Cyrillic Parallel Fields in Bibliographic Records

When inputting MARC records in OCLC or other bibliographic utilities for items in languages that use non-Latin scripts, parallel fields in the vernacular script can be added for a number of scripts, including most varieties of Cyrillic, and their addition is strongly encouraged. Vernacular-field information is fully searchable in OCLC WorldCat and in most OPACs, and it makes bibliographic records in non-Latin scripts more discoverable in search engines. Any variable field containing vernacular-script text may have Cyrillic added, but in general, title and author information will be most useful for the end user for the purposes of searching.

While the addition of these vernacular fields is optional for OCLC, PCC Guidelines for Creating Bibliographic Records in Multiple Character Sets (also attached below) (for PCC libraries or those that closely follow PCC practices) require vernacular script information, when applicable, for descriptive access fields as outlined below:

Mandatory (if applicable)

245 (Title/statement of responsibility)
246 (Varying form of title)
247 (Former title)
250 (Edition statement)
260 (Publication, distribution, etc.)
490 (Series statements)
740 (Title added entry)

Optional

1XX (Main entry)
240 (Uniform title)
362 (Dates of publication and/or sequential designation)
5XX (Notes)
600-630, 651 (Subject access fields)
700-730 (Added entries)
760-787 (Linking entries)
8XX (Series added entries)

MARC Modified Record Code (MRec) fixed field

At one time, mainly in the printed-card environment, the MRec field (MARC 008/38) indicated whether or not non-Latin script elements of the item description were romanized. This field is no longer relevant in the current multi-script environment in OCLC. PCC guidelines tell the cataloger to leave this field blank (see PCC guidelines, section 1.1)

Each Cyrillic or other vernacular-script field must have an accompanying equivalent field in the authorized, ALA/LC romanization.

Parallel non-Latin data is encoded in MARC 880 fields. However, in the OCLC operating environment, parallel fields display as the same MARC tags (though indicators may vary) as their Latin equivalents and are linked to, or paired with, them. In addition, field 066 is system-supplied and identifies the non-Latin script character sets present in the record (PCC guidelines 1. General guidelines).

Example (in MARC format):

066 ǂa (N

100 1 ǂ6 880-01 ǂa Dolinin, A. ǂq (Aleksandr)

245 00 ǂ6 880-02 ǂa Pushkin i Anglii︠a︡ : ǂb t︠s︡ikl stateĭ /ǂc A. Dolinin.

264 ǂ6 880-03 ǂa Moskva : ǂb Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie,ǂc 2007.

300 ǂa 275 pages ; ǂc 22 cm.

490 1 ǂ6 880-04 ǂa Nauchnai︠a︡ biblioteka

490 1 ǂ6 880-05 ǂa Nauchnoe prilozhenie ; ǂv vyp. 64

504 ǂa Includes bibliographical references (page 259) and indexes.

600 10 ǂ6 880-06 ǂa Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich, ǂd 1799-1837 ǂx Criticism and

interpretation.

650 0 ǂa Russian literature ǂx English influences.

776 08 ǂi Online version: ǂa Dolinin, A. (Aleksandr). ǂt Pushkin i Anglii︠a︡. ǂd Moskva :

Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2007 ǂw (OCoLC)652322218

830 0 ǂ6 880-07 ǂa Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie. ǂp Nauchnoe prilozhenie ; ǂv vyp.

64.

830 0 ǂ6 880-08 ǂa Nauchnai︠a︡ biblioteka.

880 1 ǂ6 100-01/(N ǂa Долинин, А. ǂq (Александр)

880 00 ǂ6 245-02/(N ǂa Пушкин и Англия : ǂb цикл статей /ǂc А. Долинин.

880 ǂ6 264-03/(N ǂa Москва : ǂb Новое литературное обозрение,ǂc 2007.

880 1 ǂ6 490-04/(N ǂa Научная библиотека

880 1 ǂ6 490-05/(N ǂa Научное приложение ; ǂv вып. 64

880 14 ǂ6 600-06/(N ǂa Пушкин, Александр Сергеевич, ǂd 1799-1837 ǂx Criticism

and interpretation.

880 0 ǂ6 830-07/(N ǂa Новое литературное обозрение. ǂp Научное

приложение ; ǂv вып. 64.

880 0 ǂ6 830-08/(N ǂa Научная библиотека.

Unless following PCC guidelines, catalogers are free to supply Cyrillic for as much or as little of a bibliographic record as they wish. Some cataloging agencies may have local policies not to add parallel fields for fields under authority control (e.g. 1XX, 7XX, 830 fields, etc.) while others freely add Cyrillic for these fields. It is permissible to upgrade OCLC records to add any missing vernacular information that may be useful.

Mixed-script fields

Resources often contain text in multiple scripts - a book in Russian, say, with an English (roman) word in what is otherwise a Russian-language (Cyrillic) title. The record's transliterated fields would record such data in romanized form, but the original-script fields would record the data in both scripts. It is therefore permissible to have mixed Latin-script and non-Latin script text in the same field or even in the same word. Records may also include more than one non-Latin script at any location, including within the same field.

