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DATE: June 11, 2026
REVISED:
NAME: Adding Subfield $5 to Field 340 in the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format
SOURCE: University of Washington Libraries, in consultation with OCLC
SUMMARY: This paper presents a case for adding subfield $5 (Institution to which field applies) to field 340 (Physical Medium) in the MARC21 Bibliographic Format.
KEYWORDS: Field 340 (BD); Physical Medium (BD); Subfield $5, in field 340 (BD); Institution to which field applies (BD)
RELATED:
STATUS/COMMENTS:
06/11/26 – Made available to the MARC community for discussion.
Subfield $5 (Institution to which field applies) is currently defined in many MARC fields used for bibliographic description. We recommend subfield $5 be considered for inclusion in field 340 (Physical Medium). Several subfields defined for field 340 may contain copy-specific values. Examples include subfields $a (Material base and configuration), $b (Dimensions), $c (Materials applied to surface), $d (Information recording technique), $e (Support), $g (Color content), $l (Binding), and $p (Illustrative content). The inclusion of copy-specific information in these fields would be particularly useful for rare and special collections materials.
Currently, copy-specific information related to physical medium in the form of controlled vocabulary terms may be recorded in field 655 (Index Term - Genre/Form) with a subfield $5. This field provides a less-specific relationship between the term and the resource than subfields in field 340.
An example of copy-specific physical medium information would be a book that has been bound by its owner using a special material. Currently, this information is recorded in note and as a controlled vocabulary term in field 655. For example:
563 ## $a Tortoise shell binding, with silver clasps. $5 WaU
655 #7 $a Tortoise shell bindings. $2 rbmscv $0 http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/rbmscv/cv01974 $5 WaU
655 #7 $a Silver clasps. $2 rbmscv $0 http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/rbmscv/cv00603 $5 WaU
A second example would be a print that has been mounted post-publication to a specific material.
500 ## $a Mounted on wood.
655 #7 $a wood (plant material) $2 aat $0 http://vocab.getty.edu/page/aat/300011914 $5 WaU
Because field 655 indicates a broad "genre/form" relationship and field 340 indicates narrower subfield-specific relationships such as "Material base and configuration" or "Materials applied to surface", it is desirable to express these relationships as they apply to institutional copies using the more precise 340 field paired with a subfield $5.
In field 340 (Physical Medium) of the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format, add the following subfield:
$5 - Institution to which field applies (NR)
See description of this subfield in Appendix A: Control Subfields.
340 ## $l Tortoise shell bindings $2 rbmscv $0 http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/rbmscv/cv01974 $5 WaU
340 ## $l Silver clasps $2 rbmscv $0 http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/rbmscv/cv00603 $5 WaU
563 ## $a Tortoise shell binding, with silver clasps. $5 WaU340 ## $l Morocco bindings $0 http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/rbmscv/cv00548 $5 ICU
563 ## $a Binding: Gilt tooled red morocco over boards; gilt tooled black morocco spine label. $5 ICU
340 ## $a paper $2 rdamat
340 ## $e wood (plant material) $2 aat $0 http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300011914 $5 WaU
500 ## $a Mounted on wood. $5 WaU
340 ## $3 Fore-edge painting: $c watercolor (paint) $2 aat $5 WaU
340 ## $d handwritten $5 WaU
500 ## $a Marginal annotations throughout. $5 WaU
340 ## $c watercolor $g color $p illustrations $5 WaU
340 ## $g black-and-white $p illustrations $5 WaU
500 ## $a Some illustrations hand-colored with watercolor. $5 WaU
300 ## $a 240 pages ; $c 21 cm
340 ## $b 17 cm $5 WaU
500 ## $a Rebound in library buckram; margins cropped to 17 cm with loss of pagination and signature marks. $5 WaU
The BIBFRAME data conversion programs can be adjusted to accommodate this addition, as data in $5 is already converted for many MARC fields.
6.1. Do you agree that there is a use case for subfield $5 in field 340?
6.2. Are there any other issues or alternatives that should be addressed in this proposal?
6.3. Would MAC be open to fast-tracking this proposal?
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