(arranged in proposal and discussion paper number)
Proposal 97-3R revisited the issue of restricting code "m" (Computer file) in the Leader. This issue has been around several times. The proposed redefinition passed; "m" will be restricted and other coding will be used for materials which are in electronic form but which are fundamentally text, map, music, serial, etc. Field 007 will be made mandatory for all computer files (except accompanying material).
Proposal 97-8 redefined 856 $q (File transfer mode) to Electronic format type. It was approved.
Proposal 97-9 proposed renaming 856 $u to accommodate URNs. The role of the URL and the URN and the mixing of data were discussed vigorously. URN is intended to be context-free; URLs are location-resolvers. A motion to define $g (or another subfield if deemed better) for the URN was approved.
Proposal 97-10 concerned the use of the universal coded character set in MARC records. Option 1 to map the USMARC ASCII clones in the Arabic, Cyrillic, and Hebrew sets to the unified repertoire in the universal coded character set was approved. Diacritics after characters is easier for modern data processing; no changes were yet accepted. Several questions were referred to a technical task force. A shared environment of the USMARC character and universal coded character set may last for a considerable period.
Proposal 97-11 defined subfields in 043 (Geographic area code) and 044 (Country of publishing/producing entity code) for accommodate subentity coding. Brazil had requested a means to code below the national level in 043. The proposal was accepted with slight changes.
Proposal 97-12 passed with new subfields being added to 536 (Funding information note) for program element, project, task, and work unit numbers.
Project 97-13 was also approved. It redefines and adds subfields to 355 (Security classification control) for downgrading or declassification date and authorization.
Proposal 97-14 was accepted; it adds three new characters to the USMARC Basic Arabic character set. The characters are the thousands separator, right-pointing double angle quotation mark, and the left-pointing double angle quotation mark. Two additional characters (Uigur short u and a Kashmiri character) are still not in the USMARC character sets; they appear in Unicode as precomposed forms.
Discussion paper 100 addressed issues of additional characteristics in USMARC authority records. Various models for enabling the format to indicate language of catalog, language of heading, and transliteration were suggested and discussed. Several projects are underway (e.g. Harvard consortium with Villa I Tatti, Swiss Institute, Uffizi; European national libraries in U.K., France, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium looking at merged authority file (projected as a resource for data rather than an interactive authority file)). If possible, the machine could aid the creation of parallel fields. The UNIMARC authority format does allow coding for the language of the catalog at the field level. While nothing was resolved, the discussion will continue on the list and a new discussion paper will be prepared for another round at MARBI.
Discussion paper 101 concerned notes in the USMARC holdings format. A proposal will be forthcoming to allow 541, 561, and 562 in holdings; the proposal will not deal with general issues like using $5 or embedding data, nor will it deal with other specific notes.
Discussion paper 102 presented the issues and possible solutions to the issue of non-filing characters, particularly initial articles. Various means are used by various systems and in various fields to compensate for non-filing characters, e.g. non-filing indicator, subfielding, omission of initial characters, graphical character, system recognition of initial characters. A proposal will be forthcoming, probably with two (or more) options. LC requested examples if available.
Discussion paper 103 revolved around the current uses of 028 (Publisher number) and 037 (Source of acquisition). Music publishers have been adding numbers like their score numbers to non-scores, etc. The Music Library Association and the Online Audiovisual Catalogers both preferred the first option in DP 103.
At the business meeting, LC announced: bib update at printer (projected release in September); auth update at printer (projected release in August); new relators list in July; holdings in September; new concise with bib/auth changes in the fall; new edition of bib format in 1998 with U.S. and Canadian harmonization; mappings (GILS and Dublin Core and geospatial metadata) on web; about half the schedules are available in classification format; South Africa is adopting USMARC; Brazil is seeing an increased use of USMARC with wider use of OCLC. An East Asian character set task force has been established under the chairmanship of John Espley. MARBI will cosponsor a program with CC:AAM on vernacular data in authority records. Tillett, Eilts, and Katchen are scheduled to speak. Some progress has been made in US/UK MARC harmonization. In 245, 250, 260, and 300, UKMARC has more subfielding for punctuation purposes. British catalogers, along with other Europeans, treat multi-volume works differently than U.S. catalogers; a technical panel may be formed to discuss this issue. UKMARC will attempt to diverge no more from the harmonized US/CanMARC and will continue to work on convergence.
CC:DA has had a task force on metadata for a year or so. A joint CC:DA/MARBI task force on metadata would require the approval of the boards of all three parent divisions. A new task force with wider joint membership will be formed but will reside in one or the other committee.