On Sep 23, 2009, at 9:19 AM, Jonathan Rochkind wrote:
Thanks! So $v, $x, $y, and $z should always get a "--" before them
-- that's sufficient logic to do it 'right'? I guess an LCSH 6xx
always needs an $a first, so I don't need to worry about if a $v or
$x happens to come first, and shouldn't get a preceding "--".
Should I do this only for 6xx with 2nd indicator 2 indicating LCSH,
or do people generally just do this for all 6xx?
Our ancient hardcopy MARC 21 manual says the dash preceding any of
those subfields is a display constant, and there is no mention of
indicator-based display logic. So no need to worry about the
indicators.
I suspect this is ISBD punctuation. If so, it's probably the only
ISBD punctuation that is, sensibly, not carried in the data.
On Sep 23, 2009, at 9:20 AM, Jonathan Rochkind wrote:
Hey, and it occurs to me, in an HTML display, it might be better to
use an actual em-dash than the traditional two hyphens too? Since
the LC documentation just talks about "dash" -- two hyphens is how
you approximate an em-dash in ascii of course, but we're not living
in ascii anymore!
In fact, the old MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data print manual
uses the em-dash. I would agree that the "--" is legacy, probably
from the days of printing cards on impact printers with the old
Library of Congress print train.
If you go for the em-dash, it will be interesting to see how long it
takes for someone complain about the change from the double dashes.
-Tod
Tod Olson wrote:
Only for certain subfields:
Dash (-) that precedes a subdivision in an extended 600 subject
heading is not carried in the MARC record. It may be system
generated as a display constant associated with the content of
subfield $v, $x, $y, and $z.
From http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/bd600.html
-Tod
On Sep 23, 2009, at 9:09 AM, Jonathan Rochkind wrote:
Hi all, I'm writing some marc record display code, and I have a
question about the 'right' way to display LCSH headings.
LCSH headings are typically displayed with "--" between
components. But looking at the MARC, it looks like the "--"
punctuation isn't actually in the MARC field. (A rare instance
where display punctuation isn't in the marc!).
Is it correct for any LCSH 6xx field (which you know because the
2nd indicator is 0, right?), to add "--" between ALL present
subfields on display? Do I have the right logic there?
Thanks for any advice!
Jonathan
