Processing records for MARS

Written by Ryan Finnerty, October 11, 2004
Approved by Cataloging Committee, November 8, 2004
Last revised July 23, 2008

Sending Records

We will send files to MARS monthly.

Records will be gathered by running a search on the entire database with the following criteria:

• CATDATE > [last day of previous month]
• CATDATE < [first day of next month]
• 910 all fields do not have MARS
• BRANCH does not equal CDL
• R CTRL CD = -
  or
  
• CATDATE > [blank]
• BRANCH does not equal CDL
• R CTRL CD = q

NOTE: We have defined a new R CTRL CD of "q". This code will be used to send older cataloged records to MARS. These could be any records that catalogers feel should be sent for MARS processing. R CTRL CD "q" will de defined as "QUEUE TO AUTH." Catalogers should not add this R CTRL CD to groups of more than 20 records at a time. If catalogers ecounter a group of records that is larger than 20 that needs to be sent for authorities processing, then they should contact Database Management.

Output records from the resulting file using the "Create MARC file using item format" output table.

Name the file UCSD.CC.D[date]
ex.: UCSD.CC.D080723

If there are multiple files to send, number them in the following manner:
UCSD.CC01.D[date]
UCSD.CC02.D[date]
UCSD.CC03.D[date]

Save the MARC file to the appropriate folder on the file server.

Go to the BSLW Authority Control website at http://ac.bslw.com/mars/ [see Head of Database Management for username and password]. Click on "Add a job" in the "Job Status" box. In the "Browse" box, navigate to the file you just copied to the file server, select it, and then click on "Send."

Send a confirmation email to our contact at BSLW. The email should contain the name of the file(s) and the number of records in the file(s).

Globally update the records sent to MARS so they have an R CTRL CD of "a". This code will alert catalogers that the record is currently in authority processing and any changes they make to it will be lost once the records are reloaded.

When the records are reloaded, all instances of R CTRL CD "a" in those records will be changed to dash.

Loading Records

When records are returned from MARS, we receive a file of updated bibliographic records plus files of authority records: Name, Title, Series, MeSH, Subject, and Genre. The bibliographic records are ones that we sent MARS to which they made corrections. The authority record files contain authority records that matched headings from all the bibliographic records.

The files are loaded into Millennium by the Catalog System Coordinator as follows:

*Name headings that have the word "Selections" in either subfields t or k are captured into a review file and suppressed by making the ASUPPRESS code = y. These are then manually reviewed to see if they are worth retaining.

**There will be a genre file for each thesaurus.

All newly loaded name/title authority records will be checked for pre-AACR2 cross references (these can be in either the name or subject indexes). Pre-AACR2 cross references incompatible with AACR2 will be deleted.

Millennium Headings Reports

After each file of authority records is loaded, Database Management staff run the headings reports in Millennium. Special attention should be paid to following reports:

Duplicate Authority Records
Even though we overlay, sometimes the overlay fails and the authority record is inserted as new. The old authority record should be deleted and the new record retained, with the exception of series and title records. This is done without reviewing data in the old authority record.

Non-Unique 4XXs
These are most often caused by duplicate authority records as well. It is a good back-up system to make sure we catch all the duplicate authority records. Simple acronyms and initialisms in this category can be ignored since they are almost always legitimate duplicate 4XX fields. For example, AAS can be a 4XX field in records for the African Academy of Sciences, American Antiquarian Society, etc. A general rule to follow is that if the acronym or initialism is under 5 characters, then it can be ignored. DBM staff will manually review all others on this report and correct as appropriate.
This report also catches split headings. The old, unsplit heading is a 4XX in the new records. Cleanup on these headings is done by Database Management as time permits.

Blind References
Most items appear on this list because the new authority record has a different 1XX field than the old record and the 1XX field in the old authority record is now a 4XX in the new record. The Automated Authorities software updates all the bibliographic headings to the 1XX form in the new authority because that record was most recently touched. The old authority record will now appear on this report since no headings in the database match it anymore. This is extremely valuable report for catching changed headings. DBM staff will delete the old authority records and change headings in bibliographic records as appropriate.

The rest of the Millennium heading reports should not be dramatically impacted by MARS processing.

MARS Reports

MARS provides us with reports of headings that need manual review. They are as follows:

Possible Invalid Tags
These are headings that matched a valid heading in an authority record, but the MARC tags did not correlate. Some examples:

Corporate headings will also appear on this report if the indicators are incorrect. Example:

Many items on this report can be ignored as they are geographic jurisdictions used as corporate bodies. Example:

Tags Flipped
This report includes all authority controlled headings in which the field tag was changed during MARS processing. Examples:

DBM staff will scan the report for anything anomalous but will not be investigating each record.

Partially Matched Headings
These are headings where the main part of the heading matched an authorized form, but for which no authorized form was found that included the main heading and its subheading(s). This report is by far the biggest of the MARS reports. Most entries can be ignored since they include specific conference information, subject subdivisions, or even legitimate corporate subbodies for which no authority record was ever created. However, typographical errors in the subheadings and incorrectly formulated corporate hierarchies (e.g. United States. Division of Nursing) will appear on this report. Database Management staff will scan this report and try to correct any such errors.

Unmatched Primary Headings
These are headings for which even the main heading did not match an authorized form. This report will be processed in the following manner:

Personal Names
Many personal names are not established in the authority file, so it is not productive to investigate all of these. Database Management staff will look for misspellings (which in itself can be hard with personal names), odd constructions, and pre-AACR2 forms of names and try to correct them. DBM will change the R CTRL CD to "q" on records they correct.

