Publications

NASIGuide: Serial Holdings
Examples

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FURTHER EXAMPLES

Most of the following examples are based on problems that were submitted to the CONSER Publication Patterns Initiative for help in coding. All are concerned with the pattern subfield codes in the 853 field. In some cases they had an answer; in other cases they inspired us to incorporate new codes and functionality into the MFHD. I hope the solutions will help other serialists.

Example A - A regular, tri-yearly publication: role of subfield $x

Q. One publication comes out with no. 1-3 each year in May, August, and December. Another comes out with no. 1 in December, no. 2 in May, and no. 3 in August. Do you need $y to distinguish? What if the enumeration is only the year and month?

A. For the first two cases, you do not need $y. Other than $x, the 853 will be identical:

853		$8 1 $a v. $b no. $u 3 $v r $i (year) $j (month) $w  $x 05
853		$8 1 $a v. $b no. $u 3 $v r $i (year) $j (month) $w t $x 12

For the third case, since the first level of enumeration is the year, there is no possibility that any issue but May is the "calendar change" month. The frequency and calendar change alone should tell the system how to predict the arrival of the issues.

853

$8 1 $a (year) $b (month) $w t $x 05

Example B - A regular publication without a second level and without caption

Q. A publication is issued twice a year in spring and fall with continuous numbering. My holdings start with no. 37 in autumn 1999. How should it be coded? Should I use subfield $u?

A. No, subfield $u cannot be used with a single level of enumeration. Again, frequency and calendar change may be enough to predict this serial, but $y would ensure good prediction:

853		$8 1 $a no. $i (year) $j (season) $w f $x 21 $y ps21,23
863		$8 1.1 $a 37- $i 1999- $j 23-
Displays as:		no.37(1999:fall)-

Example C - More than two levels of enumeration and chronology; several volumes per year

Q. A publication comes out semimonthly, published on the 1st and 15th of every month. A new volume begins on Jan.1, Apr. 1, July 1, and Oct. 1. Each month a new number begins, and it is issued in two semimonthly fascicles. How does $w (frequency) work with the two $u's (parts per higher level? Does it "override" them? What about the $y pd0101,0115,0201,0215, ...?

A. We improved upon our answer at the time by giving a simpler $y ("all 1sts and 15ths of the month"). With correction, the $u and $w are not contradictory.

Coding the first volume and the first issue of the next volume:

853	20	$8 1 $a v. $b no. $u 3 $v r $c fasc. $u 2 $v r $i (year) $j (month) $k (day) $w s $x 101,0401,0701,1001 $y pd0001,0015
863	41	$8 1.1 $a 1 $b 1 $c 1 $i 1999 $j 01 $k 01
863	41	$8 1.2 $a 1 $b 1 $c 2 $i 1999 $j 01 $k 15
863	41	$8 1.3 $a 1 $b 2 $c 1 $i 1999 $j 02 $k 01
863	41	$8 1.4 $a 1 $b 2 $c 2 $i 1999 $j 02 $k 15
863	41	$8 1.5 $a 1 $b 3 $c 1 $i 1999 $j 03 $k 01
863	41	$8 1.6 $a 1 $b 3 $c 2 $i 1999 $j 03 $k 15
863	41	$8 1.7 $a 2 $b 1 $c 1 $i 1999 $j 04 $k 01

Example D - Combined enumeration and chronology

Q. I am looking for some assistance on coding the 853 field for combined issue numbers. Can that be done? The title I'm working on comes out as 6 times a year in combined issues:

no.1-2, May/June; no.3-4, July/Aug; no.5-6, Sept/Oct; no.7-8, Nov/Dec; no.9-10, Jan/Feb; no.11-12, Mar/Apr.

I have been able to make the months combine, but not the issues. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.

A. The question was asked before the provision for combined enumeration had been approved by MARBI. Now, the problem is solved with the new permission to double subfield $y, for those systems that support the new coding:

853

20

$8 1 $a v. $b no. $u 6 $v r $i (year) $j (month) $w b $x 06 $y ce21/2,3/4,5/6,7/8.9/10,11/12 $y cm01/02,03/04,05/06,07/08,09/10,11/12

Example E - When numbers are combined, does $u represent the numbering, or the number of physical pieces?

Q. I have a periodical which is issued once a year with two levels of enumeration, v. and no.; the second level enumeration is always combined with every volume. e.g. v. 11, nos. 1-2. Chronology has year only.

How do I code 853 $u? Is the value representing the number of physical pieces or the the bibliographic numbering?

		$a v. $b no. $u 1 $v r $i (year) $w a $y ce21/2
	OR
		$a v. $b no. $u 2 $v r $i (year) $w  $y ce21/2

A. The MARC21 Holdings Format, Oct. 2002 update 853-855- p.6 gives a definition for $u: "$u contains either a number that specifies the total number of parts or units that comprise the next higher level of enumeration or the code 'var' or 'und.'"

Page 7: a second immediately above the second 853 example says:

Combined issues are counted as one part.
853	...	$a v. $b no. $u 8 $v r $i (year) $j (month) $w m $x 01 $y pm 01/02,03,04,05,06/07,08/09,10/11/12

We would code your $u with the value 1.

Example F - Can I use a non-chronological division on the chronological side?

Q. How would we code the chronological pattern that uses "quarter" as designation? MARC 21 for Holdings Format seems to limit chronological designation to year, month, and day.

vol. 10, no. 1, 2004 first quarter
853		$a v. $b no. $i (year) $j ????

Is there something that specifies that a caption can only be used as an "enumeration field?" I know that MARC indicates that you can use chronology captions as enumeration captions when appropriate (year, month, etc.), but I've never seen anything indicating that, when appropriate, a caption like "qtr." can't be used as a chronology caption.

A. Two tests were run on different systems to answer this question, using a quarter system not identical to the calendar year (beginning October). Both predicted the arrival of the quarterly issue with the correct enumeration, but one of the two could not assign an ordinal number in the chronology subfields (and, since the piece does not give information about the months constituting each quarter, the record doesn't either). Nevertheless, we considered the successful prediction a sufficiently good sign.

891	20	$9 853 $8 1 $a v. $b no. $u 4 $v r $i (year) $j +qtr. $w q $x 10
891	41	$9 863 $8 1.1 $a 12 $b 1 $i 2004 $j 1
Results:		1st system: v.12:no.1(2004:qtr.1) 2nd system: v.12:no.1(2004:1st qtr.)