¶ Step 3.11: Genre Form Matching
MARS 2.0 can match bibliographic genre form headings (655) against a variety of authority files. MARC 655 fields are available for libraries to record the genre, form, and/or physical characteristics of the materials being described.
Standard published lists are used as sources for the genre and form terms. The source of each heading is designated by an abbreviation entered into $2 source of term.
¶ Library of Congress Genre Form Terms
All LCGFT headings will have 2nd indicator 7, though there are still some LC genre headings with 2nd indicator 0 that have not yet been moved over into LCGFT. MARS 2.0 recognizes LCGFT identified by either method, and will update the identification used by the cataloged record:
**use of $2 in heading**: 655 _7 $a Fiction films $2 lcsh **updated to lcgft 655 tag**: 655 _7 $a Fiction films $2 lcgft
LC has also added the subdivision Globes to the Map genre changes:
651 _0 $a Washington (D.C.) $v Pictorial maps. **changes to**: 651 _0 $a Washington (D.C.) $v Maps. 655 7 $a Pictorial maps. $2 lcgft 651 _0 $a Ganymede (Satellite) $v Globes. **changes to**: 651 _0 $a Ganymede (Satellite) $v Maps. 655 7 $a Globes. $2 lcgft
¶ Genre form terms in topical 650 headings
Terms in topical subject headings (650) are always updated in accordance with the practice of the heading system indicated by the 2nd indicator of the field.
Topical subject headings are not affected in any way by the options selected for genre form headings.
Terms in genre form headings (655) are always updated in accordance with the practice of the heading system indicated by the rules governing that genre.
In the example below, the 655 field has been updated based on a crossreference in an LC authority record, while the term in the 655 field has been updated based on a cross-reference in the related GSAFD authority record:
**Matching against** LCGFT: obsolete **655 heading**: 655 _0 $a Sitcoms (Television programs) updated **655 heading**: 655 _7 $a Situation comedies (Television programs) $2 lcgft **Matching against** GSAFD: obsolete**655 heading**: 655 _7 $a Sitcoms. $2 gsafd updated**655 heading**: 655 _7 $a Comedy television programs. $2 gsafd
¶ Genre form update reports
Updates for genre form headings are included in Updated Headings report (see Step 5.2, R30).
¶ AAT Authority Records
MARS 2.0 also provides authority control for genre form terms authorized for use in the Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus (hereafter referred to as AAT):
obsolete**655 heading**: 655 _7 $a catalogs, on-line. $2 aat updated**655 heading**: 655 _7 $a online catalogs. $2 aat
Note: AAT authorities also contain many extraneous subfields immediately following $a, which may present challenges to your ILS when trying to index or load the records. MARS 2.0 can strip these (uppercase alphabetic) subfields, leaving only the lowercase subfields in place.
¶ GSAFD Authority Records
The following example shows an update for a genre term extracted from Guidelines on Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction, Drama, etc (hereafter referred to as GSAFD):
obsolete**655 heading**: 655 _7 $a Utopias. $2 gsafd updated**655 heading**: 655 _7 $a Utopian fiction. $2 gsafd
¶ MeSH Genre Authority Records
MARS 2.0 also provides authority control for the list of genre terms authorized by the National Library of Medicine for use in 655 fields:
obsolete**655 heading**: 655 _7 $a Meeting Reports. $2 mesh updated**655 heading**: 655 _7 $a Congresses. $2 mesh
In 2002, a change to the MARC21 standards was authorized that allows identification of Medical genre terms either by using 2nd indicator 7 plus $2, or by use of 2nd indicator 2 without $2. MARS 2.0 recognizes Medical genre terms identified by either method, and will retain the method of identification used by the cataloged record:
**use of $2 in 655**: 655 _7 $a Almanacs. $2 mesh **updated 2nd indicator** 2: 655 _2 $a Almanacs.
¶ Rare Books Manuscripts Section Vocabularies
MARS 2.0 can match against the NEW Rare Books and Manuscript Section genre authority files (hereafter referred to as RBMSCV). The original RBMS vocabulary was once a set of eight different thesauri provided with the generous assistance of the Association of College and Research Libraries, as well as Folger Shakespeare Library. In 2023 the vocabulary was re-published as a single thesaurus on id.loc.gov/
Backstage's process will automatically search those genre terms with the old RBMS $2 (differing for each of the eight thesauri) against the new single thesaurus ($2 rbmscv) and will update the term and the $2. URIs are also available for those who desire them.
