Re: Are MARC subfields really useful ?

From: Karen Coyle <lists_at_nyob>
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2010 08:03:59 -0700
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Quoting Weinheimer Jim <j.weinheimer_at_AUR.EDU>:

For example,
> I have brought up a few times the need to code separately the 245 $a  
>  from $b. I understand it had a purpose before (as I wrote to Alex   
> once), primarily to prevent different texts from inter-filing, e.g.   
> my example "War and peace : the definitive edition" and "War and   
> peace in the nuclear age". In the card catalog, it files correctly,   
> but I haven't seen any OPAC do it "right" and it has always been   
> interfiled and therefore, "wrong".

Actually, when doing large scale, automated record matching, the $a $b  
difference has been useful. Not everyone agrees on what is and isn't a  
subtitle, but more agree on what is the title (although of course it  
can go either way). In matching, we weighted matches on 245 $a high,  
and a lack of 245 $b on one of them was given a lesser penalty. This  
is different from just allowing a match on partial strings, many could  
match partially (left-anchored) and yet be different works.


>
> If this is accepted, then it is open season on all of the other   
> subfields and fixed fields. Do we really need a separately coded   
> 100$b? or 100$q? Why? Just because it's considered "correct" is not   
> a reason to continue it.


I would hate to see this all run together:

  	Tolkien, J. R. R. John Ronald Reuel

Unless you are advocating for keeping the punctuation -- but then we  
get back to the question of why we are doing both and not just one. I  
personally would rather use subfielding than punctuation. As mentioned  
here, punctuation is display, and is less specific than subfielding. A  
"(" is not as meaningful as 245 $q, because it can mean so many things  
in different contexts.

kc

-- 
Karen Coyle
kcoyle@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
ph: 1-510-540-7596
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet
Received on Fri Jun 04 2010 - 11:05:37 EDT