Report of the MARBI/USMARC Advisory Group Meeting New York City July 6-8, 1996 MARBI and the USMARC Advisory Group met in three sessions during the ALA annual meeting. Outgoing chair Priscilla Caplan (University of Chicago) led the sessions. Two proposals of particular interest to music librarians were discussed. Both proposals treat fields that must be altered for the CAN/MARC and USMARC formats to be in agreement. Proposal 96-8/008~18-19, the adoption of three additional form of composition codes, was approved. Discussion will continue on Proposal 96-8/028~Ind 2 (Music Publisher Number) at ALA- Midwinter. A more detailed discussion of these proposals is found below. The Library of Congress reported that Update #2 for the USMARC Bibliographic Format is now available. The concise format will be available on the web by the end of the summer. It will be available in print form after its appearance on the web. Consideration is being given to calling the harmonized format I- MARC, standing, presumably, for International MARC. The Library of Congress also announced their intention to move toward the use of four digits in LCCNs. They are interested in learning about the impact that this change will have on other libraries. Proposals 96-7: Changes to FTP File Label Specifications for Electronic Files of USMARC Records (Approved as amended) This paper proposed changes and additions to the file label used for files of USMARC records transferred via the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). The most controversial change was the request that the number sign "#" followed by a carriage return or carriage return/line feed be used as the end-of- field character. The approved proposal eliminated the number "#" sign from the end-of-field character. 96-8: CAN/MARC Changes for MARC Format Alignment This paper proposed changes that the CAN/MARC users suggested be made to USMARC to facilitate the alignment of the bibliographic and authority formats. Each of the twenty-two sub-proposals was treated separately and are briefly noted below. 96-8/LDR~17: Define Encoding Level for Abbreviated Record (Discussed; deferred to Midwinter) Key issues are the need to clearly define an abbreviated record's contents and the impact of implementation. 96-8/007~01 (Globe): Adding Values to Specific Material Designation for Globes (Approved) 96-8/007~02 (All): Change Field 007/02 (Approved) Option 2, making the definition of the position obsolete, was approved. 96-8/008~39 (All): Change and Add Cataloging Source Values (Discussed; deferred to Midwinter) Discussion leaned toward option 3 which permits differentiation only between national and member input. Additional information would be found in the 040. The impact of any change on OCLC would be significant. 96-8/008~24-27 (Books): Add Two Nature of Contents Codes (Approved as amended) 96-8/008~33 (Books): Add Values and Reorient Fiction Position (Approved as amended) As amended, USMARC codes are retained, "f" is defined as novel, "m" is defined as mixed, and "u" is defined as unknown. Eight additional codes used by CAN/MARC are added. 96-8/008~18-21 (Maps): Augment Maps 008/18-21 (Relief) (Approved) 96-8/008~22-23 (Maps): Augment Maps 008 Projection Codes (Approved) Option 1, adding five new values, was approved. 96-8/008~24-25 (Maps): Augment Prime Meridians in Maps 008 (Approved) 96-8/008~18-19 (Music): Augment Form of Composition Codes (Approved) Option 1, the adding of three form of composition codes, was approved. It was recognized that one of the newly defined forms, square dance music, is actually not a form of composition and that some already existing codes are not forms either. 96-8/008~23-27 (Visual Materials): Reorient Accompanying Matter Position (Discussed; deferred to Midwinter) Discussion indicated a preference for option 3, which would make Visual Materials 008/23-27 obsolete. 96-8/009: New Field 009 for Cartographic Fixed Field Data (Discussed; deferred to Midwinter) The proposal, rather than suggesting the addition of a new field, suggested additions to fields 007/04, 007/06, and 008/25. Although the parties with the greatest interest in the changes supported the proposal, it was agreed that additional review of the issues was appropriate. 96-8/016: Add Field 016 for NLC Control Number (Discussed; deferred to Midwinter) Discussion centered primarily on desire to accommodate other national libraries as use of the harmonized format grows. 96-8/028~Ind 2: Eliminate Added Entry Control from Indicator (Discussed; deferred to Midwinter) The National Library of Medicine, as well as OCLC, supported the Music Library Association's need to retain the ability to code for added entry. It was noted that changing the meaning of currently defined indicators results in ambiguity. If USMARC indicators 0 and 1 were redefined to 4 and 5, respectively, and CAN/MARC indicators 0 and 1 were redefined to 6 and 7, respectively, only earlier uses of 0 and 1 would be ambiguous. 96-8/082~Ind 2: Add Value for NLC to Indicator (Approved as amended) The current second value indicators will be retained and the blank (previously made obsolete) will be reactivated. It will be defined as "No information specified." 96-8/085: Add New Field for Document Shelving Number (Discussed; deferred to Midwinter) Discussion centered on concerns that this number would be given its own field and a need would arise requiring that many other, similarly used numbers have their own fields. More information will be gathered. 96-8/9XX: Add Fields in the 9XX Range (Discussed; deferred to Midwinter) Fairly strong sentiment was expressed against including CAN/MARC 9XX fields in an appendix to the harmonized format. It was suggested that it might be useful to have access, in one centralized location, to the various uses of 9XXs by different groups of format users. 96-8/008~08; 008~11; 055; $w (Authority) (Not discussed; all deferred to Midwinter) 96-10: USMARC Character Set Issues and Mapping to Unicode (Approved as amended) Discussion centered on how to treat the "ASCII clones" which include numbers, punctuation marks, the space, and symbols such as asterisk. More information was needed so this portion of the proposal was removed for further consideration. Corrections to various elements discovered during the group's work will also be treated separately. Discussion Papers DP 95: Enhancements to Field 007 (Map) for Remote-Sensing Images in the Bibliographic and Holdings Formats The issue of adding new positions in the current 007 or creating a new 007 was discussed. It was also noted that 0XX fields might provide more flexibility for later additions than the 007 field option. DP 96: Defining a Uniform Resource Name Field in the USMARC Bibliographic Format This paper served the purpose of bringing the group up-to- date on the URN development progress. Information on future developments will be made accessible via pointers found on the USMARC Web site. Future discussion papers will be presented when necessary. DP 97: Coding Digital Items in Leader/06 (Type of Record) in the USMARC Bibliographic Format Many issues arose during the lengthy discussion of this paper. The advantages of changing the definition of code "m" so that all digitized items are not coded "m" was recognized. The need to retain a Leader/06 was also noted, especially for duplicate detection but also for search qualification. Difficulties in defining "executable" software were reviewed. It was suggested that the current definition be retained and a list suggesting a priority of use be developed. The Library of Congress was encouraged to bring back the discussion paper in the form of a proposal.