Revision History

Revision in progress

OCLC WorldCat Quality continually revises Bibliographic Formats and Standards (BFAS). When a page within BFAS has been changed, a revision date appears at the end of the page, for example, "This page last revised: July 25, 2019."

In conjunction with the implementation of Resource Description and Access (RDA) in 2013, OCLC began a comprehensive multi-year project to thoroughly review, revise, reorganize, and update BFAS. You will see frequent changes throughout the text, which may result in some temporary inconsistencies. This ongoing revision of BFAS includes such changes as:

Updating policies
Adding references to RDA and the LC-PCC PSs
Adding and revising both RDA and non-RDA examples
Revisions to Chapters 1-5
Incorporating changes resulting from MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Updates
Deleting references to card printing, which was discontinued in 2015
Documentation of Local Bibliographic Data (LBDs) and Local Holdings Records (LHRs) fields

In the Cataloging Documentation section of BFAS, we have also linked to many cataloging community best practice documents and other useful tools.

Please send any questions or concerns to AskQC@oclc.org.

Revision chronology

Date	Scope
2022	BFAS Chapter 1, Introduction has been revised, including the incorporation of the previously separate document “MARC 21 Elements Not Implemented in OCLC” into Chapter 1.1 as the section “MARC 21 and OCLC-MARC.” BFAS Chapter 2.9, Controlling and Enrichment, has been added. BFAS Chapter 2.10, Cataloging Practices, has been added. A new Data Provenance Subfields section has been added to the Control Subfields page. The guidelines for Fixed Field Dates have been revised and expanded. Punctuation sections have been added to most relevant field pages. Relevant information from 2022 WorldCat Validation Release Notes, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 33 (November 2021) and Update No. 34 (July 2022), has been incorporated.
2021	BFAS Chapter 5.2, Member Capabilities, has been revised to incorporate ongoing changes to Encoding Levels. The introductory page for 0xx Fields has been revised to explain the groups of fields and how the individual fields fit into the groups. The 007 Physical Description Fixed Field--General Information page has been revised. The introductory page for 3xx Fields has been revised to explain the groups of fields and how the individual fields fit into the groups. Relevant information from all 2021 WorldCat Validation Release Notes, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 31 (December 2020) and Update No. 32 (June 2021), has been incorporated.
2020	BFAS Chapter 5.2.3, Editing Capabilities for PCC Records, has been updated to include over two dozen fields newly opened to being added and/or edited. The Fixed Field Introduction page has been consolidated and updated. Field 042 Authentication Code has been revised and updated. The 050-099 Introduction to Call Numbers page now includes revised information and examples for including multiple call numbers in a bibliographic record. The introductory page for 6xx Fields has been updated to better explain the groups of fields and how individual fields fit within those groupings. The introductory page for 7xx Fields has been updated to better explain the groups of fields and how individual fields fit within those groupings. Punctuation sections have begun to be added to relevant field pages. Links to the MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data have begun to be added to most individual field pages. Relevant information from all 2020 WorldCat Validation Release Notes, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 29 (November 2019) and Update No. 30 (May 2020), has been incorporated.
2019	BFAS Chapter 2, Online Cataloging, has been revised. BFAS Chapter 3, Special Cataloging Guidelines, has been revised. Relevant information from Technical Bulletin 269: OCLC-MARC Update 2019, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 27 (November 2018) and Update No. 28 (May 2019), has been incorporated.
2018	BFAS Chapter 5, Quality Assurance, has been revised. The 76X-78X Linking Entry Fields—General Information page has been revised. Documentation of Local Bibliographic Data (LBDs) and Local Holdings Records (LHRs) continues. Relevant information from Technical Bulletin 268: OCLC-MARC Update 2018, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 25 (December 2017) and Update No. 26 (April 2018), has been incorporated.
2017	BFAS Chapter 4, When to Input a New Record, has been revised. BFAS Chapter 5, Quality Assurance underway. Field 852 Location has been revised and updated. Relevant information from Technical Bulletin 267: OCLC-MARC Update 2017, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 23 (November 2016) and Update No. 24 (May 2017), has been incorporated.
2016	An entirely new Access Points section has been added. An entirely new Control Subfields section has been added. Links to Searching WorldCat Indexes have been added to most individual field pages. Relevant information from Technical Bulletin 266: OCLC-MARC Update 2016, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 21 (September 2015) and Update No. 22 (April 2016), has been incorporated.
2015	Deletion of all references to OCLC’s printing of catalog cards, which ceased on October 1, 2015. Relevant information from Technical Bulletin 265: OCLC-MARC Format Update 2015, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 19 (October 2014) and Update No. 20 (April 2015), has been incorporated.
2014	Relevant information from Technical Bulletin 263: OCLC-MARC Format Update 2014, Phase 1 and Technical Bulletin 264: OCLC-MARC Format Update 2014, Phase 2, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 16 (April 2013), Update No. 17 (September 2013), and Update No. 18 (April 2014), has been incorporated.
2013	The complete updating of Bibliographic Formats and Standards, Fourth Edition, begins, including the addition of RDA examples. Relevant information from Technical Bulletin 262: OCLC-MARC Format Update 2013, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 15 (September 2012), has been incorporated.
2012	Relevant information from Technical Bulletin 261: OCLC-MARC Format Update 2012, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 13 (September 2011) and Update No. 14 (April 2012), has been incorporated.
2011	Relevant information from Technical Bulletin 260: OCLC-MARC Format Update 2011, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 12 (October 2010), has been incorporated.
2010	BFAS Chapter 5, Quality Assurance has been revised to reflect that the changes of the Expert Community Experiment have been made permanent. Relevant information from Technical Bulletin 258: OCLC-MARC Format Update 2010 including RDA Changes, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 10 (October 2009) and Update No. 11 (February 2010), has been incorporated.
2009	Relevant information from Technical Bulletin 257: OCLC-MARC Format Update 2009, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 8 (October 2007) and Update No. 9 (October 2008), has been incorporated.
2008	The new online version of Bibliographic Formats and Standards, Fourth Edition, is published in September 2008. It is a complete revision of the previous Third Edition, incorporating relevant information from the following OCLC Technical Bulletins: Technical Bulletin 246: Database Enrichment (July 2002) [no online version available]. Technical Bulletin 247: OCLC-MARC Format Update 2002, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 2 (October 2001) and Library of Congress Technical Notice (June 18, 2002). Technical Bulletin 249: OCLC-MARC Format Update 2003, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 3 (October 2002). Technical Bulletin 250: Parallel Records (October 2003). Technical Bulletin 252: OCLC-MARC Format Update 2006, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 4 (October 2003) and Update No. 5 (October 2004). Technical Bulletin 253: ISBN and OCLC Number Changes (September 2006). Technical Bulletin 254: OCLC-MARC Format Update 2007 and Institution Records to Accommodate the RLG Union Catalog, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 6 (October 2005). Technical Bulletin 255: OCLC-MARC Format Update 2008, which includes MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data Update No. 7 (October 2006). Technical Bulletin 256: Abbreviated-Level Record Guidelines (July 2008).

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