lib-s-mocs-kmc364-20141005044920


Comparison of MARC Serials, NSDP, 
and ISBD-S 

Josephine S. PULSIFER: MARC Development Office, Library of Congress, 
Washington, D.C. 

193 

Editor's note: The discrepancies and variations described in this docurMnt 
are being examined by an Ad Hoc Serials Discussion Group, and are being 
resolved by the staffs of the Library of Congress and the National Serials 
Data Program. Readers are referred to the discussions of Richard Anable 
and Audrey Grosch, in this issue. 

Briefly characterizes and compares the specifications for serial records of 
the MARC Serials Distribution Service, the National Serials Data Program, 
and the International Standard Bibliographic Description for Serials. Both 
data content and, where applicable, machine format are analyzed. 

INTRODUCTION 

That current interest in machine-readable serial records is running high is 
evidenced by the recent establishment of the Ad Hoc Serials Discussion 
Group, the questionnaire from the ARL Ad Hoc Committee on Machine-
Based Serial Records, and various union lists of serials projects. There is 
recognition of the inability of libraries to support unilateral conversion 
of serial records to machine-readable form and of the undesirability of 
creating uncoordinated data bases which are compatible neither in biblio-
graphic data nor machine format. 

NEW DEVELOPMENTS 

Three recent developments, while all directed towards standardization, 
are nevertheless adding to the confusion of those libraries which, singly 
or in groups, are attempting to determine how best to acquire the required 
serials data base. 

These three developments are: ( 1) the MARC Serials Distribution Ser-
vice ( MARC-S); ( 2) the International Standard Bibliographic Description 
for Serials (ISBD-S); and (3) the National Serials Data Program 
( NSDP). Each of these efforts has a somewhat different goal, operates 
within different constraints, and is to some degree in conflict with the other 
two. 



194 Journal of Library Automation Vol. 6/ 4 December 1973 

MARC Serials Distribution Service 

The MARC Distribution Service distributes machine-readable records 
for all Library of Congress ( LC) serials in roman alphabet languages giv-
en printed card cataloging since February 1, 1973. Romanized records for 
serials in nonroman alphabets will be added in the fall of 1973. Records 
for recataloged serials are also included. The goal of MARC-S is the crea-
tion of multipurpose machine-readable serial records, with standard cata-
log data in the MARC serials format, for LC's own data base and for dis-
semination to libraries and related communities.1 These records follow the 
Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR), with superimposition of en-
tries established under earlier rules.2 Consideration is being given to· aban-
donment of superimposition. Approximately 3,000 serial titles in LC's 
Main Reading Room and Science Reading Room collections have been 
converted to MARC and will be made available for distribution as soon 
as possible. E~'Pansion of the service to a phased conversion of records for 
retrospective but active titles would be most desirable, beginning with 
some identifiable and widely useful subset. Expansion would require both 
space and funds and a determination of priorities between automation of 
New Serial Titles and progress towards a comprehensive data base for LC 
current serial receipts. 

National Serials Data Program 

The NSDP is the United States national center of UNISIST' s Interna-
tional Serials Data System ( ISDS), which has sole responsibility for con-
trolling the assignment of the International Standard Serial Number 
( ISSN). To NSDP is delegated responsibility for the assignment of the 
ISSN to serials published in the United States. Serials published outside the 
U.S. are assigned by the appropriate national center or by the international 
center in Paris. 

Besides its ISDS responsibility, NSDP has as a prime objective the provi-
sion of a data base of serial publications for the three national libraries 
(Library of Congress, National Agricultural Library, and National Li-
brary of Medicine) . The program is aimed to be of benefit to the national 
user community, including libraries, subscription agencies, publishers, and 
abstracting and indexing services. 

As set forth in the ISDS guidelines, ISDS centers will develop and main-
tain national registers of serial publications, containing all the necessary 
information for the identification of the serials. The international center 
is to distribute a printed register (in ISSN and title sequences) as well as 
a machine file of all titles, including a regular supplement. NSDP plans to 
publish similar registers containing a subset of the international register. 0 

0 The information on ISDS and NSDP has been taken from the following publications: 
(1) ISDS Guidelines--NSDP copy. (Received April 16, 1973.) (2) National Serial 
Data Program, "Notes on Special Development in the Program," No. 2 , January 1973 
[p. 1}. 



