MARC 21 Concise Bibliographic: Control Field 008



008 - FIXED-LENGTH DATA ELEMENTS--GENERAL INFORMATION (NR)


This field contains 40 character positions (00-39) that provide coded information about the record as a whole and about special bibliographic aspects of the item being cataloged. These coded data elements are potentially useful for retrieval and data management purposes.
The data elements are positionally-defined. Character positions that are not defined contain a blank (#). All defined character positions must contain a defined code; for some field 008 positions, this may be the fill character (|). The fill character may be used (in certain character positions) when a cataloging organization makes no attempt to code the character position. The fill character is not allowed in field 008 positions 00-05 (Date entered on file). Its use is discouraged in positions 07-10 (Date 1), 15-17 (Place of publication, production, or execution), and the 008 position defined for Form of item (either position 23 or 29 depending upon the 008 configuration).
Character positions 00-17 and 35-39 are defined the same across all types of material, with special consideration for position 06. The definition of character positions 18-34 was done independently for each type of material, although certain date elements are defined the same in the specifications for more than one type of material. When similar data elements are defined for inclusion in field 008 for different types of material, they occupy the same field 008 character positions.
In the following documentation, character positions are described in the order of their listing at the beginning of this section. Field 008 positions 00-17 and 35-39 for all types of material are described first, followed by seven groups of sections for positions 18-34, each relating to one of the seven types of material described in the Introduction.
Go to top of document

008--ALL MATERIALS

Character Positions


Go to top of document

008--BOOKS

Character Positions


Go to top of document

008--COMPUTER FILES

Character Positions


Go to top of document

008--MAPS

Character Positions


Go to top of document

008--MUSIC

Character Positions


Go to top of document

008--SERIALS

Character Positions


Go to top of document

008--VISUAL MATERIALS

Character Positions


Go to top of document

008--MIXED MATERIALS

Character Positions


Go to top of document


Return to the MARC 21 Concise Format for Bibliographic Data Home Page
Go to the MARC Home Page
Go to the Library of Congress Home Page

Library of Congress
Comments: lcweb@loc.gov (01/28/00/jer)