024 Other "Other Standard Identifiers"
Last month we covered a variety of standard numbers that might be found in the 024 tag and for which the first indicator tells you what kind of identifier you are dealing with.
There are, however, many more kinds of standard identifiers being used in the world than it is practical to define single-digit numeric codes for. When you see a value of 7 in the first indicator of an 024 tag you are dealing with one of these other identification schemes. Which scheme is being used for the identifier in subfield a can be determined by looking in subfield 2 and then checking the Standard Identifier Source List maintained by the Library of Congress. There are codes defined for various kinds of identifier lists. A few examples:
- npg indicates the National Portrait Gallery's collection index; x12415 is the code for a portrait of T. E. Lawrence reading a book (can't tell if it is a book about Arabia or not)
- urn is a "uniform resource name" and is often used to link a record to an online version of the thing (Catalogue of Stars... is an example)
- doi is a "digital object identifier" which is a system of registration for digital stuff (The Influence of the Commons on Early Legislation... is an example)
Sometimes there is a number on a library item that looks official, but
there is nothing to tell you what it actually is. Those numbers can go
into the 024 tag with a first indicator value of "8" which means that
the source of the identifier is "unspecified." It has been my experience that these are rarely found in bib records and even when they are present in a record there is often no trace of the number on the item. However, occasionally they are useful. The NHSL catalog includes Gardening for Food and Fun, for example, which includes an unspecified 024 that is a stock number for the book.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments on this blog are welcome, but they are moderated. Signed comments that we feel make a positive contribution to the discussion will be posted.