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DATE: May 23, 2012
REVISED:
NAME: Chronological Aspects in the MARC 21 Bibliographic and Authority Formats
SOURCE: ALCTS CaMMS Subject Analysis Committee Subcommittee on Genre/Form Implementation
SUMMARY: This paper explores possibilities for recording chronological aspects of works, specifically the date or period of origin or creation.
KEYWORDS: Field 045 (BD); Field 648 (BD); Field 046 (BD,AD); Genre/Form; Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms for Library and Archival Materials; LCGFT
RELATED:
STATUS/COMMENTS:
05/23/12 - Made available to the MARC community for discussion.
06/24/12 – Results of MARC Advisory Committee discussion: The discussion brought out that these are not subjects and thus should not be impacted by what RDA eventually does with subjects. Question 3.1: Yes. Question 3.2: Field 045 (Time Period of Content) has issues such as hard to distinguish from 046, is primarily intended for content not date of origin/creation, and cannot handle BC dates well. Question 3.3: There needs to be more clarity on use of 045 for origin for some forms of material, as this makes it overlap with whichever field is chosen for the data in the proposal. Question 3.4: Yes. Question 3.5: In spite of the fact that confusion may exist with more than one, there was sentiment for all three, carefully delineated. Question 3.6: It was not clear that the distinction was needed. Question 3.7: Yes, definitely. The SAC genre/form subcommittee expects to prepare a best practices document for encoding this information. May come back as a proposal.
The ALCTS SAC Subcommittee on Genre/Form Implementation is working with the Library of Congress as an advisory body in the matter of genre/form term implementation and the creation of the Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms for Library and Archival Materials (LCGFT). The subcommittee has been considering what to do with numerous characteristics currently included in some Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) used as form headings, characteristics that are not themselves strictly genre/form, and which will not be incorporated into LCGFT.
One of these characteristics is the chronological origin aspect of a work, especially for describing collections/aggregated works. In RDA 7.0, Describing Content, the elements of content description are defined to “include those that users typically rely on when selecting a resource to meet their requirements relating to content–nature of the content, intended audience, language, etc.” The chronological origin aspect of a work’s content is one such element, especially when that aspect is featured as a criterion for inclusion in an aggregate. No mapping is provided in RDA Appendix D.2.1, Mapping of MARC 21 Bibliographic to RDA, for recording the chronological origin aspect of an aggregated work’s contents in a field intended to express chronological information in a standardized form. Such a field would make this data more available for searching and faceted indexing.
The IFLA FRBR Review Group’s Working Group on Aggregates has proposed in its final report that manifestations combining two or more expressions are the optimal focus for description and access related specifically to aggregated entities while acknowledging that work and expression level descriptions of aggregates may also be appropriate in some cases. The options discussed below are phrased in terms of describing aggregated works, but note that the FRBR level at which aggregated contents should be described collectively is not a fully settled question for FRBR or for RDA.
Returning to the concern which originally prompted this discussion, currently the chronological origin aspect of various kinds of works is included in subdivisions or phrase headings in LCSH (cf. e.g. Subject Headings Manual, H 1775 Literature: General) which are defined for genre/form use, for example:
Operas $y 18th century [operas created in the 18th century]
English drama $y 19th century [English drama created in the 19th century]
Literature, Medieval [European literature created during the Middle Ages]
Rock music $y 1961-1970 [rock music popular during the seventh decade of the 20th century, or if that is not known, recorded during that decade]
Christian literature, Early [literature written by Christians before the 8th century AD]
German poetry $y Early modern, 1500-1700 [German poetry created during the 16th and 17th centuries]
Given that LCGFT does not use subdivisions or phrases to express non-genre/form aspects of a genre/form term, it is unclear how the chronological aspect of these access points should be preserved. It could also be argued that chronology, like others of the aspects under review, is not actually subject information; but since it has been included in some cases in subject coded fields used to express genre/form, one immediate practical concern is to find a way of preserving that data when implementing more strictly-defined genre/form terms.
More generally, specific coding to express the time of origin of the contents of aggregate works is currently lacking in MARC 21. For example, a MARC 21 record describing the anthology Science Fiction of the Thirties, published in 1975, can express the anthology’s date of publication in 008/07-10, and might express a range of dates in field 045 representing the period depicted, but there is no clear place to encode the fact that the contents of the volume were collectively created in the 1930s. While this discussion began from a concern to find alternate representation for chronological data now found in some genre/form-related subject headings, its scope has expanded into an exploration of how to represent dates of origin or original publication, i.e., the chronological coverage of the contents, in the case of the contents of aggregated works generally.
