344 ## $a analog $0 (uri) http://rdaregistry.info/termList/typeRec/1001
The following example demonstrates coding of the URI for a vocabulary term available from id.loc.gov:
338 ## $a audio disc $0 (uri) http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/carriers/sd $2 rdacarrier
MARC subfield $w currently covers the recording of system control numbers but not standard numbers. The subfield’s label and scope are currently as follows:
$w - Bibliographic record control number
System control number of the related bibliographic record preceded by the MARC code, enclosed in parentheses, for the agency to which the control number applies. See MARC Code List for Organizations for a listing of sources used in MARC 21 records.
The following example demonstrates the recording of a system control number in relation to a bibliographic record:
800 1#$aNegt, Oskar$tSchriften.$vBd. 2$w(DE-101b)967682460
The MARC Bibliographic format defines subfield $w (Bibliographic record control number) in the following fields:
Linking Entry fields
760, 762, 765, 767, 770, 772, 773, 774, 775, 776, 777, 780, 785, 786, 787
Series added entry fields
800, 810, 811, 830
Other Variable Fields
856, 883
The MARC Authority format defines subfield $w (Bibliographic record control number) in the following fields:
Note fields
670, 672, 673
Other Variable Fields
856, 883
Expanding the scope of subfield $w in these fields to include standard numbers would enable the recording of URIs for related bibliographic records. A record number recorded as a URI would represent a persistent identifier and permalink, whereas a system control number cannot perform this function. By recording these URIs in the Authority and Bibliographic formats, they could be shared as part of the MARC exchange process. Wherever subfield $w is defined as Bibliographic record control number in the Authority and Bibliographic formats, this subfield is repeatable. Therefore, legacy data could be enhanced to include URIs, whilst retaining their equivalent system control numbers. As a result, any indexing based on the presence of system control number in subfield $w would not be compromised.
This paper suggests revising the definition of subfield $w as follows:
$w - Bibliographic record control number or standard number
Subfield $w contains the system control number of the related bibliographic record or a standard identifier for the bibliographic record such as a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). The control number or identifier is preceded by the appropriate MARC Organization code (for a related bibliographic record) or the Standard Identifier source code (for a standard identifier scheme), enclosed in parentheses. See MARC Code List for Organizations for a listing of organization codes and Standard Identifier Source Codes for code systems for standard identifiers. Subfield $w is repeatable for different control numbers or identifiers.
The following examples model the coding of URIs in subfield $w. In each case the parenthetical qualifier “uri” is used as opposed to a more specific qualifier such as “lccn” from the Standard Identifier Source Codes list. This is in order to be consistent with the current implementations of subfield $0 described in the informal discussion paper URIs in MARC: A Call for Best Practices:
“Because it is currently permissible to store many types of control numbers (including URIs) in the $0, convention is to include a prefix (uri) in the $0 before URIs that are dereferenceable.”
Example 1:
Source Data Found note contains URI link to LC bibliographic record for ‘Year of the dunk’:
670 ## $a Work cat: Year of the dunk, 2015 $w (DLC)##2014041716 $w (uri) http://lccn.loc.gov/2014041716
Example 2:
Preceding entry contains URI link to LC bibliographic record for ‘Illinois journal of mathematics’:
780 00 $t Illinois journal of mathematics $y IJMTAW $w (DLC)###59003745# $w (uri) http://lccn.loc.gov/59037545
Example 3:
Succeeding Entry contains URI link to OCLC bibliographic record for ‘University of Western Australia law review’:
785 00 $t University of Western Australia law review $x 0042-0328 $w (OCoLC)1587621 $w (uri) http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1587621
Example 4:
Preceding entry contains URI links to LC and OCLC bibliographic records for ‘Techniques of biochemical and biophysical morphology’:
780 00 $t Techniques of biochemical and biophysical morphology $w (DLC)###72000153# $w (uri) http://lccn.loc.gov/72000153 $w (OCoLC)1021945 $w (uri) http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1021945
Adding linking information to the format will facilitate the transition to fuller linking in BIBFRAME.
5.1. Do you consider that there are any problems associated with recording URIs for bibliographic records in the MARC Authority and Bibliographic formats?
5.2. If you do not consider there are any problems associated with recording URIs for bibliographic records in MARC, should the label and definition of subfield $w (Bibliographic record control number) be expanded to encompass them?
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