NAME: Definition of X55 Fields for Genre/Form Terms in the USMARC Authority Format
SOURCE: Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library
SUMMARY: This paper proposes the definition of fields 155, 455, 555, and 755 in the USMARC Authority Format to allow for the creation of authority records for genre/form terms. It suggests the creation of separate authority records for those terms that function both as topical and genre/form, one coded as 150 and the other as 155.
KEYWORDS: Genre/Form (Authority); Field X55 (Authority); Field 008/18 (Authority); Heading Use--Genre/Form Index Term
RELATED: 95-12 (June 1995); 95-10 (June 1995); DP83 (Feb. 1995); 93-8 (June 1993); DP63 (Jan. 1993)
STATUS/COMMENTS:
5/5/95 - Forwarded to USMARC Advisory Group for discussion at the June 1995 MARBI meetings.
6/25/95 - Results of USMARC Advisory Group discussion - Approved Option 1 with amendment that two records are not required. A situation that should not require two records is the cases where all headings in the thesaurus can be used both as genre and form. A question was asked whether the fields needed to have subfields for faceting as in field 655. It was felt that this was too much to add to the proposal, and if the need arises, it should be considered as a separate issue.
7/26/95 - Results of final LC review - Agreed with the MARBI decision. Implementation plans for use of these fields for LCSH will need to be developed in the future.
PROPOSAL NO. 95-11: Definition of X55 Fields for Genre/Form Terms
I. BACKGROUND
Institutions have been interested in creating authority
records for genre/form terms used in bibliographic field 655 (Index
Term--Genre/Form). (Note that Proposal No. 95-10 (Making Field 755
Obsolete in the USMARC Format for Bibliographic Data) suggests
making field 755 (Added Entry--Physical Characteristics) obsolete
in favor of 655; this paper assumes the approval of that proposal.)
For instance, the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library would
like to be able to validate the terms in field 655 (from a
thesaurus indicated in subfield $2) against an authority file,
provide a cross reference structure for genre/form terms, and give
scope notes specifically related to one of these terms. Others,
including Amon Carter Museum Library, have expressed such a need in
the past. In addition, an institution may want to record an
equivalent genre/form term in an authority record and link it to
the authority record for another thesaurus using one of the 7XX
linking fields.
This issue was first discussed by the USMARC Advisory Group
with Discussion Paper No. 63 (Possible New Fields Needed in the
Authority Format) in January 1993 which was a request from the Amon
Carter Museum Library. The paper explored whether new heading
fields were needed in the authority format for genre/form/physical
characteristics terms (fields 155, 455, 555, 755) or whether
existing fields should be used; whether an 008 data element was
needed to indicate that the term could be used as a genre/form
and/or physical characteristics term in addition to or instead of
the possible new heading fields; and, whether new heading fields
were also needed for occupation and function terms used in 656
(Index Term--Occupation) and 657 (Index Term--Function). The
discussion indicated that the consensus was not to define the new
fields, with the recommendation that coded data in a newly defined
008 data element be used to indicate that the 150 heading in the
authority record could be used in bibliographic fields 655-657 and
755.
The Network Development and MARC Standards Office presented
Proposal No. 93-8 (Definition of 008/18-21 in the Authority Format)
to the USMARC Advisory Group for consideration at the June 1993
MARBI meetings. This proposal called for defining character
positions 008/18-21 in the authority format to indicate whether the
heading in field 150 of the record is appropriate as a genre/form
(field 655), occupation, (field 656) or function (field 657) index
term, or as a physical characteristics added entry (field 755) in
bibliographic records. In these situations, the heading would be
recorded in field 150, the code in 008/11 (Subject heading
system/thesaurus) would be set to one of the supplied values or to
"z - other", and the code for the specific thesaurus would be
recorded in field 040 (Cataloging Source), subfield $f (Subject
heading/thesaurus conventions). The institution could code the
character positions that were appropriate for the heading and use
a fill character for the others (the proposal also recommended
changing the definition of the blank (#) from "undefined" to "no
information provided"). The proposal was withdrawn; the
participants wanted to know how thesauri would handle topical terms
that can be used both as a subject and as a genre/term, etc. At
this discussion, there was a slight preference to use new variable
data fields rather than fixed field coded data to indicate the use
of a heading in bibliographic fields 655-657, 755.