Three fields in the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format where this data might be recorded are field 045, Time Period of Content (NR); field 648, Subject Added Entry - Chronological Term (R); and field 046, Special Coded Dates. In the MARC 21 Authority Format field 046, Special Coded Dates, could also be used to represent the original dates of aggregated contents. We will consider these three options, which are not necessarily exclusive of each other.
MARC 21 Bibliographic Format
OPTION 1. Field 045 - Time Period of Content (NR)
Field 045 is currently defined as:
Under Field 045’s current Definition and Scope, the meaning of the time expression contained in the field varies depending on the format of the item described. For most formats, the time expression refers to coverage in the sense of period covered, depicted, or portrayed:
books, textual manuscripts, and continuing resources; motion pictures and videorecordings; two-dimensional graphic representations: “period depicted”
mixed materials, computer files, artifacts: “period covered”
cartographic materials: “date portrayed, … situation date”
For a few formats, however, the time expression in 045 refers to a date or period of origin, as experts with those media considered the period of origin as reflective of the period of the content:
notated music and sound recordings: “period of composition, … usually … date of composition”
naturally occurring objects: “time period that the item originated”
While the 045 is well suited to representing chronological information in a standard format, the varying semantics of the field presents a problem. For example, a collection of stories written in one century about life in another century would reflect in the 045 the latter century, as the field is not intended to reflect the time the stories were written. However, for a sound recording which has both a date of composition and a period depicted (e.g., an opera created in the 19th century that is set in ancient Egypt), only the former is reflected in 045.
If it is necessary to convey the date created in field 045 (noting that it is already accommodated in 046 (Special Coded Dates)) one solution would be to define second indicator values to identify explicitly the distinction between time depicted and time of origin without limiting this choice by format. The field would also need to be made repeatable so that it could be used to represent both a period depicted and a period of creation as needed:
045 - Time Period of Content (R) [repeatability NEW]
Second Indicator
# - No information provided [revised]
0 – Date or time period covered or depicted [NEW]
1 – Date or time period of creation or origin [NEW]
The new coding would allow a code of either 0 or 1 on records. The # code would have to be revised to mean no information provided, which is the usual treatment of a previously undefined indicator.
N.B.: LCSH terms for literature are used provisionally in 655 in the examples in the absence of comparable LCGFT terms, which are still under development. In the examples below, data that is usually in the 046 is recorded in the 045 using indicator 1.
Nineteenth century English drama, published 1985- [a microform set]
045 21 $b d1800 $b d1899
655 #0 $a Drama.
The writings of medieval women : an anthology, published 1994.
045 21 $b d0203 $b d1486
655 #0 $a Literature.
Samuel Francis Du Pont : a selection from his Civil War letters, published 1969. [a collection of letters dated 1860-1865]
045 21 $b d1860 $b d1865
045 20 $b d1860 $b d1865
655 #0 $a Letters.
Mae West : the glamour collection, copyright 2006 [a DVD set of films originally released 1932-1940]
045 21 $b d1932 $b d1940
655 #7 $a Feature films. $2 lcgft
655 #7 $a Fiction films. $2 lcgft
House arrest : a search for American character in and around the White House, past and present ; and Piano : two plays, published 2004 [two plays by Anna Deavere Smith; the first, originally commissioned and produced in 1997, jumps between the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, with a focus on the first term of President Bill Clinton; the second, first produced in workshop in 1988 (first professional production in 1990), takes place in 1898]
045 01 $81\c $b d1997
045 20 $81\c $b d1993 $b d1997
045 20 $81\c $b d1700 $b d1799
045 20 $81\c $b d1800 $b d1899
045 20 $81\c $b d1900 $b d1997
045 01 $82\c $b d1988
045 00 $82\c $b d1898
655 #0 $81\c$82\c $a Historical drama.
655 #0 $81\c $a Documentary plays.
655 #0 $81\c$8\2 $a Political plays.
700 12 $81\c $a Smith, Anna Deavere. $t House arrest.
700 12 $82\c $a Smith, Anna Deavere. $t Piano.
