[Koha] How to search by Language on OPAC?

Nicole Engard nengard at gmail.com
Tue Sep 22 07:49:51 NZST 2009


There is a bug report for this very issue - including some discussion
with a developer:
http://bugs.koha.org/cgi-bin/bugzilla3/show_bug.cgi?id=2559

Nicole

2009/9/21 Chris Mueller <catsalsa at gmail.com>:
>
> 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 at state.nm.us
> http://www.stlib.state.nm.us/
>
>
>
>
> 2009/9/17 Melisa Canales <mcanales29 at 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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>>
>
>
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