Character position definition and scope:

A one-character alphabetic code indicates whether the item contains biographical material, and if so, what the biographical characteristics are.  A fill character ( | ) is used when no attempt has been made to code this 008 position.

Record requirements for National-level records:  Mandatory; for Minimal-level records:  Optional.

Guidelines for applying content designators:

Code:

Description:

#

No biographical material

a

Autobiography

b

Individual biography

c

Collective biography

d

Contains biographical information

|

No attempt to code

See also:

006 and 008:  Books

006 and 008:  Cross Reference Tables by Type of Material

006/01-17:  Character Positions by Type of Material

006  Fixed-Length Data Elements - Additional Material Characteristics

008/00-39:  Character Positions by Type of Material

008  Fixed-Length Data Elements