261 Imprint Statement for Films (Pre-AACR 1 Revised) (American)

Field definition and scope:

Field 261 is used in the United States to support retrospective conversion of Pre-AACR 1 (revised) cataloging records. It was made obsolete in CAN/MARC in 1988.

This field contains imprint information, including the statement of production and release for projected media. It is used only for cataloging of projected media created prior to AACR revised chapter 12 cataloging rules (which follow ISBD specifications). It may thus appear on records created before 1976 or on new retrospective records containing pre-1976 cataloging. For cataloging created since 1975, field 260 (Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint)) is used.

The National level record requirement for this field is Mandatory if applicable.

Field 261 is NOT repeatable.

Guidelines for applying content designators:

For indicator and subfield code definitions and examples, National-level (NLR) and Minimal-level (MLR) record requirements, and designator repeatability, see table below:

Position	Description	NLR	MLR	Repeatability
Field 261	Imprint Statement for Films (Pre-AACR 1 Revised)	A	O	NR
Indicator:
First	Undefined; contains a blank	M
Second	Undefined; contains a blank	M

Subfield code:
$a	Producing company	A	O	R
$b	Releasing company (primary distributor)	A	O	R
$d	Date of production, release, etc.	A	O	R
$e	Contractual producer	A	O	R
$f	Place of production, release, etc.	A	O	R
$6	Linkage	A	O	NR
$8	Field link and sequence number	O	O	R

Input conventions:

Punctuation

MARC 21 conversion to current fields:

261 $a converts to 260 $b

261 $b converts to 260 $b

261 $d converts to 260 $c

261 $e converts to 260 $f

261 $f converts to 260 $a

Content designator history:

In 1976, the use of field 261 was restricted to pre-AACR 1 revised chapter 12 records for projected media and field 260 (Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint)) was validated for use with visual materials.

261 Imprint Statement for Films (Pre-AACR 1 Revised)

In 1999, field 261 became local to the United States since it was obsolete in the CAN/MARC format. In MARC 21, this field is described in Appendix H: Local Data Elements.