530 & 776 -- Information on Additional Physical Forms

Cataloging is a constantly evolving art. As new formats of material come along, and technologies that connect cataloging records to each other develop, the way that records are created changes to reflect those developments. These two tags are an example of that evolution.

The 530 tag contains "Information concerning a different physical format in which the described item is available" and is a basic tag with no defined indicators and only a few subfields. It is a very old tag -- in 1990 the subfield z, source of note, was declared obsolete and the last update to the tag was the addition of a subfield for a URI in 2000. This tag is no longer the preferred place to put information about additional physical formats, but there are LOTS of records in our catalogs that include this tag (the NHSL catalog had 25,572 records that included it at the beginning of September 2024).

The 776 tag contains, according to BF&S, "information about the other available physical forms of the target item in a horizontal relationship." Provider-neutral guidelines for current cataloging require the use of subfield i rather than use of the 530 tag. 

There are many subfields defined for the 776 tag and the indicators are both defined as display controllers (1st indicator for notes; 2nd for display constants). Here are a few of the subfields you may come across:

• Subfield i contains "relationship information" and tells you what other format the item is available in ("online version" or "also issued as"). It appears first in the tag.
• Subfield a is the main entry heading (see the post on main entries if you need a refresher)
• Subfield h is the physical description of the alternate format ("1 microfilm reel ; 16 mm" or "1 audiocassette (65 min.) : analog ; 1/2 in.")
• Subfield t is the title of the alternate format (often the same as the thing the record is for)
• Subfield w is the record control number-- there are often several of these with a parenthetical to tell you what control number it is (DLC, or OCLC for example) 
• Subfield x contains the ISSN of the alternate format 
• Subfield z contains the ISBN of the alternate format
  

The 776 is part of the group of tags (760-787) used for linking entries -- that is, to connect various bibliographic manifestations together and to show the relationships between them. These are complex tags used to illustrate (and virtually connect) complex relationships among materials. The details of linked data are well beyond the scope of this blog series, but you can begin learning about it in OCLC's Linked Data: The Future of Library Cataloging.

 It is common to find both the 530 and the 776 in serial records, like the one for the US Budget Appendix.

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Since this is the last Tuesday of the month it is time for the September 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).