Creating a MARC Record- Assignment 1 LIBE 465

                                            Creating a MARC RECORD:
 Reason for Selection:

 I choose a biography book called; Seeking the summit: Sam Switzer's Story of Building and Giving, because this is my father-in-law and it weaves the story of a poor polish Jewish family after the holocaust of WW2 and how their son in Calgary, Alberta became an influential  businessman and  then contributed millions to charities. Sam Switzer  passed away on June 20th, 2018 at 92 years old but his philanthropy is still felt by many. This biography book is written by author Sydney Sharp through on going dialogue with Sam in order to tell his story. There are 32 pages of photographs adding to the visual enjoyment especially for local readers from Calgary, Alberta. I also view this book as a piece of historical writing that makes immigration to Canada and in particular Calgary  come alive. I lived in Calgary for 8 years so I can relate to the places mentioned in the book and of course I spent a lot of time with Sam Switzer.
The  book includes many photographs( many done by his son of Ronald Switzer Photography) that visually tell his story and the changing historical landscape of Calgary.


Process for creating a MARC Record:
1. Library of Congress MARC bibliographical Guide for data input; online source for creating MARC records.  It was helpful completing the online MARC class and downloading the MARC course examples from Idaho Commission for Libraries.

2. I did a Library of Congress  catalog search for my item and printed off the full results. I was a little surprised since this book is not well known but it came up right away under the main title.

Library of Congress catalog result

2.MARC practice worksheet created by instructor Richard Beaudry filled in for my item selection was very helpful to get my notations in order; see below:

MARC record practice sheet

MARC RECORD: Book item; Seeking the summit: Sam Switzers story of building and giving.

010 $a2012517379

020 $a9781897181812(hardbound)

020 $a1897181817(hardbound)

020 $a9781897181829(paperback)

020 $a1897181825(paperback)

100 1 $aSharpe,Sydney.

24510$aSeeking the summit:$bSam Switzers story of building and giving/$cSydney,Sharpe.

260 $aCalgary,Alberta:$bFrontenac House,$c2012.

300 $a236 p.; 32 p. of plates:$b ill.;$c24 cm.

504 $aIncludes bibliographical endnotes and Index

520 $aBiography of Jewish businessman and philanthropist Sam Switzer, son of Polish immigrants and his lasting impact on Calgary, Alberta; Canada.
5204 $aReading level grade six and up.

65010$aphilanthropists$zAlberta$zCalgary .

65010$aJews$zAlberta$zCalgary.

65010$abusinesspeople$zAlberta$zCalgary.

65010$bCalgary(Alta)-biography.
65010$aGens d'affaires$zAlberta$zCalgary.
65010$aJuifs$zAlberta$zCalgary.
65010$aphilanthropes$zAlberta$zCalgary.
7001 $aSwitzer,Sam$d1926-2018.

Seeking the summit book by author: Sydney Sharpe

Explanation of MARC record:(Machine readable cataloguing)

I used the $ for my delimiter; to indicate subfield information  that follows. The 3 digit  main MARC TAGS which indicate content were used with an explanation as follows: 

          First 2 TAGS are Control Information:

 010-Library of Congress Number.  I used L. C number as found in cataloging results; could also be Dewey Decimal Control number

020-ISBN (international Standard Book Number)  found on inside book cover and Library of Congress cataloguing results.  My book had both the older usage of 10 digit ISBN and the 987 ;13 digit ISBN which is used after 2007 for hardbound and paperback.  I found it interesting that this book though published in 2012 has the 10 digit ISBN number as well?

100-Main Entry- subfield code a=Personal Name . Indicator 1 = that it was surname first with a one space. first indicator is for how name is recorded. I did not know the authors birthdate year and the results did not indicate it.

245-Title Statement- Indicator 1=there is a subtitle/remainder title;0=no small words such as : the, an ,a and space for computer to skip while reading it. For example; the; would be 4 indicator.

I used punctuation as structured by AACR2 formatting. subfield code a=main title;b=remainder of title; c=statement of responsibility.
250-editions There were no edition notations.

260-publication content- subfield a=place of publication;b=publishers name;c=date of publication

300-physical dimensions-this one I found a little tricky and read over the MARC manual many times!
subfield a=pages as indicated by the L. of C. and since they also included the number of  illustration plates I added this as an add on to subfield a as indicated by the manual. subfield b=illustrations;
c= dimensions of book item in centimeters.

