Now, we come to the last topic of our Tutorial : The 008 field. It is also referred to as Fixed-Length Data Elements, or Fixed Field. This field contains 40 character positions that provide coded bibliographic information, and precedes the main bibliographic part of a MARC record (the variable fields). The display of fixed field might differ from system to system. Below is an example of fixed field for book format from an OCLC MARC record.
Type: a ELvl: 1 Srce: Audn: Ctrl: Lang: eng
BLvl: m Form: Conf: 0 Biog: MRec: Ctry: ohu
Cont: GPub: Fict: 0 Indx: 0
Desc: Ills: a Fest: 0 DtSt: s Dates: 1956,
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. ... ... ... ...
4 100 1 Chute, Marchette Gaylord, ‡d 1909-
5 245 10 Stories from Shakespeare.
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In the fixed field above, there is a code to indicate the country of publication -- Ctry: ohu means the item was published in Ohio, United States. There is also a code for the date of the publication -- Dates: 1956, a code for the language of the text -- Lang: eng, and so on. The fixed field can be useful for retrieving records matching specific criteria. Special bibliographic aspects of an item is coded in an abbreviated form. To learn more about fixed field, please go to Understanding MARC, Part IX and Part X.
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