[Koha] Transcribing agency

[library at ssst.edu.ba]

Thank you Katrin! Yes, I will also be doing original cataloging as well as importing records via Z39.50 - if nothing else, there will be textbooks and manuals published by our lecturers, and we ocassionally receive donations from staff and students and not all of those books have been cataloged anywhere before.

I'd actually forgotten - it's been many years since I did anything with MARC in any flavor, but I'm reading up on the online manual and also checking some instructional videos. I can only watch those at home, where my time is limited so whenever there are documents or transcripts, I'm happy!

All in all, it seems that my installation is finally on the right track; the one record I added this time seems to be accessible and authors searchable. I will leave it for the time being and focus on checking to see if I've missed any important general settings, and then trying to tackle acquisitions.

Best regards

Aida Đikić


From: Hernandez, Heather H <Heather_Hernandez at nps.gov>
Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2023 6:23 PM
To: library at ssst.edu.ba; koha at lists.katipo.co.nz
Subject: Re: [Koha] Transcribing agency

Hi!

I agree with Katrin-making the 040 subfields optional in Koha is fine.  But I think it's a very good idea to get an institution code and to use it, since it's very helpful if you eventually share your cataloging records.  (And it's a typical thing for a library to think when starting out that they are small and no one would ever be interested in their cataloging records, but you never know!!)

Also, if you are doing original cataloging (that is, you are also creating all the data that you are typing in), you will use the exact same code in the 040 $a and the $c.  (But you probably already know that!)  It is also extremely helpful to code the language of cataloging in the $b (using a language code available at https://www.loc.gov/marc/languages/ ).  IMO, those are the three fields that should be in a MARC21 040 field for an original record.  (The $e is IMO optional.)

If you are bringing in a record from another source, e.g., via Z39.50, and you make changes to it, adding a $d with your organizational code to the 040 is nice-it tells you (and others that might copy your record in the future) that you modified the record.

(And, really, most systems will tolerate any sort of "code" or data in the 040 subfields.)

Cheerio!
h2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ms. Heather Hernandez (she, her, hers)

Technical Services Librarian

Library catalog:  https://keys.bywatersolutions.com/

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park Research Center

2 Marina Blvd., Bldg. E, 3rd floor, San Francisco, CA  94123-1284

415-561-7032 (office, generally M, W, F, telecommuting Tu,Th)

heather_hernandez at nps.gov<https://webmail.lmi.net/src/compose.php?send_to=heather_hernandez%40nps.gov>