490-Series title; this is not a series;  no notation

520-Summary content; subfield a=subjective  brief information/theme of the book. I tried to be concise by touching on main themes and reading level giving the searcher key information.I used an indicator 4=content advice to include the reading level and a space to show its the first indicator.

650-Topical term- can be used more then once .Indicators 1=primary source;0=library of Congress subject headings source. Subfield code a=topical subject terms; b=where story takes place and type of literature. I used the Library of Congress subject terms as found in results. I noted how the Library of Congress subject classification also included the French subjects equivalents which made me think is this a requirement for all Canadian published books? It should be in both for benefit of french immersion students and because both French and English are official languages.
I used the subfield code -z-as an add on to the main field -a -to show geographical location of story.

700-added entry(additional access points) indicator 1=surname first(0=forename first).subfield code a=personal name;b=dates associated with the name( year of birth and death) I think this is an important access point if you know Sam Switzer this is how you would search for his biography book.

Reflection and Challenges of Encoding Process:

In relating my learning progress within the Blooms Taxonomy  I found this assignment was extremely helpful.Learning how to create a MARC record at first  was super daunting to me as it is computer cataloging language!  I started at the bottom with knowledge  just being able to define the use and purpose and identify  that it was a MARC record through completing the: Introduction to MARC cataloging online course from the Idaho Commission for Libraries and reading my colleagues post and additional links to articles I began to comprehend the terminology. By putting this understanding into practice through applying it to an actual book item was a key component to progress my learning to application. This forced me to really look at the Marc Manuel and examples so I could record the proper notations within each major field tag. Focusing on the main tags helped to narrow down my researching of notation language and so I didn't get bogged down with the many, many possibilities within each category tag.
I feel I've just began the analyzing  stage in being able to look at a simplified MARC record and provide meaningful feedback and be of assistance to a student/teacher in allocating and recommending the best resource. I can  basically explain the main tags and the subfields within to begin to collocate in order to organize/disseminate and sort out all records according to access points used; subject;author; editions. I need more practical experience to really be able to synthesize and evaluate the function and notations of the Marc system which is a  continuous professional goal. 

Challenges

 I did find some tag fields more challenging such as 245 with the use proper punctuation and referred to the AACR2; 245 example which is used in MARC.The 300 tag I felt unclear on the b subfield code for illustration details and was unsure if I always use abbreviations for example for illustrations(ill.) because I saw examples both ways. I decided on abbreviations as computer language generally uses abbreviations.I also found it confusing that the MARC manual said use ## to indicate no indicators but all the examples from our online course did not use them so I decided not to. The 520 summary content was subjective as in based on my perception and was very different then all the other objective notations. A summary is not recorded in the Library of Congress full cataloging results but I believe it is an important notation to understand the content when making a selection decision. I think this a key tag to be concise on the main themes;type of literature ,and appropriate audience/reading level would be helpful as well as being aware of any bias you may have.
 I found the spacing very tricky and at first I did not have a space after the 3 digit tag but in all the examples there was a space so I added one. I wonder if you make a space mistake then the computer can not read it properly? 

I believe the RDA(Resource Description and Access) and its simplified relationship driven model FRBR which it is influenced by. Click here for What is FRBR? (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) model.RDA is a positive step for accessibility beyond librarians with the greater descriptive language and less use of abbreviations so cataloging results can be understood better.This report from Australia summarizes its many cataloging benefits here RDA Benefits including wider scope of formats;emphasizing relationships which provides more access paths. RDA is designed for the web environment in a machine readable form that is compatible with the web learning resources.  I believe that the one key caution is to  be aware of weeding digital resources just like you do physical resources to keep it current, authentic and meaningful for your schools specific learning needs. 

Resources:


"MARC STANDARDS (Network Development And MARC Standards Office, Library Of Congress)". Loc.Gov, 2019, https://www.loc.gov/marc/.

"The University Of British Columbia". Canvas.Ubc.Ca, 2019, https://canvas.ubc.ca/courses/20489/pages/blooms-taxonomy-2?module_item_id=615683.

"What Is FRBR?". Loc.Gov, 2019, http://www.loc.gov/cds/downloads/FRBR.PDF.

"Report On RDA". Ndl.Go.Jp, 2019, http://www.ndl.go.jp/en/cdnlao/meetings/pdf/report_Australia1.pdf.