Discussion
Advantages to using the 045 field:
Disadvantages to using the 045 field:
OPTION 2. Field 648 - Subject Added Entry – Chronological Term (R)
Field 648 is currently defined as:
The 648 field is defined as a “subject added entry in which the entry element is a chronological term.” The definition does not specify semantics for the chronological term, though the implication is that it represents the period depicted rather than a period of origin. To enable the expression of this distinction, additional values could be defined for the first indicator:
First Indicator
# - No information provided [revised]
0 – Date or time period covered or depicted [NEW]
1 – Date or time period of creation or origin [NEW]
In this way, field 648 could be used in combination with field 655 to express a date or time period of creation as is now often done when genre/form terms are used in 650.
Examples
N.B.: LCSH terms for periods of time are used provisionally in the examples. Currently there is no LC controlled vocabulary intended for use in field 648. LCSH terms for literature are used provisionally in field 655 in the absence of comparable LCGFT terms, which are still under development.
Nineteenth century English drama, published 1985- [a microform set]
648 10 $a Nineteenth century.
655 #0 $a Drama.
The writings of medieval women : an anthology, published 1994.
648 17 $a 203-1486 $2 fast
648 10 $a Middle Ages.
655 #0 $a Literature.
Samuel Francis Du Pont : a selection from his Civil War letters, published 1969. [a collection of letters dated 1860-1865]
648 17 $a 1860-1865 $2 fast
648 07 $a 1860-1865 $2 fast
655 #0 $a Letters.
Mae West : the glamour collection, copyright 2006 [a DVD set of films originally released 1932-1940]
648 17 $a 1932-1940 $2 fast
648 10 $a Nineteen thirties.
648 10 $a Nineteen forties.
655 #7 $a Feature films. $2 lcgft
655 #7 $a Fiction films. $2 lcgft
House arrest : a search for American character in and around the White House, past and present ; and Piano : two plays, published 2004 [two plays by Anna Deavere Smith; the first, originally commissioned and produced in 1997, jumps between the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, with a focus on the first term of President Bill Clinton; the second, first produced in workshop in 1988 (first professional production in 1990), takes place in 1898]
648 07 $81\c $a 1993-1997 $2 fast
648 00 $81\c $a Eighteenth century.
648 00 $81\c $a Nineteenth century.
648 00 $81\c $a Twentieth century.
648 17 $81\c $a 1997 $2 fast
648 07 $82\c $a 1898 $2 fast
648 17 $82\c $a 1988 $2 fast
655 #0 $81\c$82\c $a Historical drama.
655 #0 $81\c $a Documentary plays.
655 #0 $81\c$8\2 $a Political plays.
700 12 $81\c $a Smith, Anna Deavere. $t House arrest.
700 12 $82\c $a Smith, Anna Deavere. $t Piano.
Discussion
Advantages to using the 648 field:
Disadvantages to using the 648 field:
OPTION 3. Field 046 - Special Coded Dates (R)
Field 046 is currently defined as:
$a - Type of date code
| i | Inclusive dates of collection |
| k | Bulk of collection |
| m | Multiple dates |
| n | Unknown date |
| p | Distribution/release/issue and production/recording session dates |
| q | Questionable date |
| r | Reissue and original dates |
| s | Single known/probable date |
| t | Publication and copyright dates |
| x | Incorrect dates |
A third alternative would be to define new Type of Date codes in field 046. While some of the existing codes in field 046 and field 008/06 express relationships similar to the one under discussion, the existing codes are problematic for the purpose under discussion. Either they are defined to reflect date information related to a published work itself, or they are defined to reflect the date or dates of the contents of an unpublished collection. Neither case is well suited to expressing the original date span of the contents of a published collection/aggregated work. Therefore, defining new codes seems the better course. The letters “f” and “g” are used here as place holders for the new code values.
046 - Special Coded Dates
$a Type of date code
| f | Inclusive dates of origin or original publication of the contents of a published collection/aggregation [NEW] |
| g | Bulk dates of origin or original publication of the contents of a published collection/aggregation [NEW] |
Codes analogous to codes f and g would not be used in field 008/06 because the existing 008/06 codes representing publication dates of the aggregated work itself would take precedence. Use of the new codes in field 046 would enable the original creation/publication/release, etc. dates of an aggregated work’s contents to be expressed clearly in combination with the publication and other date information relating to the aggregated work itself.
