Step 3.11

STEP 3.11 : GENRE FORM MATCHING

MARS 2.0 can match bibliographic genre form headings (655) against a variety of authority files. MARC 655 fields are available for libraries to record the genre, form, and/or physical characteristics of the materials being described.

Standard published lists are used as sources for the genre and form terms. The source of each heading is designated by an abbreviation entered into $2 source of term.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GENRE FORM TERMS

All LCGFT headings will have 2nd indicator 7, though there are still some LC genre headings with 2nd indicator 0 that have not yet been moved over into LCGFT. MARS 2.0 recognizes LCGFT identified by either method, and will retain the method of identification used by the cataloged record:

 
 use of $2 in heading:
 655  7 $a Fiction films $2 lcsh
 
 updated to 650 tag:
 650  7 $a Fiction films $2 lcgft
 

genre form terms in topical 650 headings

Terms in topical subject headings (650) are always updated in accordance with the practice of the heading system indicated by the 2nd indicator of the field.

Topical subject headings are not affected in any way by the options selected for genre form headings.

Terms in genre form headings (655) are always updated in accordance with the practice of the heading system indicated by the rules governing that genre.

In the example below, the 655 field has been updated based on a crossreference in an LC authority record, while the term in the 655 field has been updated based on a cross-reference in the related GSAFD authority record:

 
 Matching against LCGFT:
 obsolete 655 heading:
 655  0 $a Sitcoms (Television programs)
 
 updated  655 heading:
 655  7 $a Situation comedies (Television programs) $2 lcgft
 
 Matching against GSAFD:
 obsolete 655 heading:
 655  7 $a Sitcoms. $2 gsafd
 
 updated  655 heading:
 655  7 $a Comedy television programs. $2 gsafd
 

genre form update reports

Updates for genre form headings are included in Updated Headings report (see Step 5.2, R30).

AAT AUTHORITY RECORDS

MARS 2.0 also provides authority control for genre form terms authorized for use in the Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus (hereafter referred to as AAT):

 
 obsolete 655 heading:
 655  7 $a catalogs, on-line. $2 aat
 
 updated  655 heading:
 655  7 $a online catalogs. $2 aat
 

Note: AAT authorities also contain many extraneous subfields immediately following $a, which may present challenges to your ILS when trying to index or load the records. MARS 2.0 can strip these (uppercase alphabetic) subfields, leaving only the lowercase subfields in place.

GSAFD AUTHORITY RECORDS

The following example shows an update for a genre term extracted from Guidelines on Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction, Drama, etc (hereafter referred to as GSAFD):

 
 obsolete 655 heading:
 655  7 $a Utopias. $2 gsafd
 
 updated  655 heading:
 655  7 $a Utopian fiction. $2 gsafd
 

MESH GENRE AUTHORITY RECORDS

MARS 2.0 also provides authority control for the list of genre terms authorized by the National Library of Medicine for use in 655 fields:

 
 obsolete 655 heading:
 655  7 $a Meeting Reports. $2 mesh
 
 updated  655 heading:
 655  7 $a Congresses. $2 mesh
 

In 2002, a change to the MARC21 standards was authorized that allows identification of Medical genre terms either by using 2nd indicator 7 plus $2, or by use of 2nd indicator 2 without $2. MARS 2.0 recognizes Medical genre terms identified by either method, and will retain the method of identification used by the cataloged record:

 
 use of $2 in 655:
 655  7 $a Almanacs. $2 mesh
 
 updated 2nd indicator 2:
 655  2 $a Almanacs.
 

RARE BOOKS MANUSCRIPTS SECTION VOCABULARIES

MARS 2.0 can now match against the Rare Books and Manuscript Section genre authority files (hereafter referred to as RBMS). RBMS is a set of eight different thesauri provided with the generous assistance of the Association of College and Research Libraries, as well as Folger Shakespeare Library.

These vocabularies provided a standardized means for retrieving special collections materials by genre, form, or by various physical characteristics that are typically of interest to researchers and special collections librarians.

These thesauri are for relating materials to individuals or corporate bodies:

rbbin	binding terms	307 records
rbgenr	genre terms	501 records
rbpap	paper terms	290 records
pri	printing evidence	152 records
rbprov	provenance evidence	82 records
rbpub	publishing evidence	39 records
rbrel	relator terms	71 records
rbtyp	type evidence	130 records

THESAURUS FOR GRAPHIC MATERIALS

The Thesaurus for Graphic Materials is a tool for indexing visual materials by subject and genre format. The thesaurus includes subject terms to index topic shown or reflected in pictures, and genre form terms to index types of photographs, prints, design drawings, ephemera, and other categories:

gmgpc	genre terms	670 records
lcgtm	subject terms	7,142 records