MARC Review Cataloging checks: Complete Example

Note: this tutorial has changed somewhat in version 236 to reflect various changes made in the options section of the program.

The record excerpt that follows contains a title field (245) with a parallel title entered in a subfield $b preceded by an equal sign:

020   $a0764174940
100 1 $aBrochard, Gilles.
245 14$aThe tea box =$bLa boite du the /$cGilles Brochard, 
 translated by Joe E. Johnson.
260   $aNew York :$bBarron's Educational Series ;$c2001.
300   $a29 p. :$bill. ;$c21 cm. 

In this situation, it is generally considered useful to add a 246 field (Varying form of title) for a parallel title to allow patrons to search by that title.

MARC Report does not currently have a cataloging check to prompt for an additional 246–this article will describe how to add one.

Create sample records

Our first step is to find some records that we can use to test our new cataloging check.

The fastest way to do this might be to open a test file of MARC Records in MARC Report, and use edit mode to 'manufacture' several title fields as illustrated below.

In the test file, setup at least one 245 field with:

• '=$b' in the 245 but with no 246 in the record
• '=$b' in the 245 and with I2 = '0' in a 246
• '=$b' in the 245 and with I2 = 'l' in a 246

Design the Review

Next, select the test file identified or created above, then start MARC Review (under the Utilties menu). Here we will design a 'review' that will find any records with a parallel title in the 245 but without a 246 for that parallel title.

After MARC Review starts, press 'Next' to go to the Pattern form.

We will need to define two patterns to identify these records.

The first pattern identifies all records in which a 245 field contains an equal sign followed by a subfield $b. Here is the first pattern:

Things to note: the MARC subfield character in the data box is created by pressing <Ctrl>-D

The second pattern finds all records that do not contain a 246 field with second indicator sent to '1' (Parallel title). Here is the second pattern:

Things to note: the Rule for pattern 2 is set to 'Nowhere' (either no 246 tags are present in the record, or none of the 246 tags that are present have the second indicator set to '1').

Test the Review

Now test the review:

• Press 'Next'
• On the 'Text Output' page select 'Full record'
• Press 'Next'
• Press 'Run'
• Check the results window; if there were any hits, press 'Next' to view the matching records in Notepad.

If no records were found, make sure you are running MARC Review on a file that contains the problem (refer to Create sample records above), then check your patterns carefully. ¹⁾.

To revise a review definition, all you have to do is press the 'Go Back' button in MARC Review until you return to the form that you want, then make whatever changes are necessary, then press Next to proceed through the steps again.

Save your Review

Once everything checks out (i.e., inspecting the results shows that you found the records you were expecting to find), then press the 'Save Review' button. This will display the form used for saving a task in MARC Review:

You can assign your own 'Name' to the review if you wish (eg. 'Records with parallel titles and no 246'), or you can leave the name field empty and the program will generate the name field from the Description field²⁾.

Pressing 'Save' here will add the review to your Saved Reviews–tasks which you can quickly load and re-run whenever you use MARC Review. Note that you can create a 'Saved Review' without creating an 'MR Cataloging Check', but you cannot create an 'MR Cataloging Check' without creating a 'Saved Review' first.

Setup a MARC Review Cataloging check

The next step is to press 'Done' in MARC Review, and proceed to setup the MARC Review cataloging check in MARC Report.

Back on the main program menu, then, select 'Cataloging Checks' from the options; the MARC Review Cataloging checks section should appear at the bottom right of this form³⁾.

First, make sure the 'Enable' checkbox is selected–this is a kind of master switch that turns this feature on and off. Then click on the 'Edit' button. The first time you do this you should be greeted with a form like the following:

The right panel of this form will contain your saved reviews. There is only one in this screenshot, but there could be many hundreds.

The left panel of this form will contain the reviews that you want to run as cataloging checks in MARC Report. It is empty at present.

