Home Genre/Form Code and Term Source Codes

Genre/Form Code and Term Source Codes

Introduction
Genre/Form Source Codes
Genre/Form Source Code Usage in MARC and MODS/MADS

Introduction

Genre/Form Sources contains a list of sources of terms and/or codes indicating the genre, form, and/or physical characteristics of the materials being described in bibliographic records and assigns a code to each source. Sources include lists that contain the following types of information:
- content types that indicate the form of communication through which a work is expressed. Examples include: cartographic dataset, notated music, or text.
- media types that specify the general type of intermediation device required to view, play, run, etc., the content of a resource audio, stereographic, or video.
- carrier types that specify the format of the storage medium and housing of a resource. Examples include audiocassette, microfiche, or online resource.
- genre types designate the style or technique of the intellectual content of textual materials or, for graphic materials, aspects such as vantage point, intended purpose, characteristics of the creator, publication status, or method of representation. Examples are: biographies, catechisms, essays, hymns, or reviews.
- form and physical characteristic types designate historically and functionally specific kinds of materials distinguished by their physical character, the subject of their intellectual content, or the order of information within them. Examples are: daybooks, diaries, directories, journals, memoranda, questionnaires, syllabi, or time sheets.

The purpose of this list is to identify the vocabulary used in records. For code assignment, general structure, usage, and maintenance guidelines see Source Codes for Vocabularies, Rules, and Schemes.

Many general subject lists and thesauri, such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings and the Art and Architecture Thesaurus, also contain controlled vocabularies for specifying genre/forms. Thus those general sources may also be used in usage elements identified for genre/form terms, with the appropriate source code (see Subject Heading and Term Source Codes). Only sources that are specific for genre/form are listed here.

Arrangement of the List

Entries in the list are arranged in alphabetical order by the code and consist of the source code followed by the bibliographic citation for the source documentation. The citations are linked to the online source for some codes.

Code Structure

Each code consists of a maximum of 12 lowercase alphabetic characters. Possible additions to codes are described in Source Codes.

