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WorldCat Validation release notes, February 2021

 

Release Date: February 25, 2021

Introduction

This release of changes to WorldCat Validation involves the following new features, enhancements, and bug fixes.

  • New features and enhancements:
    • OCLC-MARC Validations of New MARC Codes Announced October-December 2020.
    • MARC 21 Bibliographic Update No. 31 (announced December 2020).
    • MARC 21 Authority Update No. 31 (announced December 2020) to the Validation Rule Set that Includes All Valid Elements of MARC 21 Authority Format.
    • MARC 21 Authority Update No. 31 (announced December 2020) to the Validation Rule Set for the Library of Congress Name Authority Cooperative (NACO).
    • MARC 21 Holdings Update No. 31 (announced December 2020).
    • Making Authority Field 050 Second Indicator “Blank” Obsolete.
    • Validation of Authority 5XX Subfield $4.
    • Implementation of Unicode in Local Holdings Records (LHRs).
  • Bug fixes:
    • Correction of Language Code Validation in Bibliographic and Authority Fields 377.

These enhancements and fixes are the result of announcements of new MARC elements and codes by the Library of Congress as well as feedback and requests from members of the OCLC cooperative.

New features and enhancements

OCLC-MARC Validations of New MARC Codes Announced October-December 2020

You may now use all new MARC Codes announced by the Library of Congress in the following LC Technical Notices:

Classification Scheme Source Codes

The following source codes have been added to the Classification Scheme Source Codes list for usage in appropriate fields and elements.

Genre/Form Code and Term Source Codes

The following source codes have been added to the Genre/Form Code and Term Source Codes list for usage in appropriate fields and elements.

MARC Code List for Relators

The following relator has been added to the MARC Code List for Relators for usage in appropriate fields and elements.

  • dgc [Degree committee member] - A person who is part of a committee that considers the merit of a thesis, dissertation, or other submission by an academic degree candidate.

Standard Identifier Source Codes

The following source codes have been added to the Standard Identifier Source Codes list for usage in appropriate fields and elements.

Subject Heading and Term Source Codes

The following source code has been added to the Subject Heading and Term Source Codes list for usage in appropriate fields and elements.

  • qnlsh - Qatar National Library Subject Headings

MARC 21 Bibliographic Update No. 31 (announced December 2020)

You may now begin to use the following changes to Bibliographic elements implemented as part of OCLC-MARC Bibliographic Update or February 2021, based on the MARC 21 Bibliographic format changes announced in MARC 21 Bibliographic Update No. 31 (December 2020):

  • Bibliographic field 043 (Geographic Area Code) has been changed to Repeatable.
  • New Bibliographic field 335 (Extension Plan) has been defined.
  • In Bibliographic field 340 (Physical Medium), the new subfield $p (Illustrative Content) has been defined.
  • In Bibliographic field 345 (now renamed to Moving Image Characteristics, formerly Projection Characteristics of Moving Image), new subfields $c (Aspect Ratio Value) and $d (Aspect Ratio Designation) have been defined.
  • In Bibliographic field 384 (Key), new subfields $0 (Authority Record Control Number or Standard Number) and $1 (Real World Object URI) have been defined.
  • In Bibliographic field 856 (Electronic Location and Access), subfields $b (Access Number), $h (Processor of Request), $i (Instruction), $j (Bits Per Second), $k (Password), $l (Logon), $n (Name of Location of Host), $r (Settings), and $t (Terminal Emulation) have been made obsolete.
  • New Bibliographic field 881 (Manifestation Statements) has been defined.

MARC 21 Authority Update No. 31 (announced December 2020) to the Validation Rule Set that Includes All Valid Elements of MARC 21 Authority Format

You may now begin to use the following changes to Authority elements implemented as part of OCLC-MARC Authority Update for February 2021, based on the MARC 21 Authority format changes announced in MARC 21 Authority Update No. 31 (December 2020). These changes apply only to the OCLC-MARC Authority validation rule set that includes all valid elements of MARC 21 Authority Format.

  • Authority field 043 (Geographic Area Code) has been changed to Repeatable.
  • New Authority field 335 (Extension Plan) has been defined.
  • In Authority field 375 (Gender), new subfields $0 (Authority Record Control Number or Standard Number) and $1 (Real World Object URI) have been defined.
  • In Authority field 384 (Key), new subfields $0 (Authority Record Control Number or Standard Number) and $1 (Real World Object URI) have been defined.
  • In Authority field 856 (Electronic Location and Access), subfields $b (Access Number), $h (Processor of Request), $i (Instruction), $j (Bits Per Second), $k (Password), $l (Logon), $n (Name of Location of Host), $r (Settings), and $t (Terminal Emulation) have been made obsolete.

MARC 21 Authority Update No. 31 (announced December 2020) to the Validation Rule Set for the Library of Congress Name Authority Cooperative (NACO)

You may now begin to use the following changes to Authority elements implemented as part of OCLC-MARC Authority Update for February 2021, based on the MARC 21 Authority format changes announced in MARC 21 Authority Update No. 31 (December 2020). These changes apply only to the OCLC-MARC Authority validation rule set for LC Names.

  • Authority field 043 (Geographic Area Code) has been changed to Repeatable.
  • In Authority field 375 (Gender), new subfields $0 (Authority Record Control Number or Standard Number) and $1 (Real World Object URI) have been defined.
  • In Authority field 384 (Key), new subfields $0 (Authority Record Control Number or Standard Number) and $1 (Real World Object URI) have been defined.

MARC 21 Holdings Update No. 31 (announced December 2020)

You may now begin to use the following changes to Holdings elements implemented as part of OCLC-MARC Holdings Update for February 2021, based on the MARC 21 Holdings format changes announced in MARC 21 Holdings Update No. 31 (December 2020):

  • In Holdings field 856 (Electronic Location and Access), subfields $b (Access Number), $h (Processor of Request), $i (Instruction), $j (Bits Per Second), $k (Password), $l (Logon), $n (Name of Location of Host), $r (Settings), and $t (Terminal Emulation) have been made obsolete.

Making Authority Field 050 Second Indicator “Blank” Obsolete

In order to bring OCLC-MARC into closer alignment with MARC 21, Authority field 050 (Library of Congress Call Number) Second Indicator value “blank” has now been made obsolete. Although the value has been obsolete in MARC 21 since 1982, in WorldCat it had previously been retained as valid following the longtime practice of not tightening up validation until all instances of an obsolete element have been corrected. Making the “blank” value invalid alerts NACO participants to fix any remaining instances.

Validation of Authority 5XX Subfield $4

In order to accommodate new Library of Congress (LC) coding practice for Authority fields 500, 510, 511, 530, and 551, subfield $4 (Relationship) is now valid in NACO records when Control Subfield $w/0 (Special Relationship) is coded “r” (Relationship Designation in $i or $4). Previously, subfield $4 was not allowed in those Authority 5XX fields in NACO records.

Implementation of Unicode in Local Holdings Records (LHRs)

To allow for the presence of non-Latin data, Unicode has now been implemented in all of the appropriate standard MARC 21 fields valid in Local Holdings Records (LHRs). Previously, LHRs and applications that use LHR data were limited to MARC-8 data for entering, editing, searching, displaying, maintaining, and migrating non-Latin data.

Bug fixes

Correction of Language Code Validation in Bibliographic and Authority Fields 377

You may now correctly validate non-MARC Language Codes in Bibliographic and Authority fields 377 (Associated Language) subfield $a (Language Code). Previously, correctly formulated non-MARC Language Codes in field 377 were not being accepted as valid.

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