Corporate Names
Many corporate names are also not established. Database Management will look for misspellings, odd constructions, and pre-AACR2 forms and try to correct them. DBM will change the R CTRL CD to "q" on records they correct.

Series/Title
Series headings will appear on this report if $v was not coded in the record. As a result, the MARS software interpreted the caption and/or enumeration data as part of the main heading and was unable to find an authority record. DBM will correct the coding in the heading and change the R CTRL CD to "q". Misspellings will also appear on this list and will be corrected.

Subjects
This report contains a variety of headings, some of which may be correct. For personal and corporate names used as subjects, DBM will follow the corresponding procedures in the above categories. Topical and non-juristictional geographic headings will appear on this list if they are incorrectly tagged, the headings lacks a qualifier, the ending date was added to a finite event, etc. Examples:

Most geographic headings appearing on this list are valid subjects but do not have corresponding authority records. These include subjects for regions and metropolitan areas. Examples:

Mojave Desert Region (Calif.).
San Diego Metropolitan Area (Calif).

DBM staff will ignore these.

Also appearing on this list are pattern headings for music, literature, etc. DBM will ignore these as well.

MeSH
Most headings in this report are for LCSH headings incorrectly coded as MeSH. This could either be because the wrong thesaurus was used or the heading really should be LCSH and the wrong 2nd indicator was used. DBM staff will evaluate each heading and correct as appropriate. For personal and corporate names used as MeSH, DBM will follow the corresponding procedures in the above categories.

Local
These are subject headings with 2nd indicator 4. DBM will staff will either delete them if they duplicate other subject headings on the record or change them to LCSH or MeSH as appropriate.

Form/Genre
These headings will be verified against the locally authorized thesauri specified by the 2nd indicator or $2 by DBM staff and changed as appropriate. DBM staff will also change the 2nd indicator from 7 to a more specific one if applicable. All genre terms on MSCL records will be forwarded to them for investigation.

Heading Usage Not Authorized
These are headings that matched a heading in the authority file, but the usage codes in the authority record indicate that the heading is not appropriate for the use to which it has been applied in the bib record. The bulk of the items on this report are for when an 810 heading lacks a $t, a $b in an 810 field has been miscoded as a $t, or a $t in an 810 has been miscoded as an $v. DBM staff will investigate and correct as appropriate.

Suspicious Filing Indicators
The headings in this report contain an initial word that may or may not be a leading article. For example, although an initial word "A" is normally a leading article in English language titles, it is not an article in the title A is for apple.

MARS tests the value of the filing indicator based on the presence of the initial word in a list of initial articles for each language. The language code in the 008 field is used to determine the language of the record. If the language code is missing, or different than the language of the heading, headings will be listed in this report even though the filing indicator is set correctly.

DBM staff will correct filing indicators, language codes, or leave correctly coded records alone as appropriate.

Possible Leading Articles
The headings in this report contain an initial word that may or may not be a leading article. For example, although an initial word "A" is normally a leading article in English language word titles, it is not an article in the title A is for apple. This report differs from the one above in that it lists fields that do not have filing indicators, such as the 246 and 4900_, or fields where filing indicators should not be used, such as the 130, 730, and 830. DBM staff will correct filing indicators or leave correctly coded records alone as appropriate.

Split Headings
This report includes all headings which were split during the MARS processing. Headings can split into multiple headings based on a one-to-many change in a primary heading or a one-to-many change in an individual subfield. Examples include the change from Nurses and nursing to the headings Nurses and Nursing , and the change from --Dictionaries and encyclopedias to the subdivisions --Dictionaries and --Encyclopedias.

In most cases, such as the Nurses and nursing example above, all the replacement headings are more or less relevant to the work cataloged. There will be other cases, however, where one or more of the replacement headings will not be appropriate. For example, the old heading Catholic Church--Doctrinal and controversial works was split into Catholic Church--Doctrines and Catholic Church--Controversial literature. The Catholic Church--Doctrines heading would hardly be appropriate for a Protestant tract against papal authority.

DBM staff will review the Split Headings report and leave untouched all the records where the replacement headings are similar in subject matter. They will delete and/or change replacement headings that are not appropriate for the work cataloged.

This report also contains 100, 110, and 111 fields where the 2nd indicator is coded 1. Under old rules, this meant that the main entry was also to be used as a subject, so MARS duplicated this field in the subject area of the record and changed the 2nd indicator of the 1XX to blank. DBM staff will scan the report for anything anomalous but will not be investigating each record.

Music Uniform Title $t Match (Custom Report)
The fields in this report include all changed 240, 600-611 and 700-711 tags with a t-subfield that have a 'c, d, i,or j' in the Leader/06 field. This report shows changes made in Uniform Title authority headings for sound recordings or scores. The MARS software can not differentiate t-subfields that always, sometimes or never signify breaks in the logical unit. The Uniform Title headings need to be examined to determine if the t-subfield is appropriate for the new Uniform Title heading. This report will be given to the head of the Music & Media Cataloging Unit to make any necessary corrections.

Linked Field in $6 Changed Fields (Custom Report)
The fields in this report include all tags that are linked to ($6880) vernacular tags. The linked fields listed below represent all changed Romanized linked fields. Their corresponding 880 vernacular fields have not been changed. The bibliographic records need to be examined, and the vernacular fields need to be updated to reflect the changed Romanized versions. DBM will make any necessary changes to the indicators and $6 of the 880 fields and bounce to CJK processing any changes that need to made to the content of the 880 fields.