008 Tag

Like the leader, the 008 field contains coded data the meaning of which is dependent upon the position it is in. There are 40 character positions (referred to as bytes) in the 008 and they are identified by numbers from 00 to 39.  

Field 008 character positions 00-17 and 35-39 are defined the same way for all MARC 21 bibliographic records regardless of record type. The definition of field 008 character positions 18-34 varies according to the Type of Record code and Bibliographic Level code in the leader. Certain data elements are defined the same in more than one 008 field configuration and generally occupy the same field 008 character positions in those cases.

We will be wrapping up Tuesday Tags in December with a look at the format-specific elements of the 008 in a couple of frequently used formats. Today we will look at the 008 positions that are consistent across formats.

00-05 Entered: The date the record was input into OCLC WorldCat if it was added directly online. For batchloaded records, OCLC uses the date created or converted at the institution of origin, not the date OCLC added the record. This is a 6-digit date in the record (yymmdd), but may be interpreted for display in local systems or software as an 8-digit date (yyyymmdd).

06 Type of Date/Publication Status: A single letter that identifies the type of dates (e.g., production, publication, distribution, manufacture, or copyright) in the next 8 positions.  For continuing resources in any format, the code in DtSt indicates the publication status (currently published, ceased publication, or publication status is unknown). There are date types defined for 14 different situations.

07-14 Dates: The dates of the type defined in position 06. Dates are 4-digit years recorded using the Gregorian calendar and if only one date is needed then positions 11-14 will be blank.

15-17 Country: The state or country of publication, production or execution represented by the defined MARC country code.

35-37 Language: The language of the item being cataloged represented by the defined MARC language code.

38 Modified Record: Whether bibliographic information was modified for entry into machine-readable form. There are codes defined for multiple situations. 

39 Source: Was the record created by a national library (blank), a participant in a cooperative cataloging program other than a national library (c) or someone else (d). You will need to look at the 040 tag to determine specifically what agency created the record.

_____________________________________________

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