Contents Fixed field Access points 0xx 1xx 2xx 3xx 4xx 5xx 6xx 7xx 8xx 9xx Control subfields

516 Type of Computer File or Data Note (R)

Record Type
BIB
Input Standards
Field (Full/Minimal)
Optional/Optional
1st Indicator Display constant controller
	Type of file
8	No display constant generated
2nd Indicator Undefined
	Undefined
Subfields (R=Repeatable NR=Nonrepeatable)		Input Standards (Full/Minimal)
ǂa	Type of computer file or data note (NR)	Mandatory/Mandatory
ǂ6	Linkage (NR)	System supplied/System supplied
ǂ8	Field link and sequence number (R)	Optional/Optional

Definition

A note that characterizes the file. In addition to a general descriptor (e.g., computer program, numeric, or text), use field 516 for more specific information such as the form or genre of textual material (e.g., biography, dictionary, or index). Enter general file data in the fixed-field element File. Generally, do not use in records for online resources per the Provider-Neutral E-Resource MARC Record Guide: P-N/RDA Version.

For guidance on describing and encoding the attributes of audio recording carriers, see “Supplement 1” of the Music Library Association’s Supplements to Best Practices for Music Cataloging Using RDA and MARC21.

For information on punctuation, see the Punctuation section below.

1st Indicator

Display constant controller. A value that controls the generation of a display constant preceding the note.

	Type of file. The value that generates the display constant Type of file:.

8	No display constant generated. The value that specifies that a display constant is not generated.

2nd Indicator

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

	Undefined

Subfields

ǂa Type of computer file or data note

The entire text of the note.

File			b
516			Computer program

File			a
516			Numeric (Summary statistics)

File			d
516			Text (Law reports and digests)

File			d
516	8		Electronic serial in RTF format

File			c
516			Graphic file (Streaming video)

File			g
516			Game

File			m
516	8		Written in DBASE III+ format for data, and Windows bitmap format for graphic files

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 punctuation, follow these instructions:

Include incidental punctuation needed within any subfields, e.g., commas, periods (following abbreviations or initials), etc.
Optionally, add a terminal period at the end of the field unless the last subfield ends with an ellipsis or period (following an abbreviation or initial)

516

Numeric (Summary statistics).

For records containing minimal or no punctuation, include incidental punctuation needed within any subfields. Otherwise, omit the punctuation outlined above.

516

Numeric (Summary statistics)

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

Indexing

Field 516 is not indexed.

MARC 21

For more information, including content designator history, see MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data, field 516.

This page last revised: August 15, 2022

5xx Fields