1XX -- Main Entries

"Access Point refers to a name, term, code, heading, word, phrase, etc., a unit of information representing a specific entity that can serve as a search key in information retrieval, under which a library catalog or bibliographic database may be searched and library materials may be identified and retrieved." -- Librarianship Studies and Information Technology blog.

When a name  is the primary access point for a work it will be found in the 100, 110, or 111 tag, depending on the kind of name it is. (The 130 tag is another possibility which will be discussed in a later post.) This access point may also be referred to as the "main entry" because it corresponds to what was the heading on the "main entry" catalog card. This designation is not significant in modern online catalogs because their searching functionality allows users to find a record by any indexed piece of the bibliographic record, but the designation is still used in describing the fields. This is the entity responsible for the creation of the intellectual work. A record can have only one main entry so there will only be a single 1XX field.

The 100 tag is used for the names of specific people. The value of the first indicator tells you what kind of a name it is:

• Forename (0) for example, "Madonna"
• Surname (1) for example, "Kenyon, Jane"
  
• Family name (3) for example "Wentworth family" [often used for a collection of papers or letters]

The 110 tag is used for Corporate names when the corporate entity is responsible for the intellectual content of the cataloged item. Again, the value of the first indicator tells you what kind of a name it is:

• Inverted name (0) for example, "Little (Arthur D.) inc." -- This is not in current usage, but you may see it in older records.
• Jurisdiction name (1) for example, "Manchester (N.H.) -- Municipal Court"
  
• Name in direct order (2) for example "Dartmouth College"

The 111 tag is used when a Meeting or Conference is responsible for the intellectual content of the cataloged item--typically conference proceedings or meeting minutes. These use the same indicators as the 110 tag.  

In all of the cases above, the name will be in subfield a (corporate names continue into multiple subfields b as you get more specific). You may also find details (dates, titles, geographic locations, etc.) in the various subfields following the name. 

Once you understand what is contained in these 1XX tags you also understand the corresponding 7XX tags as they are constructed the same way. The difference is that these entries are not people primarily responsible for the creation of the item: co-authors, an illustrator, the company that an individual author created a publication for, etc., will be found in 7XX tags. 

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Since this is the last Tuesday of the month it is time for the May 2024 Tuesday Tags Review Quiz.

This is a 4-question self-check that will give you a chance to see how much you have learned about MARC tags this month (or where you may want to go back and re-read).