WorldCat Validation release notes, January 2023

OCLC-MARC Validations of New MARC Codes Announced September 2022-January 2023

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

• Technical Notice (September 21, 2022)
• Technical Notice (September 27, 2022)
• Technical Notice (October 12, 2022)
• Technical Notice (October 18, 2022)
• Technical Notice (November 15, 2022)
• Technical Notice (December 06, 2022)
• Technical Notice (January 06, 2023)

Conversion of MARC Codes for LC Children’s Cataloging

In Library of Congress Technical Notice (February 11, 2022), the following MARC Code was defined in the Subject Heading and Term Source Codes, MARC Authentication Action Code, and Subject Category Code Source Codes lists.

cyac - Children's and Young Adults' Cataloging Program (Washington, DC: Library of Congress)

Code cyac signifies that the cataloging was done as part of the Library of Congress Children's and Young Adults' Cataloging Program (formerly called the Library of Congress Annotated Card Program) whereby summaries and children's subject headings are added to facilitate discovery of a resource by a juvenile audience. [Definition from MARC Authentication Action Code List, https://www.loc.gov/standards/valuel...rcauthen.html]

At the same time that code cyac was defined, two former codes were deprecated on the same MARC Code lists.

• lcac - Library of Congress Annotated Children's Cataloging Program subject headings (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Cataloging Distribution Service) [deprecated]
  
  Code lcac signifies that the cataloging was done as part of the Library of Congress Children's and Young Adults' Cataloging Program (formerly called the Library of Congress Annotated Card Program) whereby summaries and children's subject headings are added to facilitate discovery of a resource by a juvenile audience. [deprecated]  [Definition from MARC Authentication Action Code List, https://www.loc.gov/standards/valuel...rcauthen.html]
   
• lcshac - Children's subject headings in Library of Congress subject headings: supplementary vocabularies (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Cataloging Distribution Service) [deprecated]
  
  The Library of Congress Subject Headings Supplemental Vocabularies: Children’s Headings (LCSHAC) is a thesaurus which is used in conjunction with LCSH. It is not a self-contained vocabulary, but is instead designed to complement LCSH and provide tailored subject access to children and young adults when LCSH does not provide suitable terminology, form, or scope for children. LCSHAC records can be identified by the LCCN prefix "sj".  [Definition from ID.LOC.GOV, https://id.loc.gov/authorities/child...Subjects.html]

OCLC Metadata Quality staff has now converted all WorldCat instances of codes lcac and lcshac to cyac, where appropriate.  In many Bibliographic 6XX fields where appropriate, the use of the codes lcac and lcshac in subfield $2 was converted to the preferred practice of coding the Second Indicator value “1” (LC subject headings for children's literature).  Codes lcac and lcshac are now invalid in WorldCat.

MARC 21 Bibliographic Update No. 35 (Announced December 2022)

You may now begin to use the following changes to Bibliographic elements implemented as part of OCLC-MARC Bibliographic Update for January 2023, based on the MARC 21 Bibliographic format changes announced in MARC 21 Bibliographic Update No. 35 (December 2022):

• In existing Bibliographic field 856 (Electronic Location and Access):
  • Existing Second Indicator (Relationship) and its values have been “updated to reflect contemporary usage, clarify the defined relationships, allow for identification of component parts, and support access to online resources in an environment dominated by web resources.”
    • Existing Second Indicator (Relationship) has been redescribed.
    • Existing Second Indicator (Relationship) has had four existing values redescribed:
      • [blank] - No information provided
      • 0 - Resource
      • 1 - Version of resource
      • 2 - Related resource
    • Existing Second Indicator (Relationship) has two new values defined:
      • 3 - Component part(s) of resource
      • 4 - Version of component part(s) of resource
  • Two new subfields have been defined:
    • Subfield $g (Persistent identifier (R))
    • Subfield $h (Non-functioning Uniform Resource Identifier (R))
  • Existing subfield $q (Electronic format type) has been “made REPEATABLE and was redescribed in order to more accurately specify electronic file formats and their versions.”
  • Existing subfield $u (Uniform Resource Identifier) has been “broadened in order to accommodate the recording of persistent identifiers (PIDs) and multiple URLs in a single 856 field.”

MARC 21 Authority Update No. 35 (Announced December 2022) 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 January 2023, based on the MARC 21 Authority format changes announced in MARC 21 Authority Update No. 35 (December 2022).

 Note: These changes apply only to the OCLC-MARC Authority validation rule set that includes all valid elements of MARC 21 Authority Format and cannot be used in the LC/NACO Authority File.

• In existing Authority field 856 (Electronic Location and Access):
  • Existing Second Indicator (Relationship) and its values have been “updated to reflect contemporary usage, clarify the defined relationships, allow for identification of component parts, and support access to online resources in an environment dominated by web resources.”
    • Existing Second Indicator (Relationship) has been redescribed.
  • Existing Second Indicator (Relationship) has two new values defined:
    • 3 - Component part(s) of resource
    • 4 - Version of component part(s) of resource
  • Two new subfields have been defined:
    • Subfield $g (Persistent identifier (R))
    • Subfield $h (Non-functioning Uniform Resource Identifier (R))
  • Existing subfield $q (Electronic format type) has been “made REPEATABLE and was redescribed in order to more accurately specify electronic file formats and their versions.”
  • Existing subfield $u (Uniform Resource Identifier) has been “broadened in order to accommodate the recording of persistent identifiers (PIDs) and multiple URLs in a single 856 field.”

 Caution: Name Authority Cooperative (NACO) participants cannot use these authority format changes in the LC/NACO Authority File at this time. The Library of Congress and OCLC will announce the implementation of these elements for use in name and subject authority records in the LC/NACO Authority File at a future date.