Comparison of MARC SerialsjPULSIFER 195 

NSDP must follow the ISDS guidelines in providing to the international 
center a set of data elements considered essential for identification of the 
serial. Certain other elements are defined as optional ISDS elements. 
NSDP has defined certain additional elements as needed for the national 
record. International Standards Organization (ISO) standards must be fol-
lowed where applicable. 

International Standard Bibliographic Description for Serials 

The ISBD-S defines the elements necessary for the identification of se-
rials, assigns an order to these elements in the entry1 and specifies the punc-
tuation designating these elements. 3 The ISBD-S, as a descriptive catalog 
record only, is not concerned with access points to the record (i.e., entries) . 
It is not a machine format, though its standard order of elements and 
standard punctuation greatly assist the machine identification (i.e., format 
recognition) of the various elements. The work of the Working Group on 
the International Bibliographic Description for Serials of the Internation-
al Federation of Library Associations has been completed and will soon be 
published. This document will be subject to revision following a period 
of study and/ or use by IFLA member organizations. The ISBD-S will be 
put into practice by LC when it is accepted by the American Library Asso-
ciation and incorporated into the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules. 

COMPARISON OF DATA CONTENT: MARC-S, NSDP, and ISBD-S 

Entry 

MARC-S: LC practice in choice of entry (author/title vs. title) based 
on AACR 6A--6C, is followed. The form of entry is that used by the Li-
brary of Congress1 i.e., AACR with superimposition. When main entry is 
under author, the author is usually omitted from the title field. 

NSDP: The ISDS includes no name entry, main or added, in its essential 
or additional data elements. Names are included in the key title under cer-
tain circumstances. However, NSDP has added "Author Entries" as an es-
sential national data element, along with a means of indicating the AACR 
main entry. These author entries are established by NSDP following 
AACR form of entry without superimposition, and an authority file is 
maintained to relate variant forms of entry used by the national libraries 
to the NSDP form. 

ISBD-S: ISBD-S (like ISBD-M) is not concerned with entry. It does not 
preclude main or added entries, but provides a description that does not 
depend on entry for identification. An author statement follows the title, 
unless the author is part of the distinctive title or there is no author. 

Title and Statement of Authorship 

MARC-S: The title is transcribed from the title page according to 
AACR. Subtitles are omitted unless necessary for the identification of the 
publication. The author statement is omitted when the author appears in 



196 Journal of Library Automation Vol. 6/4 December 1973 

substantially the same form in the main entry or when there is no author. 
The MARC format provides an additional field for "Title as It Appears 
on the Piece," but this field is not included in MARC-S records at the pres-
ent time. 

NSDP: The key title is the title as it appears on the piece. It may include 
the issuing body when the name is grammatically, typographically, or visu-
ally linked to the rest of the title or when it is needed to make a generic 
title distinctive. In addition, it may be modified by place and/ or date of 
publication to make it unique. 

NSDP assigns a new ISSN and creates a new record when the wording of 
the key title changes. • • "Minor" changes, including prepositions and spell-
ing changes that may significantly change filing, do not result in a new rec-
ord or ISSN. Where the author or issuing body changes, no new record is 
created unless the author is part of the key title. Because a new record 
means a new key title and new ISSN, the determination as to whether a ti· 
tie change is to result in a new record may only be made by the official 
ISDS agency. When the author statement is not grammatically linked to 
the title and the title is a "generic" term, the author statement is added to 
the title but separated from it by a dash. The interpretation of generic is 
limited, according to the ISDS guidelines, to terms denoting the kind and/ 
or periodicity of a publication.' 

A study of the differences in practice between LC and NSDP with re-
spect to creating new records for change of title is attached. 

ISBD-S: The ISBD-S "distinctive" title is essentially the same as the 
NSDP key title with the important differences that it need not be unique, 
and that it is always followed by an author statement unless the author is 
part of the distinctive title or there is no author. Therefore, there is no 
requirement for centralized determination of the distinctive title. This de-
termination can be performed by any library or any other organization by 
applying the ISBD-S rules. 

This paper does not attempt to point out all the differences among the 
three systems. It may be noted, however, that there are differences in the 
romanization schemes used by LC and NSDP, since NSDP uses ISO roman-
ization tables and LC uses ALA romanization tables. 0 0 • NSDP also uses 
the country code being developed under ISO while MARC-S uses the 
country codes approved by the three national libraries. However, it is like-
ly that when the ISO code becomes a standard, it may be adopted for 
MARC-S. 