Examples (in MARC format):

245 00 ǂ6 880-01 ǂa V. F. Ėrn--pro et contra : ǂb lichnostʹ i tvorchestvo Vladimira Ėrna

v ot︠s︡enke russkikh mysliteleĭ i issledovateleĭ : antologii︠a︡ / ǂc otvetstvennyĭ

redaktor toma, D.K. Burlaka ; sostavitelʹ A.A. Ermichev.

880 00 ǂ6 245-01/(N ǂa В. Ф. Эрн--pro et contra : ǂb личность и творчество

Владимира Эрна в оценке русских мыслителей и исследователей :

антология / ǂc ответственный редактор тома, Д.К. Бурлака ; составитель

А.А. Ермичев.

245 10 ǂ6 880-02 ǂa Dukhless 21 veka : ǂb selfi : [roman] / ǂc Sergeĭ Minaev.

880 10 ǂ6 245-02/(N ǂa Духless 21 века : ǂb селфи : [роман] / ǂc Сергей Минаев.

505 0 ǂ6 880-01 ǂa Самый умный класс = The smartest class ; Пиратская песня =

Pirates' song …

880 0 ǂ6 505-10/(N ǂa Samyĭ umnyĭ klass = The smartest class ; Piratskai︠a︡ pesni︠a︡ =

Pirates' song…

Many name and subject headings (more on subject headings below) also contain cataloger-supplied qualifiers in English or romanized Cyrillic. If the cataloger chooses to add parallel Cyrillic fields for the authorized access points for names, these qualifiers must be retained in their English or romanized form. Similarly, relationship designators and English-language personal titles are retained in their romanized form when used in a Cyrillic parallel field.

Шушерин, Иван Корнильевич, ǂd approximately 1630-1690
Shusherin, Ivan Kornilʹevich, ǂd approximately 1630-1690

Ivanov, A. G. ǂq (Ananiĭ Gerasimovich) ǂc (Historian)
Иванов, А. Г. ǂq (Ананий Герасимович) ǂc (Historian)

Сава, ǂc Saint, ǂd 1169-1237
Sava, ǂc Saint, ǂd 1169-1237

Zabuz︠h︡ko, O. S. ǂq (Oksana Stefanivna), ǂe author.
Забужко, О. С. ǂq (Оксана Стефанівна), ǂe author.

Библиотека Историја (Институт за савремену историју (Belgrade, Serbia))
Biblioteka Istorija (Institut za savremenu istoriju (Belgrade, Serbia))
NOT: Библиотека Историја (Институт за савремену историју (Београд, Србија))

Академія фінансового управління (Ukraine)
Akademii︠a︡ finansovoho upravlinni︠a︡ (Ukraine)
NOT: Академія фінансового управління (Україна)

Parallel fields for subject headings

When choosing to provide parallel Cyrillic fields for subject headings (6XX), please be aware that the PCC practice is to code the 2nd indicator "4" (source not specified) in the vernacular field, due to the current lack of a national policy for cross-references in name authority records.

Supply Cyrillic for the Cyrillic part of a subject heading while leaving subsequent subdivisions in the English LCSH form, e.g. Українка, Леся, ǂd 1871-1913 ǂx Criticism and interpretation.

Russian and other Cyrillic names not based on ALA/LC romanization

In most cases, there is no problem adding Cyrillic parallel fields for personal authors’ names. However, the authorized forms of the names of some older authors have been established based on forms that cannot be automatically converted to Cyrillic without corrupting the name, for example: Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821-1881 (Russian form Достоевский, Федор, 1821-1881). In such cases, PCC practice optionally allows for adding a Cyrillic parallel field for the vernacular form of the author’s name if one exists. (For more information see Section 1.5.2 in PCC Guidelines for Creating Bibliographic Records in Multiple Character sets. (local copy also attached below).

Roman numerals

When using a macro to automate adding Cyrillic fields to records, please be careful to edit roman numerals that may have been converted to assure they appear correctly. Roman numerals such as V, I, D will convert to the Cyrillic characters В, И, Д. The roman numeral C will be converted to its Unicode character reference code ∎

Macros for automating input of Cyrillic fields

Thanks to the generosity of Joel Hahn, there are free macros available to automate the addition of Cyrillic script (for Slavic and most Central Asian languages) to bibliographic records. This topic is covered in full at OCLC Macro for Adding Cyrillic Fields in Bibliographic Records.

Transcribing the Russian word-final tverdyi znak (ъ)

Over the years there have been various practices regarding the transliteration and transcribing of word-final tverdyi znak, which occurs mostly, but not exclusively, in pre-Revolutionary Russian texts.

While the absence or presence of the transliterated form will not affect discovery, the current ALA-LC romanization practice states that the tverdyi znak should be transliterated as well as transcribed in Cyrillic in all cases.

PCC Guidelines (approved June 28, 2016)

More elaborate detail about PCC practices for adding Cyrillic and other vernacular fields are found online here: PCC Guidelines for Creating Bibliographic Records in Multiple Character Sets. [a copy is also available at the end of this page]