024 UPC

The 024 tag is labelled "Other Standard Identifiers" and it serves as a catchall for several kinds of standard identifiers (in other words, numbers that are assigned following some standard process). This is the first tag we have looked at where the indicators play an important role. 

Indicator: The two positions that appear after the tag number. They can each contain a blank or a number 0 to 9. The meaning of these codes is defined for each individual tag. If one or both of the  indicators aren't used in a particular tag they are said to be "undefined." 

Over the next couple of posts we will cover different types of standard identifiers that you might find in this tag. The way that you can tell what kind of identifier you are looking at is by the value of the 1st indicator (we will cover the different values as we talk about each type of standard identifier). 

The second indicator in this tag is a "difference indicator" which tells you whether there is a difference (value=1) between the scanned number or code and the same number or code in eye-readable form or not (value=0). If the second indicator of an 024 tag is blank that means no information on this issue was provided. 

A Universal Product Code (UPC) is a standardized global identifier, which enables products to be sold, reordered and tracked through supply chains. On April 3, 1973, an industry-wide agreement was made that changed the course of global commerce and gave rise to GS1 UPC which now appears on most everything you buy. This code can be useful in identifying bibliographic records for things that have them, including movies in various physical formats. A value of 1 in the 1st indicator of the 024 means that the number in subfield a is a UPC. The complete number, with no spaces or punctuation, goes in subfield a.

The UPC appears on an object as a barcode symbol (a zebra-looking thing with 12 digits printed below it). Hyphens or spaces usually separate the elements of the number on the item. The code has three basic parts:

• First digit, the Number System Character (NSC) which appears on the left and outside of the bars
• Second through eleventh digits, printed within and below the bars
• Twelfth digit, a check digit usually appearing at the bottom right of the bars