REFERENCES 

1. Library of Congress. MARC Development Office. Serials: A MARC For-mat. 2d. ed. 
Washington, 1973. In press . 

.. o This assumes that NSDP is notified of aU changes by the publisher or a user; other-
wise it will not know that there is a change to be considered. 
000 ISBD-S is not concerned with romanization. 



Comparison of MARC Serials/PULSIFER 197 

2. Anglo-American Cataloging Rules. North American Text. Chicago: American Library 
Association, 1967. 

3. International Federation of Library Associations. I.S.B.D.(S); International Standard 
Bibliographic Description f01' Serials . [4th (?) document] Paris [Oct. 1972-Jan. 19731 
2 pts. 

4. UNISIST International Serials Data System. Guidelines for ISDS. Paris: May 1973, 
58 p. + Appendixes. 

APPENDIX 1 

Examples of Successive Title Entries vs. Use of a Variant 
Title Note (or Equivalent) by LC Serial Record and NSDP. 

Perusal of the records for serials in the Main Reading Room Collection points up 
certain practices that are operative in Serial Record (SR) Cataloging Section with 
respect to making new entries for change of title. These practices do not necessarily 
correspond with NSDP's practice, based on ISDS guidelines, in assigning new key titles. 

The basic rule that a change in the wording of a title results in a new record is ap-
plicable to both operations. The difference comes in the exceptions to the basic rule. 
NSDP assigns a new key title when nouns or adjectives are added, changed, or deleted, 
based almost entirely on the difference in the words. It does not change key title when 
only a preposition or a conjunction is changed, nor when the change affects only a sub-
title. NSDP appears to prefer a less strict interpretation of the change of wording rule 
prescribed by ISDS. SR, while making a new entry for "major" wording changes, tends 
to retain the old entry (adding a title varies note) in more cases. A change in scope 
appears to be a more significant factor than the wording. Where no change in scope is 
involved, the determination to change is made on the basis of how closely the two entries 
would file. If change in scope is not involved, subtitle changes do not generate a new 
entry. 

{a) 
From: 
To: 
From: 
Tn: 

From: 
To: 
From: 
To: 

From: 

To: 

Examples 

SR changes because of changes in scope 
Annuaire statistique de la Belgique et du Congo Belge 
Annuaire statistique de la Belgique 
The Boarding school directory of the United States 
The Boarding school directory of the United States 

and Canada 
Commercial television, cinema, and radio directory 
Commercial television year book 

NSDP would make 
new key title?• 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Bra by's commercial directory of South and Central Mrica 
Braby' s commercial directory of South East and 

yes 

Central Africa 
Brown's directory of American gas companies. 

Gas statistics yes 
Brown's directory of North American gas companies 

• According to consultation with Mary Sauer, National Serials Data Program. 



198 Journal of Library Automation Vol. 6/ 4 December 1973 

(b) 

(c) 

From: 
To: 
From: 

To: 
From: 

To: 

From: 
To: 
From: 
To : 
From: 
To: 
From: 
To: 

From: 

To: 
From: 

To: 

From: 
To: 
From: 

To : 

From: 
To: 
From: 

To: 

SR makes new entry on the basis of filing arrangement. 
Adressbuch der Haupstadt Hannover 
Adressbuch der Landeshauptstadt Hannover 
American Marketing Association. National membership 

roster 
American Marketing Association. Membership roster 
California. Secretary of State. Roster of state, county, 

city ... 
California. Secretary of State. Roster of federal, state, 

county 
Cape Times South Mrican directory 
Cape Times directory of Southern Mrica 
Annuaire fructidor 
Annuaire international fructidor 
Best's recommended adjusters and investigators 
Best's recommended insurance adjusters 
Personalities in the Caribbean 
Personalities Caribbean 

SR does not make new entry 
American Chamber of Commerce in France. Directory of 

American business in France 
American Chamber of Commerce in France. Directory 
Canadian Newspaper Service, ltd. National reference 

book on Canadian business personalities . . . 
Canadian Newspaper Service, ltd. National reference 

book 
High school track and field annual 
High school track 
U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board. Handbook of airline 

statistics, United States certificated air carriers 
U .S. Civil Aeronautics Board. Handbook of airline 

statistics 
Who's who, Jamaica, British West Indies 
Who's who Jamaica 
Child Welfare League of America. Directory of 

member agencies 
Child Welfare League of America. Directory of member 

agencies and associates 
From: Ports, dues, charges, and accommodations throughout 

