008/24 (006/07) Continuing resources: Nature of entire work

Character position definition and scope:

A one-character alphabetic code indicates the nature of an item if it consists entirely of a certain type of material. It is used to specify what type of publication the item is as opposed to what it contains. If the item can be considered more than one type of material, the types are recorded in 008/25-27 (Nature of contents) and the 008/24 position is coded # (blank). A fill character ( | ) is used when no attempt has been made to code this 008 position.

Record requirements for National-level and Minimal-level records: Optional.

Guidelines for applying content designators:

Code:	Description:
#	Not specified Nature of the entire item is not specified.
a	Abstracts/summaries Entire item consists of abstracts or summaries of other publications.
b	Bibliographies
c	Catalogs
d	Dictionaries
e	Encyclopedias
f	Handbooks
g	Legal articles Entire item contains substantive articles on legal topics, such as those published in law school reviews.
h	Biography
i	Indexes
k	Discographies
l	Legislation
m	Theses
n	Surveys of literature in a subject area
o	Reviews Entire item is devoted to critical reviews of published or performed works (e.g., books, films, sound recordings, theater, etc.).
p	Programmed texts
q	Filmographies Entire item is a filmography, filmographies, or other bibliography of moving images.
r	Directories
s	Statistics Entire item is a collection of statistical data on a subject. The code is not used for works about statistical methodology.
t	Technical reports
u	Standards/specifications Item is either an international, national, or industry standard or a specification which gives a precise statement of a process or service requirement.
v	Legal cases and case notes
w	Law reports and digests
y	Yearbooks
z	Treaties
5	Calendars
6	Comics/graphic novels
\|	No attempt to code

Content designator history:

In 1979, code n (Legal cases and case notes) was made obsolete. Prior to 1979, legal cases and case notes were identified by code n; currently code v is used.

t - University calendars [redefined, 1997] [CAN/MARC only]

u - Standards/specifications [new, 2002]

y - Yearbooks [obsolete, 1988] [redefined, 2008]

3 - Discographies [obsolete, 1997] [CAN/MARC only]

4 - Filmographies [obsolete, 1997] [CAN/MARC only]

5 - Calendars [new, 2008]

6 - Comics/graphic novels [new, 2008]