The 043 Cheat Sheet
The 043 field in a bibliographic MARC record is the field for the “geographic area code.”
It is used to contain a code that indicates the geographic area the work is about (not where it was published, or the author’s country of origin).
How do I know what country the work is about? This information comes from the 650 $z, the geographic subdivision present in the subject heading. Alternatively, it may come from a 651 field (geographic subject heading). If you see that the record includes either of these, then it probably requires an 043 field. Also, if you are inputting original records for theses & dissertations, Jason will write “043" on the printout so you will know to add it. For the United States, Canada, Great Britain, China, and Australia, there are codes not only for the country but also for individual states (e.g., Arkansas) or regions (e.g., Southern States for the U.S. south). There are no codes for smaller subdivisions such as cities or counties. There are codes for some other features or larger regions, however, such as the Himalaya Mountains (ah--- --), Eastern Europe (ee-----), or the Persian Gulf (ap-----). If the subject headings indicate that the work is about more than one place, don’t panic. Up to three codes may be included in the 043. See the format section below for more details. How do I know the code?
A complete list of codes may be found at Cataloger's Reference Shelf here http://www.itsmarc.com/crs/crs.htm (These codes are also available in printed form in our actual cataloging reference area if the Web is down.)
Click the “Geographic Area” box. Then click “Geographic Area Name Sequence” (alternatively, you may link directly to this sequence). Then click the appropriate letter of the alphabet so you can search the index for the correct code. Valid codes appear in brackets in bold type next to the name of the area. Each code starts with the code for the continent (n=North America, e=Europe, etc.), followed by a dash, the country code (us=United States, ch=China), and either 3 more dashes or another dash followed by the code for the state or region (ar=Arkansas). At least, this is the usual format; note that in some cases, the format is a little different (awgz=Middle East, Gaza Strip). 043 format 043 has no indicators. It is always 7 characters long. Dashes are used to separate letters and to fill out the 7 characters. Cataloger’s Reference Shelf doesn’t bother to fill out the 7 spaces to the end, so you may have to add dashes. If the work is about more than one geographic area, you may include more than one code. There can be only ONE 043 field in the record, but that field may contain up to THREE codes. Each code goes into a separate $a. Examples:
043 n-us— [United States][those are supposed to be 3 separate dashes at the end] 043 n-us-ar [Arkansas] 043 n-us-ar $a n-us-mo [Arkansas and Missouri] 043 a-ccy– [Yellow River] 043 awba— [West Bank area in Middle East] OCLC will give you an error message if you try to validate a record with an incorrectly formatted 043. For more information about formats, check OCLC’s Bibliographic Formats and Standards: http://www.oclc.org/oclc/bib/043.htm If you have questions, ask Jason.
University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville
Loading Brief Bib Record Sets in Sierra Cataloging
1. The Web Services librarian will usually send an e-mail with the following information:
a. the name of the file to be loaded and the new record count.
b. the range of bibliographic record numbers for the previous load and the original record count. These will be deleted after the new records have been added to OneSearch. At this time, it’s a good idea to search OneSearch by series title to ascertain the current record count, as some may have been deleted already. That way, when you create your list in step 21, you will know if you’ve gotten them all.
2. Locate the files for the current record set to be loaded on Giovanni (path _Library > Web Services > MarcMaker). These will usually consist of the original Excel spreadsheet (.xls), the text (.txt) file, and the MARC (.mrc) file.
3. First open the .txt file and examine for any mistakes. Simple ones may be fixed with global update after the records are loaded, but sometimes the Web Services librarian will need to create new files. Make certain to test one URL from the file to see if it connects.
4. Once the records are ready to load, transfer the .mrc file to your hard drive by copy-andpasting it to the folder of your choice.
5. From MilCat, choose the “Data Exchange” function.
6. In the “Select Process” drop-down, choose “Load MARC BIB records from TAPE or FTP (bta).”
7. Click the “Get PC” button.
8. Browse for the file on your computer. Click on it, then on “Upload.”
9. At the “Rename file” prompt, make sure the “accepted suffix” in the drop down box is “ftpb” (not marc), then click “OK.”
10. Highlight the newly-uploaded file and click “Prep” to pre-process.
11. When Millennium brings up the processing window, click “Start.”
12. The number of input and output records will appear, which will normally be one more than the actual number.
13. Click “Close.”
14. Highlight file with .marc extension and click “Load.”
15. Another dialog window with “test” and “load” options will appear. Test first to see if everything looks correct.
16. Then click “Load” and watch them go!! This may take a while. Normally, you will have an invalid block at the end of the file, but if you get a lot of invalid blocks, there is something wrong with the record set.
17. After the records have loaded, compare the total number to the number in the original file. If it is not right, consult with the Web Services Librarian.
18. Print out the statistics screen for the record load; this will be given to the Web Services Librarian so she can keep the log of loaded records and their OneSearch bib record numbers. The easiest way to do this is to close the loading window and return to the list of files. There should be two “errlog” files generated during the loading process, one for the test load and the other for the actual load. Highlight the log from the actual load and click “View.” Then select the “Statistics” tab and “Print.”
19. Click “Close.”
20. Then delete the files for this set of records only, including the error logs.
21. Delete old bib records for this aggregator if necessary, using the bib rec numbers supplied by the Web Services Librarian. To do so:
a. Choose the “Create Lists” function.
b. Select an empty review file and create a new bibliographic list. Generally, you will have the range of old record numbers, so you can create the list directly from that. A few “missing” records from the original count is not cause for alarm, as occasionally a few records will have already been deleted. However, if the count is significantly off, try creating the list on the series statement and the cat date of the old record set.
c. Choose the “Delete Records” (not “Delete Items”) function.
d. Select your review file and click “Start” to display the records.
e. Choose “Delete the listed BIBLIOGRAPHIC record AND all attached records” option, then click “Delete Records.”
f. When the records have finished deleting, check to see if there is an “Errors” tab displayed. (This most commonly occurs when one or more records were in use by the system.) If so, examine those records, deleting the records manually if needed.
22. Call up any record from the new set and click “View” and “Public Display.” Then test the URL to make certain it connects. If not, consult the Web Services Librarian.
23. Finally, make certain the series statement has an authority record in OneSearch. If not, the Database Maintenance Librarian will create it and then pass the information on to the Head of Cataloging to be added to the “fake series list.”
dek 070122/080229