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03. Leaders, fields 006, 007, and 008 defined in the bibliographic and holdings format

Find characters, descriptions, tags, and subfields for the Leader and fields 006, 007, and 008 in the CBS MARC 21 database.

Leader (on main, local and copy level), field 006 - Fixed-length Data Elements – Additional Material Characteristics - (on main level), field 007 - Physical Description Fixed Field - (on main and copy level) and field 008 - Fixed-Length Data Elements - (on main and copy level) are used within the CBS MARC 21 format.

But, we have created separate tags for the different material types and we have subdivided those fields in separate subfields within the context of the CBS MARC 21 cataloguing format. So, the fields 006, 007 and 008 don't exist in the CBS MARC 21 format literarally, but the functionality does.

In CBS MARC 21, blanks are indicated by hashes (#). In MARC 21, hashes often mean, but not always "undefined", "unknown", or "unspecified". This is very important to be aware of when coded data is imported, exported or converted.

Especially when data is delivered by a library which has no "MARC 21 background" as far it applies the format of the records, and the format of that library has no fields like Leader or coded data like field 008, then the delivered fields like 008 have been generated automatically probably without checking the values with the "items in hand". This implies that the blanks (hashes) "with a meaning" mean in fact "No attempt to code". Then, the decision can be taken - in cooperation with the library - to remove those blanks (hashes) from the records.

When a tag is filled (almost) completely with no "real" values, i.e. non-alphanumeric values, like hashes, pipe symbols, “unknown”, etc., this may have or will have consequences for the matching & merging process, e.g. in WorldCat.

In this documentation, the expressions “When the value is present” and “When the values are present” mean that only “official” values are allowed. So, the values are checked during the import of records. Only "official" values are accepted; "non-official" values are stored in special fields, so that it possible to convert those to official values at a later stage. (To be implemented April 2021)