BibFormats

340  Physical Medium (R)

Record Type

BIB

Input Standards

Field (Full/Minimal)
Optional/Optional
1st Indicator  Undefined
blank character Undefined
2nd Indicator  Undefined
blank character Undefined
Subfields (R=Repeatable  NR=Nonrepeatable) Input Standards (Full/Minimal)
ǂa Material base and configuration (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂb Dimensions (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂc Material applied to surface (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂd Information recording technique (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂe Support (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂf Reduction ratio value (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂg Color content (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂh Location within medium (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂi Technical specifications of medium (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂj Generation (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂk Layout (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂl Binding (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂm Book format (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂn Font size (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂo Polarity (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂp Illustrative content (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂq Reduction ratio designator (R) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂ0 Authority record control number or standard number (R) Optional/Optional
ǂ1 Real World Object URI (R) Optional/Optional
ǂ2 Source (NR) Required if applicable/Required if applicable
ǂ3 Materials specified (NR) Optional/Optional
ǂ6 Linkage (NR) System supplied/System supplied
ǂ8 Field link and sequence number (R) Optional/Optional

Definition

Physical description information for an item that requires technical equipment for its use, and/or more granular description information of an item's material properties to facilitate access and discovery or to support collection management. Coded physical information is contained in fields 007 and 008.

For information on punctuation, see the Punctuation section below.

Guidelines

Prefer use of a separate field for each unique term. For example, for a charcoal drawing on canvas in a wood frame:

 
340     canvas ǂ2 rdamat
340     ǂc charcoal ǂ2 rdamat
340     ǂe wood ǂ2 rdamat

For a color ink self-portrait on rice paper:

340     ǂ3 self-portrait ǂa rice paper
340     ǂ3 self-portrait ǂb 18 x 23 cm
340     ǂ3 self-portrait ǂc colored inks
340     ǂ3 self-portrait ǂe none
340     ǂ3 self-portrait ǂh between entry for April 7 and April 19, 1843

For guidance on describing and encoding the attributes of notated music and audio carriers, see the Music Library Association's Best Practices for Music Cataloging Using RDA and MARC 21 for Chapter 3, Best Practices for Music Cataloging Using RDA and MARC 21 for Chapter 7, and "Supplement 1" of the Music Library Association's Supplements to Best Practices for Music Cataloging Using RDA and MARC21.

1st Indicator

Undefined. The 1st indicator position is undefined and contains a blank.

blank character

Undefined

2nd Indicator

Undefined. The 2nd indicator position is undefined and contains a blank.

blank character

Undefined

Subfields

 
ǂa Material base and configuration

The material base (physical substance) and configuration on which the information is recorded. Material bases include audiotape, cartridge, chip, dot, fiche, globe, magnetic tape, microtape, sheet, ultratape, and videotape. For a list of RDA-controlled terms, see RDA Material.

340     marble
[The medium is for a sculpture]
340     canvas ǂ2 rdamat
[The medium is for an oil painting]
ǂb Dimensions

The measurements of the material configuration (e.g., 35 mm for film, 90 min. for cassette tape, 11 x 15 cm for microfiche, and 12 in. for audio disc).

340     ǂb 20 cm folded to 10 x 12 cm
ǂc Material applied to surface

The physical substance applied to the material base (e.g., ink, oil, paint, tempera, or a specific photographic emulsion such as albumen). For a list of RDA-controlled terms, see RDA Material.

340     ǂc charcoal ǂ2 rdamat
340     ǂ3 self-portrait ǂc colored inks
ǂd Information recording technique

The means or technique used to record the information in or on the material base (e.g., cut, embossed, molded, pressed, punched, thermofax, and x-ray). For a list of RDA-controlled terms, see RDA Production Method.

340     ǂd handwritten
340     ǂd typed
340     ǂd stamping ǂ2 rdapm
ǂe Support

The physical material on which or in which records are mounted, bound, or otherwise supported. For a list of RDA-controlled terms, see RDA Material.

340     ǂe wood ǂ2 rdamat
ǂf Reduction ratio value

A specific indication of the size of a micro-image in relation to the original from which it was produced. Most commonly, it is expressed numerically as a reduction ratio (e.g., 16:1, 90:1) or as a magnification value (e.g., 16x, 90x). For such designations expressed in general terms, use subfield ǂq.

340     ǂf 24:1
340     ǂ3 case files ǂf 48x
ǂg Color content

Color characteristics of the content of a resource. Achromatic values (white, gray, and black) are considered to be colors. For a list of RDA-controlled terms, see RDA Colour Content.

340     ǂg monochrome ǂ2 rdacc
ǂh Location within medium

The location of the described materials within the material base and configuration (e.g., band on a disc, page of a book, track of an audiocassette, and frame number of slides).