Discussion Paper No. 83 was discussed at the Midwinter
meetings of the USMARC Advisory Group in February 1995. The paper
considered only the genre/form aspects of the previous discussions;
if the need arises for creating authority records for the other
index term fields (656 and 657) future proposals may be considered
separately. The paper presented two options for accommodating
authority records for genre/form terms: 1) create X55 fields; and,
2) Use field 150 for genre/form headings and create a fixed field
element to indicate the use of the heading for genre/form. The
discussion revealed a preference for creating X55 fields so that
the variable field tags would be in alignment. Questions still
needed to be answered about how to code headings that can function
as both topical and form.
II. DISCUSSION
The Stockton-San Joaquin Public Library and previous requests
have indicated a need to resolve this issue so that the format can
be modified to allow for the creation of authority records for
genre/form headings. The use of field 655, particularly by LCSH
has been discussed in the context of defining a new subfield for
form. Note that Proposal No. 95-2 (Definition of Subfield $v for
Form Subdivision in the USMARC Formats) was approved in February
1995. The subfield was defined in 6XX fields in bibliographic;
1XX, 4XX, 5XX in authority; 7XX in classification; and 6XX in
community information formats. Fields X85 were also defined in
authority for form subdivision records.
There are situations where libraries would like to create
authority records for genre/form terms in order to create cross
references or for validation/global changes.
Genre/Form terms that cannot be used as topical. Some
thesauri may contain only genre/form terms, while others may
contain both topical and genre/form terms, with some that can only
function as genre/form. An LCSH example might be Operas, which
used in the plural form is only genre/form; the topical term to be
used would be Opera, in the singular. If X55 fields were defined
for genre/form terms the records might appear as follows:
155 Operas
455 Operettas
455 Puppet operas
455 Singspiels
680 Here are entered musical works composed in this form.
Works about opera are entered under the heading Opera.
150 Opera
450 Comic opera
450 Lyric drama
450 Opera, Comic
680 Here are entered works about opera. Musical works
composed in this form are entered under the heading
Operas.
Terms used as topical and as genre/form. Many genre/form
terms can also function as topical terms. The same thesaurus might
have both genre/form only terms as well as dual-functioning. The
genre/form and topical usages of a term can sometimes require
different reference structures. For instance, LCSH uses "Romans …
clef", a recent change from "Livres … clef". The Guidelines on
Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction, Drama, etc.
(code=gsafd) still uses genre/form term "Livres … clef". Examples
of LCSH authority records for the topical and genre/form term:
Authority record for LCSH topical heading:
150 Romans … clef
450 Livres … clef
[LCSH reference from unused form]
Authority record for LCSH genre/form heading:
155 Romans … clef
755 #7 $aLivres … clef $2gsafd
Terms used as genre/form headings and as genre/form
subdivisions. Some terms may be both genre/form headings and
genre/form subdivisions. For instance the heading Papal documents
gives instructions on its use. If X55 fields are available, the
record might appear as follows:
Record for genre/form heading:
155 Papal documents
455 Documents, Papal
680 Here are entered general collections of documents and
other papal pronouncements since the fifteenth century.
Earlier collections are entered under Bulls, Papal.
Collections limited to a specific topic are entered under
the topic with subdivision Papal documents, e.g., Mary,
Blessed Virgin, Saint--Papal documents.
Record for genre/form subdivision:
185 Papal documents
LCSH terms. LC has not made a decision on whether to change
its current practice of using form headings in field 150 in
authority and 650 in bibliographic records if this proposal is
approved. The problem of headings functioning as both form and
topical needs to be carefully considered. For instance, the
heading Artists' books is assigned both to individual artists'
books (as form) and to works about artists' books (as subject).
