[Koha] Marc Field 008?

[Baljkas Family]

Tuesday, October 19, 2004    11:55 CDT

Hi, Andres,

A really quick response ...

> I'm currently brushing up my mapping to MARC, in order not
> to lose meaningful information (from my present database).
> 
> We have a doubt about field 008: Does Koha uses it? How is
> filled?

When I last asked about this recently, I was told that Koha doesn't use the 008.

I am not sure how it would be filled automatically, or even if that is what Koha tries to do with it. Otherwise, I think you'd have to create a coding sequence that would suffice for your library's needs and meet at least the minimum requirements (008 positions 6, 7-10, 11-14, 15-17, 35-37, 38 and 39).

Properly, a cataloguer should be coding the 008 field *individually for each MARC record*, since the elements that constitute the 008 can only be coded accurately from inspection of the item being described.

Hope this helps.

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