046 in MARC 21 Authority Format
The focus of this discussion paper has been on representing dates of origin or original publication for aggregated work in the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format. There are also fields for date information in the MARC 21 Authority Format, where the characteristics of works might also be recorded. Expression of the date characteristics of aggregated works could be accommodated in the authority format by adding new subfields to field 046, Special Coded Dates, to indicate the same distinctions represented by the new codes proposed for field 046 in the Bibliographic format. As in the Bibliographic format, for aggregated works existing codes would continue to be used for dates related to the aggregated work itself; the new codes would represent specifically the dates of an aggregated work’s contents.
Field 046 is currently defined as:
Subfields $k and $l are explained further in the guidelines for applying content designators:
$k - Beginning or single date created
For a work, earliest date (normally the year) associated with a work; that date may be the date the work was created or first published or released. For an expression, the earliest date (normally the year) associated with an expression; that date may be the date of the earliest known manifestation of that expression. In both cases the date in subfield $k may be the starting date of a range or a single date.$l - Ending date created
Ending date of the date range for which the beginning date is recorded in $k.
The following new subfields could be added:
$m – Beginning or single date created for aggregated work contents [NEW]
For a published collection/aggregated work, earliest date (normally the year) associated with the work’s contents; that date may be the date the earliest content was created or first published or released. The date in subfield $m may be the starting date of a range or a single date.$n – Ending date created for aggregated work contents [NEW]
Ending date of the date range for which the beginning date is recorded in $m.
Examples
N.B.: LCSH terms for literature are used provisionally in 655 in the examples in the absence of comparable LCGFT terms, which are still under development.
Nineteenth century English drama, 1985- [a microform set]
Bibliographic format:
046 ## $a f $k 1800 $l 1899
655 #0 $a Drama.Authority format:
046 ## $m 1800 $n 1899
The writings of medieval women : an anthology, published 1994.
Bibliographic format:
046 ## $a f $k 0203 $l 1486
655 #0 $a Literature.Authority format:
046 ## $m 0203 $n 1486
Samuel Francis Du Pont : a selection from his Civil War letters, published 1969. [a collection of letters dated 1860-1865]
Bibliographic format:
046 ## $a g $k 1860 $l 1865
655 #0 $a Letters.Authority format:
046 ## $m 1860 $n 1865
Mae West : the glamour collection, copyright 2006 [a DVD set of films originally released 1932-1940]
Bibliographic format
046 ## $a f $k 1932 $l 1940
655 #7 $a Feature films. $2 lcgft
655 #7 $a Fiction films. $2 lcgftAuthority format
046 ## $m 1932 $n 1940
House arrest : a search for American character in and around the White House, past and present ; and Piano : two plays, published 2004 [two plays by Anna Deavere Smith; the first, originally commissioned and produced in 1997, jumps between the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, with a focus on the first term of President Bill Clinton; the second, first produced in workshop in 1988 (first professional production in 1990), takes place in 1898]
Bibliographic format:
046 ## $a f $k 2004
046 ## $81\c $a s $k 1997
046 ## $82\c $a s $k 1988
655 #0 $81\c$82\c $a Historical drama.
655 #0 $81\c $a Documentary plays.
655 #0 $81\c$8\2 $a Political plays.
700 12 $81\c $a Smith, Anna Deavere. $t House arrest.
700 12 $82\c $a Smith, Anna Deavere. $t Piano.Authority format:
046 ## $m 1988 $n 1997
Discussion
Advantages to using the 046 field:
Disadvantages to using the 046 field:
Note: This discussion paper does not propose using 046 to describe the subject aspect of works. The question of representing subject aspects of entities established in authority records is a larger, and different, one and needs separate discussion.
3.1. Does MARC need a place to encode date or period of creation in particular for the content of published collections/aggregated works?
3.2. Would field 045 provide additional useful capabilities if it could be used for date or period of creation for all types of resources?
3.3. Is there redundancy between 045 and 046 for printed music, sound recordings, and naturally occurring objects? If so, should the redundancy be eliminated?
3.4. Would field 648 be a useful way to collocate works based on controlled vocabularies for time periods of creation?
3.5. Is there a better alternative to consider? Would it be useful to enable the Bibliographic format 045, 648, and 046 fields all to carry chronological origin data?
3.6. Is the use of an indicator value in 046 and/or 648 fields to specify the meaning of a date as either that of creation or of coverage appropriate, or is there a better approach?
3.7. Should a change made to the bibliographic 046 also be made in the authority 046?
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