MARC 21 Holdings Update No. 35 (Announced December 2022)

You may now begin to use the following changes to Holding  elements implemented as part of OCLC-MARC Holdings Update for January 2023, based on the MARC 21 Holdings format changes announced in MARC 21 Holdings Update No. 35 (December 2022):

• In existing Holdings field 856 (Electronic Location and Access):
• Existing Second Indicator (Relationship) and its values have been “updated to reflect contemporary usage, clarify the defined relationships, allow for identification of component parts, and support access to online resources in an environment dominated by web resources.”
  • Existing Second Indicator (Relationship) has been described.
  •  Existing Second Indicator (Relationship) has had four existing values redescribed:
    • [blank] - No information provided
    • 0 - Resource
    • 1 - Version of resource
    • 2 - Related resource
  • Existing Second Indicator (Relationship) has two new values defined:
    • 3 - Component part(s) of resource
    • 4 - Version of component part(s) of resource
  • Two new subfields have been defined:
    • Subfield $g (Persistent identifier (R))
    • Subfield $h (Non-functioning Uniform Resource Identifier (R))
  • Existing subfield $q (Electronic format type) has been “made REPEATABLE and was redescribed in order to more accurately specify electronic file formats and their versions.”
  • Existing subfield $u (Uniform Resource Identifier) has been “broadened in order to accommodate the recording of persistent identifiers (PIDs) and multiple URLs in a single 856 field.”

Nonfiling Indicators in Preferred Title Fields in Non-English Language of Cataloging Records

At the request of institutions that do not catalog in English, WorldCat Bibliographic validation rules for nonfiling indicators in preferred title fields (formerly known as “uniform titles”) have been changed in records that are coded for any language other than English (“eng”) in field 040 subfield $b (Language of Cataloging).  Validation now allows the full range of nonfiling indicator values (0-9) in preferred title fields in bibliographic records in all Languages of Cataloging other than English.

In bibliographic records with Language of Cataloging field 040 subfield $b coded "eng", validation restrictions for non-filing indicators in preferred title fields have not changed.  WorldCat Bibliographic Validation continues to enforce the omission of initial articles in preferred title fields where a nonfiling indicator is defined in records coded as AACR2 or RDA.  That is, all nonfiling indicator values in preferred title fields must be "0" (zero) in AACR2 and RDA records cataloged in English.

The following MARC 21 Bibliographic fields are affected:

Fields in which the First Indicator is defined as “Nonfiling Characters”

130 Main Entry--Uniform Title (NR)

630 Subject Added Entry--Uniform Title (R)

730 Added Entry--Uniform Title (R)

Fields in which the Second Indicator is defined as “Nonfiling Characters”

240 Uniform Title (NR)

243 Collective Uniform Title (NR)

830 Series Added Entry--Uniform Title (R)

The following OCLC-defined bibliographic fields have always allowed and continue to allow the full range of valid nonfiling indicator values (0-9) regardless of the Language of Cataloging:

Fields in which the First Indicator is defined as “Nonfiling Characters”

699 Local Subject Added Entry--Uniform Title (R)

793 Local Added Entry--Uniform Title (R)

799 Local Added Entry--Uniform Title (R)

Fields in which the Second Indicator is defined as “Nonfiling Characters”

899 Local Series Added Entry--Uniform Title (R)

Institutions that do not catalog in English have pointed out that both the Official RDA Toolkit and the Original RDA Toolkit allow either including or omitting initial articles in preferred titles fields.  WorldCat Validation enforcement of the relevant Library of Congress-Program for Cooperative Cataloging Policy Statements (LC-PCC PSs) that mandate the omission of these initial articles has not allowed non-English language of cataloging institutions to follow their own policy choices.

The Official RDA Toolkit 12.91.23.92 (under “Work: access point for work”) explicitly allows the options of either including or omitting an initial article; LC-PCC PS practice is to omit such articles except when the access point begins with a proper noun that includes an article (such as “Los Angeles times”). 

The Original RDA Toolkit 6.2.1.7 also allows for including or (alternatively) omitting initial articles, with the LC-PCC PS choosing the alternative of omitting.  RDA 6.2.2.8 on “Recording a Preferred Title for Work,” refers back to applying the instructions at RDA 6.2.1 (“Basic Instructions on Recording Title of Work”).

Both the Official RDA and Original RDA allow either including or omitting initial articles in preferred titles.  OCLC recommends that institutions cataloging in English follow LC-PCC Policy Statements and omit those initial articles. WorldCat Validation now allows institutions cataloging in languages other than English to apply their own preference regarding initial articles in preferred title fields.

Family Names in LC Authorities

In anticipation of the Library of Congress and the Program for Cooperative Cataloging policy revision to allow family names to be used as subjects, the validation rule set for LC Authorities has been updated.  Authority field 100 (Heading – Personal Name) First Indicator (Type of personal name entry element) value “3” (Family name) no longer requires Authority field 008/15 (Heading use-subject added entry; OCLC mnemonic Subj use) to be coded value “b” (Not appropriate).  Now, when an LC Authority field 100 contains a family name that may be used as a subject, the First Indicator is coded value “3” and Authority field 008/15 is coded “a” for “Appropriate.”

Virtual AskQC office hours

Join OCLC Metadata Quality staff to discuss WorldCat quality issues and cataloging questions. Visit AskQC for information about upcoming office hours, previous office hour recordings, and supporting materials.

Support website(s)

Support information for this product and related products can be found at:

• OCLC Connexion
• WorldShare Record Manager
• WorldShare Collection Manager
• Cataloging documentation
• Contact OCLC Support
• OCLC Community Center
• Browser compatibility chart