3xx Fields

3xx fields

The 3xx fields pertain to information about the physical characteristics, graphic representation, physical arrangement, frequency and chronological/numerical designations for continuing resources, security information, and other related data. For digital resources, the 3xx fields can be used to record reference data, coordinate data, technical specifications, and other information.

Physical and content attributes

Use field 300 for the physical description of the resource and any accompanying material, including extent, other physical details, and dimensions.

Use fields 336, 337, and 338 to describe content, media, and carrier type of the resource. With the implementation of RDA these fields replaced the General Material Designation (GMD), previously recorded in field 245 subfield ǂh.

Mode of issuance and extension plan

Use field 334 for the mode of issuance of the manifestation.

Use field 335 for the extension plan for the content of the work.

Use field 306 to record the duration of a sound or video recording or the duration of the performance of a music manuscript or printed music when that information is found on the resource.

Use field 307 to record chronological information identifying the days and/or times an electronic resource is available or accessible.

Use fields 310, 321, 362, and 363 for continuing resources.

Use field 310 for the current publication frequency of a continuing resource. Use field 321 for the former frequency of the continuing resource. Do not use field 321 without field 310.

Use field 362 for the beginning and/or ending of the numerical/chronological designations of the continuing resource. Use field 363 for the numeric, alphabetic, and/or normalized date designation used on the bibliographic item that identifies its parts and shows the relationship of the parts to the whole.

Use fields 340, 341, 344, 345, 346, 347, and 348 to provide information about the accessibility, physical description, and technical specifications of a resource.

Use fields 342 and 343 for geospatial data sets.

Use field 351 for information about the organization and arrangement of certain resources. For computer files, use field 351 for the organization and arrangement of file structure and sort sequence of a file.

Use field 352 for a description of the method of referencing and the mechanism used to represent graphic information in a data set.

Use field 353 for the presence of supplementary content such as one or more bibliographies, discographies, filmographies, indexes, instructional materials, etc., in a described resource or in accompanying material.

Use fields 355 and 357 for handling instructions and dissemination information of a resource.

Use fields 365 and 366 for trade price and availability.

Use field 370 for a place related to works or expressions associated with the described resource.

Use field 377 for languages used by the entity in works or expressions associated with the described resource.

Use fields 380 and 381 for the form and any other characteristic that is not accommodated in a special field that characterizes works or expressions associated with the described resource.

Use fields 382, 383, and 384 for medium of performance, numeric designation, and key of musical works or expressions associated with the described resource.

Use fields 385 and 386 to characterize the audience and creators/contributors of works or expressions associated with the described resource.

Use field 387 to describe canonical characteristics of the described resource.  

Use field 388 for the time period of creation or origin of the work or expression associated with the described resource.

MARC 21

For more information, including content designator history, see MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data, 3xx.