    IFLA Universal Bibliographic Control and International MARC Core Programme (UBCIM)UNIMARC Guidelines no. 5Multi-level Description: Encoding Options for UNIMARC1999-02-02
1 INTRODUCTIONThis guideline illustrates how an agency may encode multi-level description using the UNIMARC format. Many bibliographic items, both print and non-print, are issued in multiple parts. The individual items in the set may or may not have sequential designations and/or significant titles. The characteristics of the individual volume often determine the possibilities for the cataloguing agency for cataloguing and shelving the items in the set, and, in turn, the cataloguing treatment will influence the encoding of the cataloguing in a MARC record. Thus there are several options for encoding, all valid in UNIMARC. These options give agencies the flexibility to describe multipart items to the degree the characteristics, cataloguing rules, and agency policies will permit.A multipart item is a group of physically separate bibliographic items identified by a common title. It includes series, serials, made-up collections, and multivolume monographs. In UNIMARC the term SET is used for these items and in the following discussion SET will be used to stand for any type of multipart item. 2 UNIMARC MODELS FOR MULTIPART ITEM RECORDSIn the schematic options for records describing multipart items, the following conventions are used. While the bibliographic items are expressed in terms of volumes, the individual items in the set could be in any format. The parts of the model multipart item are designated as follows:
Collective title - represents the general title for the set < > - encloses references to a type of data rather than data itself Examples containing 4-- fields have alternative versions - one using $1 (one), the other with standard subfields. e.g. 461 #0 $0N34900
$1001N34900 Either method may be used. Note that a 4-- field containing only a RID is not acceptable for exchange purposes. Option 1 Under this option a record is made for the set, with no references in it to the names or sequential designations of the individual items in the set (Record 1). The number of items in the set is indicated in field 215 (Physical Description) if the set is complete. Separate records (Records 2-n) are made for each item in the set, with the title of each item carried in field 200, subfield $a, of each record. Either field 225 (Series) and/or field 410 (Series) for series or field 461 (Set Level) for monographs must be in the records for the individual titles to carry the information about the collective title. Inclusion of the RID of Record 1 in the records for the individual volumes is optional. Option 1 is primarily used when the volumes have individual titles and the titles are significant thus stand alone well.
Option 2 Under this option a record is made for the set, with no references in it to the names or sequential designations of the individual items in the set (Record 1). The number of items in the set is indicated in field 215 (Physical Description) if the set is complete. Separate records (Records 2-n) are made for each item in the set, with the collective title carried in field 200, subfield $a, of the record and the sequential designation and title of individual items carried in the $h and $i subfields, respectively. An agency, however, may not require that a separate record be created for the collective title in Option 2 if links are not needed for individual items in the set. Inclusion of the RID of Record 1 in the records for the individual volumes is optional. Option 2 is primarily used when the volumes have individual titles but the titles are not significant thus do not stand alone well.
Option 3 Under this option a record is made for the set, with a note that provides information about the individual items in the set. The number of items in the set is indicated in the 215 field if the set is complete. Separate records are not made for each item in the set. Option 3 is used for a variety of situations: sets with non-significant titles or without individual titles, retrospective conversion of set records, items classed and shelved together as a set, finite collective sets, etc.
Mixture of Components of Options The three options presented above are intended to be indicative. There are a number of system reasons that an institution would want, for example, to give the author and collective title or the author and individual title in distinct added entries, even though Option 2 is used. There are also often cataloguing rules that require certain elements to be explicitly in a record in particular situations, even if the machine environment does not require the extra field(s) for satisfactory retrieval. Sharing records may add a need to carry some information explicitly and redundantly to make records suitable for all types of possible system. Systems responsible for a national bibliography may also have different requirements to maintain the integrity of annual or other defined subsets of national bibliography records. 3 BRIEF RECORD EXAMPLESThe following partial records are incomplete but sufficient to illustrate the various options. Because of limitations in the character set, the conventions of the UNIMARC Manual cannot be used: ‰NSB‰ and ‰NSE‰ have been used to represent ISO 6630 Bibliographic Control Set positions 08/08 and 08/09 respectively.EXAMPLE 1: Multivolume monograph (Example from ISBD(M))
Collective set: The lord of the rings / J.R.R. Tolkien Option 1
Record 1
Record 2
Record 3
Record 4 Sample Display (of data selected from above records): The lord of the rings / J.R.R. Tolkien - [Authorised ed.] / with a new foreword by the author - New York : Ballantine Books, 1965-1973 - 3 vol. : ill., maps.; 18 cm - (Paperback)
The fellowship of the ring : being the first part of The lord of the
rings - 1965 - 527 p. : ill., maps ; 18 cm Option 2
Record 1
Record 2
Record 3
Record 4 Sample display:
The lord of the rings / J.R.R. Tolkien - [Authorised ed.] / with a
new foreword by the author - New York : Ballantine Books, 1965-1973 -
3 vol. : ill., maps.; 18 cm - (Paperback) Option 3
001 N34900 Sample Display:
The lord of the rings / J.R.R. Tolkien - [Authorised ed.] / with a
new foreword by the author - New York : Ballantine Books, 1965-1973 -
3 vol. : ill., maps.; 18 cm - (Paperback) EXAMPLE 2: Part contained in a series
Collective set: Zarnea G. Tractat de microbiologie
generala.--Bucuresti, 1987- Option 1
Record 1
Record 4 Option 2
Record 1
Record 4 Option 3
001 100598 EXAMPLE 3: Part contained in a subseries of a series
Collective set: World animal health/Office international des
epizooties -- Paris, 1991- Option 1
Record 1
Record 7
Record 25 Option 2
Records 1 and 7 are as in Option 1 Option 3
200 1# $aWorld animal health$fOffice international des epizooties
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