To: 
From: 
To: 

the world 
Ports, dues, charges, and accommodations 
Rotary International. The official directory 
Rotary International. Official directory of Rotary 

International 
From: Guia Lascano del comercio y de la industria, 

NSDP would make 
new key title? 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes· 

yest 

not 

yes 

yest 

yest 

no 

profesionales y elementes oficial del Peru yes 
• NSDP, following ISDS guidelines, would not change key title, but is not in agreement. 
• • NSDP would append main entry to the new key title in this instance. 
t NSDP, following ISDS guidelines, would assign a new key title, but is not in agreement. * Considered a subtitle by NSDP. 



Comparison of MARC Serials/PVLSIFER 199 

NSDP would make 
new key title? 

To: Guia Lascano del Pem 
From: Marine catalog and buyers' directory yes 4 

To: Marine catalog buyers' guide 
From: The Mobile home dealers of the United States and 

Canada yes 
To: Mobile homes and recreational vehicle dealers of the 

United States and Canada 
From: National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood 

Centers. Directory of member houses not 
To: National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood 

Centers. Directory of member agencies 
From: California. Legislature. List of members, officers, 

committees, and rules of the two Houses yes 
To: California. Legislature. List of Senate and Assembly 

members, officers, attaches, committees 
From: Turner, Clarence A. Financial statistics, public utilities no 
To: Turner, Clarence A. Financial statistics of public utilities 
From: Instituto Nacional del Libro Espaiiol. Guia de 

editores y libreros yes 
To: Instituto Nacional del Libro Espafiol. Guia de 

editores y de libreros de Espana 
From: International Telecommunication Union. General 

Secretariat. Official list of telegraph offices opened for 
international traffic no 

To: International Telecommunication Union. General 
Secretariat. Official list of telegraph offices open for 
international service 

From: List of doctoral dissertations in history now in progress 
at universities in the U.S. no 

To: List of doctoral dissertations in history in progress ... 

(d) SR makes new record when main entry changes, or 
when new title merits entry under title main entry. 

From: Architects Registration Council of the United Kingdom. 
Register of registered architects • . . yes 

To: The Register of architects (title main entry) 
From: American Automobile Association North Central 

tour book yes 
To: North central states. (title main entry) 
From: American Gas Association. Gas facts no 
To: American Gas Association. Dept. of Statistics. Gas facts 
From: American Nurses' Association. Nursing Infonnation 

Bureau. Facts about Nursing no 
To: American Nurses' Association. Facts about Nursing 
From: Illinois University. Dept. of Agricultural Economics. 

A err no 
To: illinois University at Urbana-Champaign. Dept. of 

Agricultural Economics. Aerr 

• NSDP, following ISDS guidelines, would assign a new key title, but is not in agreement. 
t NSDP considers this a minor change, assuming main entry is part of key title. 



200 Journal of Library Automation Vol. 6/4 December 1973 

From: 

To: 

(e) 

From: 
To: 
From: 

To: 

From: 
To: 
From: 
To: 
From: 

To: 
From: 

To: 

From: 
To: 

Compagnie internationale des wagons-lits et des 

NSDP would make 
new key title? 

grands expres europeens. Guide yes 
Compagnie internationale des wagons-lits et du tourism. 

Guide 

SR makes a new record when an initialism or name is 
appended at the beginning of the title. 
Arena, auditorium, stadium guide yes 
AASG; arena, auditorium, stadium guide 
American Association of State Highway Officials. 

Reference book yes 
American Association of State Highway Officials. 

AASHO reference book of member department 
personnel and committees 

American Concrete Institute. Directory yes 
American Concrete Institute. ACI directory 
Belgium and Luxembourg yes 
Fodor's Belgium and Luxembourg 
Adressbuch von Burgenland fiir Industrie, Handel, 

Gewerbe yes 
Herald Adressbuch von Burgenland fiir . .. 
Christian Booksellers Association. Suppliers directory 

for Christian booksellers yes 
Christian Booksellers Association. CBA suppliers 

directory 
Classic Car Club 9£ America. Directory yes 
Classic Car Club America. Handbook and directory 

1964-