The USMARC Code List for Organizations is now available from the Cataloging Distribution Service of the Library of Congress. The USMARC Code List for Organizations replaces the popular Symbols of American Libraries, the 14th edition of which was last published in 1992.
This new code list contains the short alphabetic codes used to represent libraries, archives and other organizations that need to be identified in the bibliographical environment. The publication is a key to codes for holdings institutions represented in the Library of Congress National Union Catalog (NUC) and other union list publications and is used in a number of data elements in the MARC format that call for institutional identifiers. It is an essential reference tool for those dealing with MARC records,
for systems reporting library holdings, for many interlibrary loan systems and for those organizing cooperative cataloging projects on a regional or larger scale.
USMARC Code List for Organizations contains 26,920 codes, of which 21,955 are valid identifiers for general use. More than 2,700 new codes have been added since Symbols was last published. The list also includes 4,965 references from invalid codes, 2,294 of which are references from codes taken from other published lists. The codes are used to designate U.S. and non-U.S. libraries and other related institutions.
The volume is organized in two separate lists. The first is an alphabetical listing by organizational code; the second, an alphabetical listing by institution.
USMARC Code Lists for Organizations sells for $35 (North America) and $36 (outside North America). 1996. ISBN: 0-8444-0883-2. 476 pages, Softcover. Order it directly from: Library of Congress, Customer Services Section, Cataloging Distribution Service, P.O Box 75720, Washington, DC 20013-5720; telephone (800) 255-3666 (U.S. only) or (202) 707-6100; fax: (202) 707-1334. TDD: (202) 707-0012; the web address: http://www.loc.gov/cds; e-mail: cdsinfo@mail.loc.gov/.