BCC2003/SMF/1

MARBI / MARC Advisory Committee
Report from the ALA Midwinter Conference
Philadelphia, PA, January 25-26, 2003

MARBI and the MARC Advisory Committee met concurrently in two sessions during the ALA Midwinter meeting in Philadelphia. Chair Tom Saudergas (CCLA) led the sessions.

Summary:
Although the agenda for the meetings was light, the discussions raised a number of significant broader issues that will have an impact on MARBI’s work in the near future.

Highlights:
There was one discussion paper of particular interest to the music community:

Proposals:

2003-01: Defining subfield $2 in field 022 for ISSN Center code (approved as amended)
This proposal defines a means of recording codes representing the ISSN Center responsible for assigning and maintaining the ISSN recorded in field 022.
2003-02: Definition of $u (URI) in field 538 (System Details Note) in the MARC21 Bibliographic Format (approved as amended)
The proposal defines a subfield to record a URI that links to a description of technical details concerning how a digital resource was created. The proposal was amended include the Holdings Format and 2 additional subfields.

Discussion Papers:

2003-DP01: Data Elements for Article Level Description
This paper discusses possible methods of parsing the various elements of article-level citations into separate subfields. Two of the options presented were selected with a recommendation for presentation as a proposal.
2003-DP02: Coding graphic images in Leader/06 in the MARC21 Bibliographic Format
Currently values g and k in this position are defined as project medium and two-dimensional non-projectable graphic. The paper explores the possibility of redefining the values into the more useful categories of moving image and still image. The Committee determined that the problem of describing and categorizing image materials is complex and could not be solved by redefining these values.
2003-DP03: Adding Field 024 (Other Standard Identifier) to the MARC21 Authority Format
This paper explores the advantages of being able to record the growing number of international standard numbers being established for categories of expressions of works (e.g. ISTC, International Standard Text Code; ISWC, International Standard Musical Work Code; ISAN, International Standard Audiovisual Number). The Committee recognized the value of being able to record these numbers and discussed the potential these codes might have as linking points in expression level authority control, although the MLA representative voiced concern about relying on other bodies to provide codes to be used in coordinating records in our bibliographic universe of libraries. The Committee recommended that the paper return as a proposal, albeit with a different choice of field tag.

Presentation:
Sally H. McCallum and Rebecca Guenther (Network Development & MARC Standards Office, Library of Congress) gave a presentation on the various schemes and programs LC has developed for moving data between the MARC21 and XML record environments.

Library of Congress Report:
Additional categories of LC codes are being made available online. The agreement with the British Library for shared responsibility for MARC21 has been signed.

Submitted by Paul Cauthen
Chair, Subcommittee on MARC Formats
Music Library Association Liaison to the MARC Advisory Committee

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Last updated March 8, 2003