Field 852 (Location) is defined to contain information in as much detail as is needed to locate an item.  It may include such information as a unique shelving designation, copy number, and the address for the current physical location of the item.

Single location field:  When holdings are reported for a single location of an item, the information may be embedded in the related MARC bibliographic record or it may be contained in a single separate holdings record.  A single 852 location field and any associated holdings fields are used.

Multiple location fields:  When holdings are reported for multiple copies of an item and the location or call number data elements vary, multiple 852 location fields are required.  MARC Holdings does not provide a technique for linking an 852 field to associated holdings information fields.  To assure that these fields are implicitly linked, the following record configurations of the holdings information must be applied:

Multiple 852 fields without associated fields.  When multiple 852 location fields have no associated fields, they may all be embedded in the related MARC bibliographic record, may all be contained in a single separate holdings record, or may be contained in multiple separate holdings records.

Multiple 852 fields with associated fields.  When one or more 852 location fields have fields such as 841, 007, 842, 844, 853-855, 86X, or 87X associated with them, each 852 and its associated fields must be communicated in a single unambiguous holdings information cluster.  An 852 holdings cluster may be embedded in the related MARC bibliographic record or it may be contained in a single separate holdings record.  When the cluster is embedded, no other unassociated 852 location fields or clusters may reside in the bibliographic record; they must reside in separate holdings records.

Multiple 852 fields with equally applicable associated fields.  In special cases, when associated holdings fields may be equally applicable to several 852 fields, all of the 852 fields and the associated fields may be considered a single holdings information cluster.  The holdings cluster may either be embedded in the related MARC bibliographic record or contained in a single separate holdings record.

Item information:  A holdings record may contain information for particular physical items at one or more locations.  The relationship between field 852, the associated holdings data fields 853-868, and the item information fields 876-878 is included in the section 876-878 Item Information - General Information.

Separate holdings records:  A separate holdings record is linked to the related MARC bibliographic record by field 004 (Control Number for Related Bibliographic Record).

The following fields may appear in a separate MARC holdings record:

Holdings fields:

Leader

Directory

001  Control Number

003  Control Number Identifier

004  Control Number for Related Bibliographic Record

005  Date and Time of Latest Transaction

008  Fixed-Length Data Elements

014  Linkage Number

035  System Control Number

842  Textual Physical Form Designator

843  Reproduction Note

844  Name of Unit

845  Terms Governing Use and Reproduction Note

852  Location

853  Captions and Pattern - Basic Bibliographic Unit

854  Captions and Pattern - Supplementary Material

855  Captions and Pattern - Indexes

856  Electronic Location and Access

863  Enumeration and Chronology - Basic Bibliographic Unit

864  Enumeration and Chronology - Supplementary Material

865  Enumeration and Chronology - Indexes

866  Textual Holdings - Basic Bibliographic Unit

867  Textual Holdings - Supplementary Material

868  Textual Holdings - Indexes

876  Item Information - Basic Bibliographic Unit

877  Item Information - Supplementary Material

878  Item Information - Indexes

Bibliographic Format fields:

007  Physical Description Fixed Field

010  Library of Congress Control Number

016  National Bibliographic Agency Control Number

020  International Standard Book Number

022  International Standard Serial Number

024  Standard Recording Number

027  Standard Technical Report Number

030  CODEN Designation

541  Immediate Source of Acquisition Note

561  Ownership and Custodial History

562  Copy and Version Identification Note

583  Action Note

Of these fields, the following are required in a separate MARC holdings record:  Leader, Directory, 001, 004, and 852.  For interchange purposes, the related MARC bibliographic record is distributed to exchange partners prior to the distribution of a separate holdings record.

Embedded holdings information:  Holdings information may be added to an existing MARC bibliographic record rather than being in a separate linked holdings record.

Embedded holdings information may include the following Holdings Format fields:

841  Holdings Coded Data Values

843  Reproduction Note

845  Terms Governing Use and Reproduction Note

852  Location

853  Captions and Pattern - Basic Bibliographic Unit

854  Captions and Pattern - Supplementary Material

855  Captions and Pattern - Indexes

856  Electronic Location and Access

863  Enumeration and Chronology - Basic Bibliographic Unit

864  Enumeration and Chronology - Supplementary Material

865  Enumeration and Chronology - Indexes

866  Textual Holdings - Basic Bibliographic Unit

867  Textual Holdings - Supplementary Material

868  Textual Holdings - Indexes

876  Item Information - Basic Bibliographic Unit

877  Item Information - Supplementary Material

878  Item Information - Indexes

Of these fields, only field 852 is required in a holdings statement that is embedded in the related MARC bibliographic record.

In general, the guidelines in this document describe separate holdings records.  Specific instructions for embedding holdings fields in the related MARC bibliographic record are given in the Input Conventions area of the field descriptions.  (The first example in Appendix B illustrates holdings information reported as a separate holdings record and as a holdings cluster embedded in the related bibliographic record.)

See also:

Holdings Data Format:  Introduction