Genre/Form Source Codes

alett
An alphabetical list of English text types (Berlin; New York: Mouton de Gruyter) [pages 23-88 in: Text types and the history of English]
amg
Audiovisual material glossary (Dublin, OH: Online Computer Library Center, Inc.)
barngf
Svenska ämnesord för barn - Genre/Form (Stockholm: Kungliga Biblioteket)
bgtchm
Basic genre terms for cultural heritage materials External Link
bellobv
Gattungsbegriffe für Belletristik, Kinder- und Jugendliteratur (Austrian Library Network (OBV) External Link
bdrc
Buddhist Digital Resource Center
cbk
Centraal Bestand Kinderboeken External Link
cjh
Center for Jewish History thesaurus External Link
dct
Dublin Core list of resource types External Link
estc
Eighteenth century short title catalogue, the cataloguing rules. New ed. (London: The British Library)
fbg
Films by genre (Jefferson, NC: McFarland)
fgtpcm
Form/genre terms for printed cartoon material (Bowling Green, OH: Consortium of Popular Culture Collections in the Midwest)
ftamc
Form terms for archival and manuscripts control (Stanford: The Research Libraries Group, Inc.) [Note: used prior to August 1991; term list subsumed by Art and Architecture Thesaurus at that time]
gatbeg
Gattungsbegriffe (Leipzig & Frankfort: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek)
gemppg
Glossary of Early Modern Popular Print Genres ((Utrecht: Utrecht University)) External Link
gmd
Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules general material designation (Rule 1.1C)
gmgpc
Thesaurus for graphic materials: TGM II, Genre and physical characteristic terms (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Cataloging Distribution Service)
gnd
Gemeinsame Normdatei (Leipzig, Frankfurt: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) External Link
gnd-carrier
Gemeinsame Normdatei: Datenträgertyp (Leipzig, Frankfurt: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) [PDF] External Link
gnd-content
Gemeinsame Normdatei: Beschreibung des Inhalts (Leipzig, Frankfurt: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) [PDF] External Link
gnd-music
Gemeinsame Normdatei: Musikalische Ausgabeform (Leipzig, Frankfurt: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) [PDF] External Link
gsafd
Guidelines on subject access to individual works of fiction, drama, etc. (Chicago: American Library Association)
gsso
Gender, sex, and sexual orientation (GSSO) ontology External Link
gtlm
Genre terms for law materials: a thesaurus (Littleton, CO: Rothman Pubs.)
gtmm
Robson, Diane; Yanowski, Kevin & Sassen, Catherine. Genre terms for makerspace materials (Denton, Texas: University of North Texas Libraries) External Link
gttg
Robson, Diane; Yanowski, Kevin & Sassen, Catherine. Genre terms for tabletop games (Denton, Texas: University of North Texas Libraries) External Link
isbdcontent
ISBD Area 0 (Content Form and Media Area) [content]
isbdmedia
ISBD Area 0 (Content Form and Media Area) [media]
lcgft
Library of Congress genre/form terms for library and archival materials (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Cataloging Distribution Service)
lobt
Language of Bindings Thesaurus (London: University of Arts) External Link
marccategory
MARC form category term list (Washington, DC: Library of Congress)
marcform
MARC form of item term list (Washington, DC: Library of Congress)
marcgt
MARC genre terms (Washington, DC: Library of Congress)
marcsmd
MARC specific material form term list (Washington, DC: Library of Congress)
migfg
Moving image genre-form guide (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, MBRS)
mim
Moving image materials: genre terms (Washington: Motion Picture Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress)
mts
Metatietosanasto (Helsinki: National Library of Finland) External Link
muzeukv
MuzeVideo UK DVD and UMD film genre classification (London: Muze Europe Ltd)
nbdbgf
NBD Biblion Genres Fictie (Zoetermeer: NBD Biblion) External Link
ncrbs
Nippon Cataloging Rules (2018 ed.) broadcast standard (Tokyo: National Diet Library) [Table 2.31.2] External Link
ncrcarrier
Nippon Cataloging Rules (2018 ed.) carrier types (Tokyo: National Diet Library) [Table 2.16.0.2] External Link
ncrcontent
Nippon Cataloging Rules (2018 ed.) content types (Tokyo: National Diet Library) [Table 5.1.3] External Link
ncrcpc
Nippon Cataloging Rules (2018 ed.) configuration of playback channels (Tokyo: National Diet Library) [Table 2.29.7] External Link
ncrfs
Nippon Cataloging Rules (2018 ed.) font size (Tokyo: National Diet Library) [Table 2.26.0.2] External Link
ncrft
Nippon Cataloging Rules (2018 ed.) file type (Tokyo: National Diet Library) [Table 2.32.1] External Link
ncrmat
Nippon Cataloging Rules (2018 ed.) material (Tokyo: National Diet Library) [Table 2.19.0.2] External Link
ncrmedia
Nippon Cataloging Rules (2018 ed.) media types (Tokyo: National Diet Library) [Table 2.15.0.2] External Link
ncrpm
Nippon Cataloging Rules (2018 ed.) production method (Tokyo: National Diet Library) [Table 2.22.0.2] External Link
ncrpo
Nippon Cataloging Rules (2018 ed.) polarity (Tokyo: National Diet Library) [Table 2.27.0.2] External Link
ncrrm
Nippon Cataloging Rules (2018 ed.) recording medium (Tokyo: National Diet Library) [Table 2.29.2] External Link
ncrtr
Nippon Cataloging Rules (2018 ed.) type of recording (Tokyo: National Diet Library) [Table 2.29.1] External Link
ncrvf
Nippon Cataloging Rules (2018 ed.) video format (Tokyo: National Diet Library) [Table 2.31.1] External Link
ndlgft
National Diet Library in Japan genre/form terms for library materials (Tokyo: National Diet Library)
ngl
Newspaper genre list [online only] (Seattle, WA: University of Washington, Library Microform and Newspaper Collections) External Link
nimafc
NIMA form codes (Bethesda, MD: National Imagery and Mapping Agency)
nlggf
National Library of Greece genre/form for library materials
nmc
Revised nomenclature for museum cataloging: a revised and expanded version of Robert C. Chenhall's system for classifying man-made objects (Walnut Creek, Calif.: AltaMira Press)
nskzs
Tezaurus za žanr ili oblik (Zagreb: Nacionalna i sveučilišna knjižnica u Zagrebu)
ntsf
Norsk tesaurus for sjanger og form Oslo : Nasjonalbiblioteket) External Link
nzcoh
New Zealand choral and orchestral hire form and genre terms External Link
olacvggt
OLAC Video Game Genre Terms External Link
proysen
Prøysen: emneord for Prøysen-bibliografien (Oslo: Nasjonalbiblioteket) External Link [deprecated]
radfg
Radio form / genre terms guide (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, Recorded Sound Section)
rbbin
Binding terms: a thesaurus for use in rare book and special collections cataloguing (Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, ALA) [deprecated; use "rbmscv"]
rbgenr
Genre terms: a thesaurus for use in rare book and special collections cataloguing (Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries) [deprecated; use "rbmscv"]
rbmscv
Controlled vocabulary for rare materials cataloging (Chicago: Rare Books and Manuscripts Section, Association of College and Research Libraries) [formerly RBMS controlled vocabularies]
rbpap
Paper terms: a thesaurus for use in rare book and special collections cataloging (Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, ALA) [deprecated; use "rbmscv"]
rbpri
Printing & publishing evidence: a thesaurus for use in rare book and special collections cataloging (Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, ALA) [deprecated; use "rbmscv"]
rbprov
Provenance evidence: a thesaurus for use in rare book and special collections cataloging (Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, ALA) [deprecated; use "rbmscv"]
rbpub
Printing and publishing evidence: a thesaurus for use in rare book and special collections cataloging (Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, ALA) [deprecated; use "rbmscv"]
rbtyp
Type evidence: a thesaurus for use in rare book and special collections cataloging (Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, ALA) [deprecated; use "rbmscv"]
rda
Resource description and access (Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, ALA)
rdaar
RDA aspect ratio designation External Link
rdabf
RDA bibliographic format External Link
rdabs
RDA broadcast standard External Link
rdacarrier
Term and code list for RDA carrier types
rdacc
RDA colour content External Link
rdaco
RDA content type External Link
rdacontent
Term and code list for RDA content types
rdacpc
RDA configuration of playback channels External Link
rdact
RDA carrier type External Link
rdaep
RDA extension plan External Link
rdafmn
RDA form of musical notation External Link
rdafnm
RDA format of notated music External Link
rdafr
RDA frequency External Link
rdafs
RDA font size External Link
rdaft
RDA file type External Link
rdagen
RDA generation External Link
rdagrp
RDA groove pitch of an analog cylinder External Link
rdagw
RDA groove width of an analog disc External Link
rdaill
RDA illustrative content External Link
rdalay
RDA layout External Link
rdamat
RDA material External Link
rdamedia
Term and code list for RDA media types
rdami
RDA mode of issuance External Link
rdamt
RDA media type External Link
rdapf
RDA presentation format External Link
rdapm
RDA production method External Link
rdapo
RDA polarity External Link
rdare
RDA regional encoding External Link
rdarm
RDA recording medium External Link
rdarr
RDA reduction ratio designation External Link
rdasco
RDA sound content External Link
rdaspc
RDA special playback characteristic External Link
rdatb
RDA type of binding External Link
rdatc
RDA track configuration External Link
rdatr
RDA type of recording External Link
rdavf
RDA video format External Link
reveal
REVEAL: fiction indexing and genre headings (Bath: UKOLN)
rvmgf
Thésaurus des descripteurs de genre/forme de l'Université Laval (Québec, Québec: Bibliothèque de l'Université Laval)
saogf
Svenska ämnesord - Genre/Form (Stockholm: Kungliga Biblioteket)
sgp
Svenska genrebeteckningar fr periodika (Stockholm: Kunglige Biblioteket)
slm
Suomalainen lajityyppi- ja muotosanasto External Link
tept
Thesaurus of ephemera terms (Reading, England: Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, University of Reading) External Link
tgfbne
Términos de género/forma de la Biblioteca Nacional de España External Link
tgfc
Termes de gènere i forma en català (Barcelona: Biblioteca de Catalunya)
thema
Thema (Editeur.org) External Link
tpro
T-PRO Thesaurus der Provenienzbegriffe (Berlin: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz) External Link
vgmsgg
Video game metadata schema: controlled vocabulary for gameplay genre (GAME Research (GAMER) Group) External Link
vgmsng
Video game metadata schema: controlled vocabulary for narrative genre (GAME Research (GAMER) Group)External Link