The heading Miniature books is used for works about miniature books
(as subject); for works that are miniature books (as form), the
heading Miniature books--Specimens is used. If LC implemented X55
fields, Miniature books might be used without Speciments as the
genre/form term. Two records could be created, one coded as 150
and one as 155. Example:
150 ## $aMiniature books
755 #7 $aMiniature books$2lcsh
[Linking entry to form used in field 655]
155 $aMiniature books
750 #0 $aMiniature books
[Linking entry to form used in field 650]
LC has not yet developed plans for using the 655 field.
Same term from different thesauri. Separate records would be
created for terms from different thesauri even if the terms are
identical, in order to allow for cross references and notes that
only apply to one thesaurus.
Issues. The following issues need to be considered in
determining how to handle genre/form authority records:
1. If a separate tag is created (X55) for genre/form only
terms, would they be easier to use for record creation and
validation than if they are mixed in the large files of
topical terms as 150s?
2. Is it preferable to create two authority records for the
same term, one used as topical tagged as 150 and the other
used as genre/form tagged as 155. Or would the duplication of
identical terms prove confusing to the user?
3. Are there other distinct situations or issues that need to
be addressed?
III. PROPOSED CHANGES
The following is presented for consideration:
- Option 1. Define the following fields in the USMARC
Authority Format:
155 Heading--Genre/Form
455 See From Tracing--Genre/Form
555 See Also From Tracing--Genre/Form
755 Established Heading Linking Entry--Genre/Form
Use X55 for all genre/form terms, creating two records
for dual use headings (155 for genre/form and 150 for
topical)
- Option 2. Define the following fields in the USMARC
Authority Format:
155 Heading--Genre/Form
455 See From Tracing--Genre/Form
555 See Also From Tracing--Genre/Form
755 Established Heading Linking Entry--Genre/Form
Also define the following in 008/18:
008/18 Heading use--genre/form index term
# No information provided (change meaning from
Undefined)
a Heading is appropriate for use as genre/form
index term
b Heading is not appropriate for use as genre/form
index term
Use X55 for genre/form only terms and X50 with 008/18 for
dual use headings.
See Attachment A for a description of proposed new X55 fields.
See Attachment B for a description of 008/18 (Heading use--
genre/form index term).
------------------------------------------------------------------
ATTACHMENT A
155 Heading--Genre/Form (NR)
Indicators
First Undefined
Second Undefined
Subfield Codes
$a Genre/form (NR)
$x General subdivision (R)
$v Form subdivision (R)
$y Chronological subdivision (R)
$z Geographic subdivision (R)
$6 Linkage (NR)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
455 See From Tracing--Genre/Form (R)
555 See Also From Tracing--Genre/Form (R)
Indicators
First Undefined
Second Undefined
Subfield Codes
$a Genre/form (NR)
$i Reference instruction phrase (NR)
$w Control subfield (NR)
$x General subdivision (R)
$v Form subdivision (R)
$y Chronological subdivision (R)
$z Geographic subdivision (R)
$5 Institution to which field applies (NR)
$6 Linkage (NR)
755 Established Heading Linking Entry--Genre/Form (R)
Indicators
First Undefined
Second Subject heading system/thesaurus
0 Library of Congress Subject Headings/LC authority files
1 LC subject headings for children's literature
2 Medical Subject Headings/NLM authority files
3 National Agricultural Library subject authority file
4 Source not specified
5 Canadian Subject Headings/NLC authority file
6 R‚pertoire des vedettes-materiŠre/NLC authority file
7 Source specified in subfield $2
Subfield Codes
$a Genre/form (NR)
$u Record control number (R)
$w Control subfield (NR)
/0 - Link display
a - Link not displayed
b - Link not displayed, field 788 used
c - Link not displayed, non-7XX field used
$x General subdivision (R)
$v Form subdivision (R)
$y Chronological subdivision (R)
$z Geographic subdivision (R)
$2 Source of heading or term (NR)
$5 Institution to which field applies (NR)
$6 Linkage (NR)
$8 Linking number (NR)
Note that $v was previously used for record control number in 7XX
fields; Proposal No. 95-15 suggests changing the subfield code to
$u.