340     ǂh center panel
ǂi Technical specifications of medium

Access requirements involving technical equipment.

340     ǂi Ibord Model 74 tape reader
ǂj Generation

The relationship between an original carrier and the carrier of a reproduction made from the original (e.g., a first generation camera master, a second generation printing master). For a list of RDA-controlled terms, see RDA Generation.

340     ǂj original ǂ2 rdagen
340     ǂj printing master ǂ2 rdagen
ǂk Layout

The arrangement of text, images, etc., in a resource. For a list of RDA-controlled terms, see RDA Layout.

340     ǂk double sided ǂ2 rdalay
ǂl Binding

A method used to bind a published or unpublished resource, or other binding information. May be recorded using a controlled term or other structured description. For a list of RDA-controlled terms, see RDA Type of Binding.

Additional unstructured (or textual) information on binding may be recorded in field 563.

340     ǂl saddle stitch binding ǂ2 rdatb
340     ǂl Coptic bindings ǂ2 aat
340     ǂl Corrugated board bindings (Binding) ǂ2 rbmscv
340     ǂl Painted paper bindings (Binding) ǂ2 rbmscv
340     ǂ3 teacher edition ǂl case binding ǂ2 rdatb
340     ǂ3 coursebook ǂl perfect binding ǂ2 rdatb
340     ǂ3 workbook ǂl spiral binding ǂ2 rdatb
ǂm Book format

The result of folding a printed sheet to form a gathering of leaves (e.g., a sheet folded once to form a folio, twice to form a quarto, three times to form an octavo). For a list of RDA-controlled terms, see RDA Bibliographic Format.

340     ǂm folio ǂ2 rdabf
340     ǂm 4to ǂ2 rdabf
ǂn Font size

The size of the type used to represent the characters and symbols in a resource. Font size may be expressed in general terms (e.g., large print), by specifying in addition the dimensions of the type measured in points (e.g., 20 point), or both. For a list of RDA-controlled terms, see RDA Font Size.

340     ǂn giant print ǂ2 rdafs
340     ǂn 36 point
ǂo Polarity

The relationship of the colors and tones in an image to the colors and tones of the object reproduced (e.g., positive, negative, or mixed polarity). For a list of RDA-controlled terms, see RDA Polarity.

340     ǂo positive ǂ2 rdapo
ǂp Illustrative content

General and/or specific indication of the type or types of illustrative content present in a resource. For a list of RDA-controlled terms, see RDA Illustrative Content.

340     ǂg polychrome ǂ2 rdacc
340     ǂp illustration ǂ2 rdaill
[The resource has color illustrations]
340     ǂg polychrome ǂ2 rdacc
340     ǂp map ǂ2 rdaill
[The resource has color maps]
ǂq Reduction ratio designator

A general description of the size of a micro-image in relation to the original from which it was produced (e.g., low reduction, ultra high reduction). For a list of RDA-controlled terms, see RDA Reduction Ratio. For such designations expressed in specific numerical terms, use subfield ǂf.

340     ǂ3 case files ǂq high reduction ǂ2 rdarr
 
ǂ0 Authority record control number or standard number

For information about subfield ǂ0, see Control Subfields.

ǂ1 Real World Object URI

For information about subfield ǂ1, see Control Subfields.

ǂ2 Source

Identification of the source of the term when it is from a controlled list. For more information about subfield ǂ2, see Control Subfields.

340     ǂk double sided ǂ2 rdalay
ǂ3 Materials specified

For information about subfield ǂ3, see Control Subfields.

340     ǂ3 case files ǂa aperture cards
340     ǂ3 case files ǂb 9 x 19 cm
340     ǂ3 case files ǂd microfilm
340     ǂ3 case files ǂf 48x
340     ǂ3 case files ǂf high reduction ǂ2 rdarr
ǂ6 Linkage

Data that link fields when non-Latin script is entered. This subfield is system supplied and does not appear in OCLC online displays. Do not manually add subfield ǂ6. For more information about subfield ǂ6, see Control Subfields.

ǂ8 Field link and sequence number

For information about subfield ǂ8, see Control Subfields.

Punctuation

For records containing or omitting punctuation, follow these instructions:

  • Include incidental punctuation needed within any subfields, e.g., commas, periods (following abbreviations or initials), etc.
  • Omit punctuation preceding each subfield unless the preceding subfield ends with an ellipsis, exclamation point, hyphen, period (following an abbreviation or initial), question mark, closing bracket, or closing parenthesis
  • Omit the terminal period at the end of the field unless the last word is an abbreviation or initial
340     canvas ǂ2 rdamat

For more information on punctuation, including OCLC policy, see section 2.8, Punctuation.

Indexing

For indexing and searching information, see Searching WorldCat Indexes, field 340.

MARC 21

For more information, including content designator history, see MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data, field 340.