Genre/Form Source Code Usage in MARC and MODS/MADS

MARC 21 Formats and Fields

  • Bibliographic records
    • 655 $2 (Index Term - Genre/Form / Source of term)
    • 336 $2 (Content Type / Source)
    • 337 $2 (Media Type / Source)
    • 338 $2 (Carrier Type / Source)
    • 340 $2 (Physical Medium / Source)
    • 344 $2 (Sound Characteristics / Source)
    • 346 $2 (Video Characteristics / Source)
    • 347 $2 (Digital File Characteristics / Source)
    • 348 $2((Notated Music Characteristics / Source)
  • Authority records
    • 755 $2 (Established Heading Linking Entry - Genre/Form Term / Source of heading or term)
    • 785 $2 (Subdivision Linking Entry - Form Subdivision / Source of heading or term)
    • 336 $2 (Content Type / Source)
    • 040 $f (Cataloging Source / Subject heading / thesaurus conventions
  • Holdings records
    • 337 $2 (Media Type / Source)
    • 338 $2 (Carrier Type / Source)
    • 347 $2 (Digital File Characteristics / Source)

MODS/MADS Elements

  • mods: genre @authority
  • mods: physicalDescription / form @authority
  • mods: location / holdingSimple / copyInformation / form @authority

  • mads: authority / genre @authority
  • mads: related / genre @authority
  • mads: variant / genre @authority

Home Genre/Form Code and Term Source Codes