Best Practice for MARC Fields with Privacy Indicators in Alma

Background

• MARC fields 541, 542, 561, and 583 may be coded with first indicator 0 to signal that the information in the field is private and therefore not viewable in the public catalog. 

Practice

542 (Information Relating to Copyright Status)

• Do not code this field as private. The first indicator should always be blank (no information provided) or 1 (not private). Because the 542 field is not defined for use in the holdings, and there is no corresponding holdings field for information relating to copyright status, there is no mechanism with which to make this information private.

541, 561, and 583 (Immediate Source of Acquisition Note, Ownership and Custodial History, and Action Note)

• If choosing a first indicator zero (private), catalogers must place these fields in the holdings record where the intent of the privacy indicator will be respected. Alma as a z39.50 target currently cannot prevent exposure of bibliographic fields with a privacy indicator.  
• For further information about use of these fields, see Best practices for MARC 21 fields describing local information