All of the cataloging records below were copied from the MARC database found at the Library of Congress web site, www.loc.gov. Some of the records were adjusted or shortened for ease of viewing.

Looking at the tags section by section may help illustrate how they are used in recording cataloging information. Here is a list of many of the commonly used MARC field names and their tags in the 0XX area:

                020 ISBN number

                040 Cataloging source

                050 LC call number

                082 Dewey call number

                090 Locally assigned LC call number

                092 Locally assigned Dewey call number

These fields with 0XX tags are control fields. They contain information that helps to identify the item being cataloged. For example, the 020 field has the ISBN number, a unique identifying number assigned to books, and often to CDs and videos. The cataloging source, 040, indicates what library did the cataloging for this MARC record. This is an important field because many libraries will check the source of the cataloging, wanting to be sure that a knowledgeable library is doing the MARC tagging. Often this field will contain the letters ‘DLC’ indicating that the cataloging comes from the Library of Congress. 

The call numbers found in the 050 and the 082 fields are usually ones assigned by LC. The second indicator in this field will show a ‘0’ if LC assigned the call number, and a ‘4’ if they didn’t. However, these assigned call numbers do not have to be used by the library copying or using this cataloging. The 090 and 092 fields are specifically for recording local call numbers used, if they vary from the LC assigned one. The subfield codes for these fields can indicate the classification number ($a) and cutter (or author) number ($b).

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