1.   General.  This is an overall statement related to punctuation/spacing conventions.  For convenience, it addresses in one place conventions applicable to access points in bibliographic and name authority records and those applicable to other parts of the bibliographic record.  Also as a matter of convenience, statements on punctuation/spacing are being retained at their relevant location throughout the LCRIs.  As appropriate, there are references to these other LCRIs; in the other LCRIs there are references to this LCRI.

2.   Manual mode.  In the card catalog environment there were spacing and punctuation conventions appropriate to that environment.  Blank spaces were used when it was thought data would be written in, for example following an open date.  In general, two spaces were used between data elements in the "body of the entry" and to separate the units of headings.  Double punctuation was to be avoided.

3.   Computerized mode.  The computerized environment calls for a different set of conventions.  Much of the data in a MARC record are explicitly identified by content designation (tags, indicators, subfield codes).  Upon output or display, the content designation is used to determine various display conventions including spacing.  Internally there is often no spacing at all but instead content designation, particularly subfield codes.  In displays that do not show content designation, spacing is substituted.  How much spacing is at the discretion of a particular system.  In the displays illustrated in this LCRI, one space is substituted for a subfield code.  However, for data that are not subfielded (e.g., the constituent elements of a corporate name serving as a qualifier, the unsubfielded units in a linking entry field (hereafter "linking entry"), unsubfielded statements or data in the title and statement of responsibility area), it is necessary to establish the spacing to be input.  The computerized environment is oriented to a single-space convention throughout authority and bibliographic records.

Note that some systems display a space on either side of a subfield code to aid the comprehension of subfielded data.  Such "spaces" are also a function of display, i.e., they are not carried internally.  In the examples in this LCRI, no spaces are used on either side of a subfield code to insure that there is no confusion about the spacing convention being illustrated.

110 1# $aCalifornia.$bDept. of Water Resources.

display:  California. Dept. of Water Resources.

130 #0 $aBulletin (California. Dept. of Water Resources)

display:  Bulletin (California. Dept. of Water Resources)

490 1# $aBiblioteca de arte hispánico ;$v8.$aArtes applicadas ;$v1

display:  Biblioteca de arte hispánico ; 8. Artes applicadas ; 1

700 1# $aEliot, T. S.$q(Thomas Stearns),$d1888-1965.$tCocktail party.

display:  Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965. Cocktail party.

780 00 $aLibrary of Congress. Division for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.$tNews

display:  Library of Congress. Division for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. News

785 00 $tJournal of polymer science. Part A, General papers

display:  Journal of polymer science. Part A, General papers

The examples show a display form meant only to illustrate suppression of subfields on display.  How data are actually displayed is at the discretion of individual systems and agencies.

4.   Application.  To the extent that a particular system allows, apply the conventions stated in this and other LCRIs in lieu of any other explicit or implicit instructions in the rules (e.g., 1.1G3 regarding spacing following a period for certain cases of items without a collective title).  Any instructions in this LCRI related to series access points are applicable only to PCC participants.

See also:

1.0C.  Punctuation/Spacing:  Table of Contents