obsolete**655 heading**: 655 _7 $a Fine paper printings (Publishing). $2 rbpub updated**655 heading**: 655 _7 $a Fine paper printings. $2 rbmscv
Each client can determine whether they'd like to retain the subdivisions from the original vocabulary or remove them to conform to current vocabulary practice. Additionally, each client can decide if they'd like to retain or delete those that do not have an RBMSCV equivalent.
Questions have arisen regarding the old subdivisions that were allowed in the previous edition of RBMS. The vast majority of our clients that have asked about this old subdivisions DO want to retain them in the new vocabulary even though they're not technically allowed. Because of this, this is our default process. However, we're more than happy to delete them if you prefer! Another option to consider would be to copy the original RBMS heading to a local 6XX to retain the subdivisions, then delete them from the new/updated 655 RBMSCV heading.
¶ Thesaurus for Graphic Materials
The Thesaurus for Graphic Materials is a tool for indexing visual materials by subject and genre format. The thesaurus includes subject terms to index topic shown or reflected in pictures, and genre form terms to index types of photographs, prints, design drawings, ephemera, and other categories:
| gmgpc | genre terms | 670 records |
| lctgm | subject terms | 7,142 records |
¶ Faceted Access for Subject Terminology
OCLC has created an authority database for FAST headings and made this available for matching against. MARS 2.0 can process your FAST headings via our processing upon your request. The 655 fields would need to have 2nd indicator value of 7 and $2 fast in order for our system to process these genre headings.
The FAST authority database comprises over 1.7 million authorities.
FAST authorities allow for a faceted approach to listing subject headings within bibliographic records:
LCSH 650 _0 $a American loyalists $z England. 651 _0 $a United States $x History $y Revolution, 1775-1783 $v Biography. 650 _0 $a Secret service $z Great Britain. 650 _0 $a Painters $z United States. FAST 648 _7 $a 1775-1783. $2 fast 650 _7 $a American loyalists. $2 fast 611 27 $a American Revolution (1775-1783) $2 fast 650 _7 $a Secret service. $2 fast 650 _7 $a Painters. $2 fast 651 _7 $a England. $2 fast 651 _7 $a United States. $2 fast 651 _7 $a Great Britain. $2 fast 655 _7 $a Biography. $2 fast 655 _7 $a History. $2 fast
So each term within the original LC subject headings are broken out into a faceted network of headings. This could potentially enable discovery systems to make better links to subjects for patrons. Rather than searching for American loyalists in England patrons could search for American loyalists and then decide whether to pursue that to England or explore other countries with that term.
¶ OLACVGGT
The OLAC Video Game Genre Terms is a vocabulary that implemented in 2018 and is not intended to be updated any further.
**Bib 655 heading**: 655 _7 $a 2D video games. $2 olacvggt
¶ Cartographic Update
Backstage can update certain cartographic materials terms that exist in 650 or 651 $v subfields, as well as break out the terms into their own respective 655 field:
Original fields 651 _0 $a Scotland $v Bathymetric maps. 651 _0 $a Scotland $v Globes. 651 _0 $a Scotland $v Maps, Outline. Updated fields 651 _0 $a Scotland $v Maps. 655 _7 $a Bathymetric maps $2 lcgft. 655 _7 $a Globes $2 lcgft. 655 _7 $a Outline maps $2 lcgft.
¶ links
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