Skip to main content
OCLC Support

05. Other CBS features

  1. Last updated
  2. Save as PDF

Blanks

Blanks are not used in the CBS MARC 21 format (in principle). In those cases, hashes (#) are used instead of blanks.

The hashes are used to indicate mostly 'undefined' indicator values; and the most important fields in which blanks are replaced by hashes are the bibliographic (and holdings) format Leader and the fields 006, 007 and 008 and the authority format Leader and field 008.

Indicators

As said above, blanks are not allowed to indicate indicator values, but must be replaced by hashes.

In a CBS MARC 21 database, when a cataloger does not type in the indicator values in the edit screen, two hashes (as a default) are added automatically to the tags in which indicators are mandatory. This implies that one or both values may be wrong as far as the meaning of the indicators is applied. So, the cataloger needs to check which indicator values are correct. So, when a cataloger does not get an error message, the automatically added hashes may be wrong.

And which values need to be generated during the import of records into a CBS in cases when there are no indicator values in the records at all and when blanks (hashes) as defaults are not allowed or can be wrong (because a blank doesn’t always mean “undefined”)? (under construction)

But in the case of nonfiling characters, the values that are allowed are 0-9; so, a hash (blank) is per definition wrong. And the value 0 (zero) is not “neutral”, because it means something. Which values need to be generated during the import of records into a CBS MARC 21 database in cases when there are no indicator values in the records at all and/or the nonfiling indicators are wrong? (under construction)

Bibliographic punctuation at the end of subfields

The bibliographic punctuation[1] at the end of subfields[2] is not stored in the CBS MARC 21 database, so it is not typed in by the cataloguer at the end of the subfields, but it is generated automatically by means of special tools when necessary, e.g. in a labelled or a brief display. During the import of records into a CBS MARC 21 database, the bibliographic punctuation must be removed from the end of the subfields. So, this is only the removal of bibliographic punctuation between MARC subfields and not the bibliographic punctuation within subfields.

The great advantages of this approach are:

  • A lot of incorrect punctuation will be removed during the import of records into a CBS MARC 21 database.
  • The cataloguer doesn’t need to fill in the punctuation.
  • When a subfield is displayed as such, no additional tools are necessary for not displaying the bibliographic punctuation at the end of that subfield.

Example with bibliographic punctuation

M264 #1 $aNew York, N.Y. : $bElsevier, $c2018

Example without bibliographic punctuation

M264 #1 $aNew York, N.Y. $bElsevier $c2018

When you want to display the contents of subfield $a after the label “Place of publication”, you don’t need to remove the space-colon-space at the end of this subfield. The same applies for the name of the publisher, when you have a separate label “Publisher”: you don't need to remove the comma-space.

  • The correct punctuation is added automatically, when needed.

[1] Not to be confused with non-bibliographic punctuation like periods in abbreviations and initials, and comma’s in the title of a book or article, etc.

[2] Generally spoken, this is correct. But also opening parentheses and opening brackets related to the closing parentheses and closing brackets at the end of subfields are involved. These opening punctuations are put at the beginning of a subfield. So, when we talk about "punctuation at the end of subfields" those opening punctuations are meant too.

For more details, see: chapter .. Subfield indicators and punctuation in the CBS MARC 21 format (under construction)

ResourceTypes

A ResourceType is defined to be the first two positions of CBS MARC tag 0500 - Bibliographic type and status - subfield 0 and PICA+ tag 002@ subfield $0. 

For more details, see: chapter .  (under construction)

CCWeb templates

A template is a record with (mostly) empty fields and subfields that is used to fill a create-record form. Local- and copy-templates can be used when a user wants to create such a record when updating an existing record. For the different ResourceTypes of bibliographic and authority records, we have defined the fields and subfields that should or can be part of a template in which these fields are mentioned to make it easier for a cataloguer to make a record.

For more details, see: chapter .. (under construction)

Descriptions of fields, subfields, indicators and indicator values

In CCWeb, the descriptions of fields, subfields, indicators, indicator values and coded data values are configured. We use several sources for extracting the description of tags, subfields, indicators, indicator values and coded data values, both for bibliographic and authority records. These descriptions are used in several parts of the configuration, like the labels of the labelled displays, the "expansion" of coded data values in different displays, the validation of bibliographic and authority records, the CBS MARC 21 database documentation, etc. So, it is important to keep to the standards!

Displays (under construction)

We distinguish several displays in a CBS MARC 21 database. The most important are:

  • The MARC 21 cataloguing format display. There are two variants: the one with the preceding capital M in the MARC tags on main/master level and the other without this capital M. The commands to display these are: “sho M21M” and “sho M21” (or use the defined tabs on the screen). The command "sho" means "show".
  • The brief display, showing a selection of fields and subfields. The command is: “sho b” ('brief') (or use the defined tab on the screen).
  • The labelled display
    • The labels of the MARC 21 fields in this display are equal to the descriptions you find on the websites of the Library of Congress and OCLC, Dublin. They are the same as the descriptions used by CCWeb. All subfields of a tag are displayed, except for the indicators (PICA+ subfield $S), subfield - Linkage - $6 (PICA+ subfields $T and $U) and subfield $8 - Field link and sequence number - (PICA+ subfield $X).
    • Coded data in e.g. the fields 006, 007 and 008 is replaced ("expanded") by the meaning of the code.
    • The command for getting the labelled display is: “sho l” ('labelled') (or use the defined tab on the screen).
  • The MARC 21 export display

Indexes and search terms

For bibliographic and authority records, the indexes of the MARC fields are based on the WorldShare and WorldCat Discovery indexes. Also, the search terms (e.g. ti, au etc.) and the search attributes (numbers) are based on them. “Search terms” are (sometimes) called “mnemonics” too.

(Under construction)