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Home > Minerva > Cataloging > Manual > Ch 5: Access Points for Different Forms of the Title - MARC 240 and 246 Fields

Chapter 5: Access Points for Different Forms of the Title - MARC 240 and 246 Fields

Title access

The title proper is entered in the 245 field exactly as it appears on the material being cataloged. Alternative forms of the title are entered as needed in other MARC fields so that a patron using variations in phrasing or spelling will be able to find the item.

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Uniform title: MARC field 240 field (NR)

A uniform title is the title chosen for cataloging purposes when a work has appeared under varying titles or in more than one form. Adding an access point for the title by which a work is commonly known allows all manifestations of a work to appear together. For example, the book Huckleberry Finn may have been published with the title Huckleberry Finn , Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Adding the uniform title Huckleberry Finn to the appropriate records will give patrons access to all editions of the book.

The uniform title may be accessed through the 240 tag when there is a 100, 110 or 111 tag in the record. The 240 is an optional field, used for music, laws, treaties, liturgical works with an author or composer, authored classics and translations. This field is only used if there is a uniform or common title that identifies a monograph that has been published under many different titles. There is no end punctuation in this field. See the MARC 21 website for details.

The first indicator determines whether or not the uniform title displays in the bib record:

  • 0 Patron does not see an alternative title displayed on a bib record.
  • 1 Alternative title is displayed in the bib record (preferred choice).

The second indicator is for nonfiling characters:

  • 0 - 9 Number of nonfiling characters

This field may contain a variety of subfields . Punctuation and form of entry that appear in the examples below are prescribed by AACR2. The most frequent subfields are listed in the order in which they would be used. See the MARC 21 website for more details.

  • |a Uniform title (NR)
    • 240 4 The Dead Sea Scrolls.
  • |d Date of treaty signing (NR)
    • 240 0 Treaty of Urtrecht|d(1713)
  • |f Date of a work (NR)
    • 240 0 Bible.|lHebrew-Greek.|f1834.
  • |g Miscellaneous information (NR)
  • |k Form subheading (NR)
  • |l Language of a work (NR)
    • 240 0 Talmud.|kSelections.|lEnglish.
    • 240 14 The Pickwick papers.|lFrench
  • |m Medium of performance for music (R)
    • 240 0 Alman.|mharpsichord (Fitzwilliam virginal Book, 14) |n Number of section/part of a work (R)
    • 240 0 English lute songs.|nSeries 1.
  • |o Arranged statement for music ("arr.") (NR)
    • 240 0 God save the king;|oarr.
  • |p Name of section/part of a work (R)
    • 240 0 Bible.|pN.T.|pCorinthians, 1st.
  • |r Key for music (NR)
    • 240 0 Concertos,|mviolin, string orchestra,|rD major.
  • |s Version (NR)
    • 240 0 Bible.|pO.T.|lAnglo-Saxon.|sAelfri.|f1974

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Variations of the title: MARC 246 field (R)

The 246 field is used to provide access to parallel, alternative and other title information that displays in the 245 field when it is deemed appropriate by the cataloger. Only title information from the 245 field may be entered in the 246 field. There is no nonfiling indicator for this field. Initial articles are omitted; do not add end punctuation. Information about the edition, publication history, contents, sequels, etc., is entered in a 5XX field as a note and accessed through a 7XX field or a key word search.

The first indicator shows whether or not a note is added to the record and determines if the title is displayed in the bib record as an alternative entry:

  • 0 Note, no added entry
  • 1 Note, title added entry
    • 246 13 California State Assembly file analysis
    • 245 10 Berkley book of modern writing
  • 2 No note, no title added entry
  • 3 No note, title added entry
    • 246 30 Modern writing

The second indicator shows the type of title being accessed:

  • blank No information available
  • 0 Portion of title
    • 245 00 Journal of polymer science.|pPart C |nPolymer symposia.
    • 246 30 Polymer symposia
  • 1 Parallel title
    • 245 10 Spanish books =|bLibros en espanol.
    • 246 31 Libros en espanol
  • 3 Other title (for serials only)
    • 246 13 Biographical directory of librarians
  • 4 Cover title
  • 5 Added title page
  • 6 Caption title (title printed at the head of the first page of the text)
  • 7 Running title (title printed on the top or bottom margin of each page)
  • 8 Spine title

The 246 field may contain a variety of subfields. The most frequently used are listed below in the order in which they should be used.

  • |a Title proper ( Note: Minerva automatically searches "&" as "and" so either is acceptable.)
    • 245 00 Dick Rutan & Jeana Yeager /|cby Laurie Rozakis.
    • 246 3 Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager
  • |a Portion of the title
    • 245 04 The Berkley book of modern writing.
    • 246 30 Modern writing
  • |n Number of part/section
  • |p Name of part/section
  • |b Remainder of title
  • |f Designation of volume/issue no. and/or date (serials only)
  • |g Miscellaneous (primarily used for serials)
  • |i Display text
    • 246 1 |iTitle on container:|aNew Brunswick royal gazette
  • The |i will display a note but will not be indexed. The |a will be both displayed and indexed because |i is not the first subfield.

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Next: Chapter 6