The first task is to create a new group–essentially a container for the saved reviews that you want to run as cataloging checks in MARC Report. You can create as many of these groups as you like–for example, you might make one for each different record source you work with.

Press 'New' at the bottom left and enter a descriptive name, perhaps something like 'Testing MR Cats'. This will add the new group to the dropdown list at the top of the form.

Next, drag the saved review (we created above) from the right panel of the form and drop it on the left panel. The form should now look like this:

And that's just about all there is to it!

Cleanup the Brief Message and the Note

As you may have noted in the overview for this feature, the Brief messages used in MARC Report are formatted in a very particular manner. Because of this, its worth making the effort to format your brief messages–the 'Name' field in a saved review–accordingly.

Brief messages are:

• begun with a three-digit MARC tag, followed by a colon
• sorted on the tag
• limited to 32 characters in length
• color-coded by the type of problem

Note: the dash and occurrence number (eg. '-01') are machine-generated–do not add them to your brief message.

Thus, a suitable brief message for our sample MARC Review Cataloging Check might be:

245: parallel title needs 246.

To make this change, simply select the 'Brief message' column on the left and type over it. Note: when you reach the maximum length of the field, the program will beep when you press the next key.

On the other hand, the 'Notes' area in MARC Report provides you with plenty of space to explain in detail what is going on in a cataloging check. As a convention, we always begin our notes with the Tag and/or subfield being questioned, and add the official LC descriptions of each in parentheses. Finally, its a good practice to provide details (AACR2 rules, LCRI, etc.) as to why something is a problem and what might be done to remedy it. This makes it easier for others–or yourself, years down the road–to understand what the problem is and how to fix it.

Following these guidelines, we might come up with a note like this:

Tag 245 (Title) subfield $b (Remainder of title) contains
a parallel title, but either no 246 (Varying Form of Title) 
is present, or none have indicator 2 set to '1'--indicating
a parallel title. Add a new 246 for the parallel title, and 
be sure to set indicator 1 to '1' so that it is searchable
in your OPAC.

Again, we can type directly over the text in the 'Explanatory note' column on the left. (If you copy and paste the above note into your MR Cataloging check you may notice some extra blank spaces will appear; this is because the note above contains hard carriage returns–to facilitate web display– and the table used to store the checks will not allow them to be saved).

Once you are satisfied with your 'brief' and 'long' messages, press the 'Save' button, and exit the program options.

Test our MR Cataloging Check

Now we are ready to harvest the fruits of our labor (or labour).

Select the 'test' MARC file that you used in MARC Review, and open it in MARC Report. Navigate to one of the records with a parallel title but no 246 (hopefully, it will be the first one in the file).

You should now see our Brief message, in green, on the top right, and when you click on that message, the program will put your cursor on the '=' in the 245, and then display our beautifully-composed note in the Notes area below:

If your Brief message doesn't appear, make sure the MARC Review Cataloging Checks are enabled:

• Click 'Options' on the main menu
• Select 'Cataloging Checks'
• Select 'Enable MR Cataloging Checks' on the bottom right
• Press 'Save' or close the option form

Note that MARC Review Cataloging Checks are also be applied in an 'Edit Session' and in 'Batch Mode'.

Editing saved reviews

If you decide you want to change the patterns defined for a MR Cataloging check, simply follow the MARC Review steps for modifiying a saved review:

• Start MARC Review and press 'Load'
• Select the saved review you want to change, press 'Load' again
• Edit the patterns as needed, then run the review
• If the run is successful, press the 'Save review' button

The program will see that you are saving the same review again, and will ask you if you want to change the review description–select 'Yes' or 'No' as appropriate.

Editing brief messages and notes

If you want to change the brief message and/or note for a MR Cataloging Check, follow these steps:

• Open the 'Cataloging Check' page of the options
• Press the 'Edit' button in the MR Cataloging Checks section
• Select the group that contains the check(s) you want to change
• Edit the brief messages and notes as desired
• Press 'Save' when done