------------------------------------------------------------------
ATTACHMENT B
008/18 Heading use--genre/form index term
Codes
# No information provided
a Heading is appropriate for use as genre/form index term
b Heading is not appropriate for use as genre/form index term
CHARACTER POSITION DEFINITION AND SCOPE
A one-character alphabetic code indicates whether the 150
heading is appropriate for use as a genre/form index term in field
655 (Index TermþGenre/Form) in bibliographic records.
GUIDELINES FOR APPLYING CONTENT DESIGNATORS
CODES
# - No information provided
Code # indicates that no information is provided as to whether
the 1XX heading is appropriate for use as a genre/form index
term in bibliographic field 655.
a - Heading is appropriate for use as genre/form index term
Code a indicates that the 150 field contains an established
heading that conforms to certain subject heading
system/thesaurus rules (008/11, codes a, r, and z (when subfield
$f of field 040 contains a USMARC code that is authorized by
USMARC Code List for Relators, Sources, Description Conventions
for use in subfield #2 of bibliographic field 655)) which is
considered to be appropriate for use as a genre/form index term
in bibliographic records.
008/18 a
008/09 a [established heading record]
008/11 a [code indicating LCSH]
150 ##$aFairy tales
008/18 a
008/09 a [established heading record]
008/11 r [code indicating AAT]
150 ##$amanuscripts
008/18 a
008/09 a [established heading record]
008/11 z [code indicating Other]
040 ##$aMt$cDLC$dWyU$fgsafd
150 ##$aScience fiction comic books, strips, etc.
[Code "gsafd" in subfield $f of field 040 is authorized
by USMARC Code List for Relators, Sources, Description
Conventions for use in subfield $2 of bibliographic field
655. The 150 field contains a heading that is
appropriate for use as a genre/form index term in
bibliographic records.]
008/18 a
008/09 a [established heading record]
008/11 z [code indicating Other]
040 ##$aDLC$cDLC$fgmgpc
150 ##$aCartoons
[Code "gmgpc" in subfield $f of field 040 is authorized
by USMARC Code List for Relators, Sources, Description
Conventions for use in subfield $2 of bibliographic field
655. The 150 field contains a heading that is
appropriate for use as a genre/form index term in
bibliographic records.]
b - Heading is not appropriate for use as genre/form index term
Code b indicates that the 1XX field contains 1) an unestablished
heading; 2) a 100-130, 151 established heading; 3) a 150
established heading not from a thesaurus or subject heading
system authorized by USMARC Code List for Relators, Sources,
Description Conventions for use in subfield $2 in bibliographic
field 655; or 4) a 150 established heading from a thesaurus or
subject heading system authorized by USMARC Code List for
Relators, Sources, Description Conventions for use in subfield
$2 in bibliographic field 655 but the heading is not considered
appropriate for use as a genre/form index term in bibliographic
records.
008/18 b
008/09 d [subdivision record]
180 xEconomic aspects
008/18 b
008/09 e [node label record]
150 ##$acommercial catalogs by function
008/18 b
008/09 a [established heading record]
008/11 a [code indicating LCSH]
151 ##$aFrance
008/18 b
008/09 a [established heading record]
008/11 c [code indicating MeSH]
150 ##$aelectroplating
008/18 b
008/09 a [established heading record]
008/11 a [code indicating LCSH]
150 ##$aBeds in literature
008/18 b
008/09 a [established heading record]
008/11 a [code indicating LCSH]
150 ##$aTechnology$vBibliography
RELATED USMARC FIELD OR DOCUMENT
008/11 Subject heading system/thesaurus
040 Cataloging Source
USMARC Code list for Relators, Sources, Description Conventions
CONTENT DESIGNATOR HISTORY
# No information provided
Heading use--genre/form index term information was not specified
prior to the definition of this character position in 1993.
Records created prior to that time may contain a blank (#) meaning
undefined in this position.
Library of Congress