Are MARC subfields really useful ?

From: Dan Matei <Dan_at_nyob> Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2010 08:36:49 +0300 To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU

[Desclaimer: I'm a big fan of fine granularity. Thus the TEI scheme is one of my favourite achievments in our domain.]

Beside MARCview, I do not know a user interface which allows searching within MARC subfields. I suppose there are more, 
but I don't see that in WorldCat or LC search interface, for instance.

OK, the UNIMARC subfields are used to generate the ISBD punctuation. But in MARC 21 case, what is the real need for 
marking-up a field with subfield codes ? Does its usefulness justify the effort ?

LibraryThing manages without subfields. Dear Mr. Spalding, do you miss them ?

Thanks,

Dan Matei

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Dan Matei, director
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