Using the 041 MARC field to search for works in a specific language will not return all works in your database in the specific language. Field 041 is *not* coded in all records, only in exceptions. The MARC21 field definition/scope of the 041 field @ http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/bd041.html explains -- "Codes for languages associated with an item when the language code in field 008/35-37 of the record is insufficient to convey full information. Includes records for multilingual items, items that involve translation..." "Used when one or more of the following conditions exist: -- The item contains more than one language... -- The item is or includes a translation -- The language of the summaries, abstracts, or accompanying material differs from the language of the main item -- The language of a table of contents differs from the language of the main item" Example: If an item is in Spanish and is *not* a translation and has no other language in the item, the 041 field should not be coded per MARC21 standards. The only way you can retrieve such an item is through field 008/35-37. If you do want to search the 041 -- to find translations perhaps -- there is a challenge not mentioned in this thread: "In 2001: the practice of placing multiple language codes in one subfield, e.g., $aengfreger, was made obsolete and subfields $a, $b, $d, $e, $f and $g were changed from Not-repeatable (NR) to Repeatable (R). The field was also changed from Not-repeatable (NR) to Repeatable (R) to accommodate non-MARC language codes." [same URL as above] Unless your database has only very recent imprints it's probable that you have items with 041 field coded according to the new standard as well as the old standard. A way for patrons to search for items where the predominate language can be selected from a pick list where the language is expressed in its full form and not as a 3-character code is muy importante! Christine Mueller Database Administrator Office of Information Technology New Mexico State Library 1209 Camino Carlos Rey Santa Fe, NM 87507 Phone: 505-476-9744 christine.mueller@state.nm.us http://www.stlib.state.nm.us/ 2009/9/17 Melisa Canales <mcanales29@gmail.com>
Hello,
On the OPAC Advanced Search page one of the search options on the drop down list is "Language." Our collection contains a lot of foreign language films and it was my understanding we could use this field to search for all films in a particular language. Does anyone know the MARC tag that links to this search field? I've tried different ones, but have been unable to find the right one. Or maybe my understanding of the search field is incorrect...
Thank you, Melisa Canales
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