[Koha] Re: Meaning of the following please!

Tue Jun 12 16:50:56 NZST 2007

Monday, June 11, 2007     23:29 CDT

Hi, Jackson,

Just adding my two cents worth in, although Rachel is right on the money when she says you should join the mailing list (definitely!).

In reply to your e-mail questions:

> [...] I find it hard to understand the 
> following terms found in field 0 of Koha. I'd like if you can explain 
> them and their purpose. Am I to fill them up or do they fill up 
> automatically?
>  
> They are:
> 000 - Leader
> 003 - Control number identifier
> 005 - Date and time of latest transaction
> 008 - Fixed length date elements - General information

The leader is the first portion of a MARC record. It contains information about the content and structure of the record and ends with a bit called the registry that allows computers to take the alphanumeric string that is the record and fill out a table (matrix).

There are elements (positions) that you must enter in the leader -- 5, 6, 7, 17 and 18 are required -- and others that the computer seems to complete on its own. As a cataloguing technician, I have never really understood how the computer 'knows' (sorry, MJR, but to the non-programmers among us, this is all 'automagical' stuff!) which are which.

I have no idea if Koha fills these in automatically or not. I tend to do my cataloguing outside of Koha and import ready-made records.

> 003 - Control number identifier

Backtracking one second: although some Integrated Library Systems (ILS) do generate a number for the 001 field automatically, I don't think Koha does yet. You could probably customise it to do that easily enough. I enter those numbers manually when cataloguing.

Think of the 003 as the source for that serial number. The 003 is where you should be putting your library code or symbol. E.g. in Canada, library symbols tend to look something like this:
                                  CaMWUW
which would be read as Canada-Manitoba-Winnipeg-University of Winnipeg.

In the U.S, LC assigns codes; in Canada, the National Collections (formerly NLC). Other countries have similar authorities. If the Solomon Islands has a code for your library, that's what you would enter in the 003. Otherwise, just make something up that you like or leave it out. It won't affect the quality of records: it is really something that cataloguers look at when assessing whether to accept records for import into their catalogues (certain libraries having better reputations for quality cataloguing than others).

If you adjust a record to make it your library's own, it is legitimate to put your symbol/code in the 003. You can adjust the 040 to track the history of the record if you want (multiple $d's with the respective libraries' codes as necessary).

> 005 - Date and time of latest transaction

Again, once you create the 005 initially, some ILS automatically update it. I don't think that Koha does. It isn't terribly important.

> 008 - Fixed length date elements - General information

Now, a field that is terribly important. There are certain key positions that must be coded to make minimum record requirements (basically, to create something that is worthy of being called a MARC record); for book materials these are: 0-5 (date entered), 6 (type of date), 7-10 (date 1), 11-14 (date 2, if applicable), 15-17 (country of publication), and 35-37 (language).

The Library of Congress maintains the MARC21 coding standards, explaining each field and giving coding examples. You can check this out at
   URL <http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/ecbdhome.html>

off of the main MARC21 page at
   URL <http://www.loc.gov/marc/>

There is a beginner's introduction to MARC off the main page as well.

If you have further MARC-specific questions, feel free to give ma a shout off listserv or better yet post to the listserv so that others who might have the same or similar questions can find answers, too.

> We are trying to customize koha to our usage and need. I wonder if we 
> can obtain a manual or explanation of the terms used in koha so that we 
> can fully utilize this gift to us.

You can check out the support documentation on
    URL <www.kohadocs.org>

As Rachel said, you should definitely join the mailing list as you will find the ability to ask questions and share the experience of others invaluable. There is also the archive of past messages answered.

I hope that this has answered some of your questions. Good luck with your MARC cataloguing and welcome to Koha!

Best regards,
Steven F. Baljkas
library tech at large
volunteer cataloguer
Koha neophyte
Winnipeg, MB, Canada

============================================================
From: Rachel Hamilton-Williams <rachel at katipo.co.nz>
Date: 2007/06/11 Mon PM 10:46:57 CDT
To: Jackson Ray <jayray032000 at yahoo.com.au>, 
	Koha <koha at lists.katipo.co.nz>
CC: rach at katipo.co.nz
Subject: [Koha] Re: Meaning of the following please!

Hi Jackson,

I'd really recommend you join the Koha mailing list here

http://www.koha.org/community/mailing-lists.html

And ask these questions there.

There are librarians on the mailing list who will be very familiar with 
the MARC system, and what they all mean (I'm not a librarian or a 
cataloguer).

I've forwarded this to the list and hope that someone there may be able 
to help

Cheers
Rachel

Jackson Ray wrote:
> Dear Sir or Madam:
>  
> We are in the process of using Koha in our library here at the Solomon 
> Islands College of Higher Education (SICHE). However, as the person who 
> is going to do the cataloging, I find it hard to understand the 
> following terms found in field 0 of Koha. I'd like if you can explain 
> them and their purpose. Am I to fill them up or do they fill up 
> automatically?
>  
> They are:
> 000 - Leader
> 003 - Control number identifier
> 005 - Date and time of latest transaction
> 008 - Fixed length date elements - General information
>  
> We are trying to customize koha to our usage and need. I wonder if we 
> can obtain a manual or explanation of the terms used in koha so that we 
> can fully utilize this gift to us.
>  
> By the way, the above mentioned fields are always highlighted when we 
> try to enter data about a book, thus, we think they are mandatory. We 
> therefore want to know what they actually mean.
>  
> Tanggio tumas! and hope to hear from you guys soon.
>  
> Yours truly,
>  
>  
>  
> Jackson Ray
> 
> 
> A Clean Healthy Planet for Our Children.
> 
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