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Between a tag and the bibliographic data, there are two character positions often used for indicators. Indicators in MARC formats may have assigned values from 0 to 9, or the space may be left blank. If an indicator is left blank, it is referred to as “undefined.”
(Note: Even though two indicators together may look like a 2-digit number, they really are two separated numbers.) Indicators of different value have different meanings. Look at this example:
110 1_ United States . ‡b Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare |
410 2_ DHEW |
510 1_ United States . ‡b Dept. of Health and Human Services ‡w b |
670 __ Documents to the people, July 1980: ‡b (On May 4, 1980, the Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare was redesignated as the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS)) |
The single digits in fields 110, 410, and 510 are indicator values. In the 110 and 510 fields, the first indicator of 1 indicates that the heading in the 110 field consists of a jurisdiction name (in this case, United States) plus a subordinate body. The first indicator of 2 in the 410 field indicates that the reference is for a name (or in this case, an abbreviation) in direct order, with no jurisdiction name in front of it. The second indicator position is left blank, as are both indicator positions in the 670 field.
Other applications of indicators:
100 1_ Smith, J. A. ‡q (Julie A.) |
400 1_ Smith, Julie ‡q (Julie A.) |
For personal names, a first indicator value of 1 indicates a surname. Other first indicators possible with personal names are 0 (for a forename) and 3 (for a family name), as in the examples below.
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