[Koha] marc mapping questions

[Steven F. Baljkas]

Tuesday, January 11, 2005     19:52 CST

Hi, Stephen, Tim, et al.,

Actually, Stephen there is almost a single 'tag' that performs the function, but it would require that Koha analyse it in relation to position 06 of the Leader and then to display it in some kind of human-meaningful form. That tag, of course, is the 008. This would require a limited number of if--then statements to determine the exact type of material being coded for.

My reading of the 008 with all its various specifications for different types of materials (via positions which are SUPPOSED to be coded in every MARC record that seeks to meet minimum national standards) would suggest that the level of detail in the 008 alone would suffice for most library patrons' needs.

Although this next bit would go beyond the straightforward, one could, I assume, also construct further if--then statements to check for 006 and 007 tags and parse the even more detailed coding that can be provided with those tags.

**More straightforward, there is also the 245h which is prescribed for General Material Designation.** Some libraries bend the formal rules (AACR2R 1.1C1) and apply terms that they know are more meaningful to patrons (e.g. DVDs, CD-ROMs, etc.). One library I know locally was able to customise their ILS to add [text] to the display in the absence of a 245h, just so everything would be parallel (no matter the type of material a displayed record was for, there would be a GMD term ... and a little graphic actually; I kinda liked the latter).

Alternatively, the individual library or the Koha community as a whole could also decide to designate one of the x9x tags for a Specific Material Designation or something similar to it, and to set aside a column in Koha for that information (unless I missed something though, Stephen, you were basically telling Tim there is nowhere for the info to be mapped to?).

I know that there is a lack of will to limit people's options, but it mightn't hurt to decide on a field that Koha could use as a default for this kind of thing. It would make Koha slightly more user-friendly for those of us who aren't programmers.

Tim, I would take a look at the Leader and 008 details and see if their coding could work for you.

Steven F. Baljkas
library tech at large
Koha neophyte
Winnipeg, MB, Canada

> From: "Stephen Hedges" <shedges at skemotah.com>
> Date: 2005/01/11 Tue PM 07:33:00 CST
> To: "Tim McMahon - West Liberty Public Library" <tmcmahon at wlpl.org>
> CC: koha at lists.katipo.co.nz
> Subject: Re: [Koha] marc mapping questions.
> 
> Tim McMahon - West Liberty Public Library said:
> > What koha fields should I map to marc fields to get the format and
> > subtitle to display?
> 
> Subtitle is easy -- map MARC tag 245b (MARC21) to bibliosubtitle.subtitle.
> 
> Format is tougher.  There's no single MARC tag that contains format
> information.  Nor is there any good column in the biblioitems table for
> storing such information.  Probably your best solution is careful
> selection of your item types.  Choose itemtype codes that are meaningful
> -- like "CD" or "DVD" or "Cass."
> 
> -- 
> Stephen Hedges
> Skemotah Solutions, USA
> www.skemotah.com  --  shedges at skemotah.com
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