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Non-English Materials

For materials in languages other than English, we favor OCLC records that have English as the language in the 040 subfield b. In addition, SWAN has established two local subject headings to facilitate discovery.   

If you need assistance cataloging foreign language materials, please contact SWAN's Bibliographic Services.

Access points

Certain access points will need to be changed to English.

Relator terms in subfield 'e' of the 100 and 700 tags: 

100 1_ Whelan, Julia,|d1984-|eauthor.

Information in the 300 tag and 33x tags need to be in English. 

041 Field - Language code 

The 041 tag is used when the item contains more than one language and it is required for fully cataloged records. 

Subfields in the language code field are repeatable. So, for example, if an item is in English, but has subtitles in Spanish and French, record the 041 tag as follows: 

041 1_ eng|jspa|jfre

First indicator:

0 = Item is not a translation/does not include a translation

1 = Item is or includes a translation

Commonly used subfields: 

  • |a - Language code of text/sound track
  • |d - Language code of sung or spoken text
  • |h - Language code of original
  • |j - Language code of subtitles
  • |m - Language code of original accompanying materials
  • |p - Language code of captions
  • |r - Language code of accessible visual language (non-textual)
  • |t - Language code of accompanying transcripts for audiovisual materials

650 Field - Subject headings

In addition to at least one authorized Library of Congress subject heading, SWAN requires one of the following subject headings for materials that do not have a primary language of English, with the exception of musical sound recordings and videos. The format is "XXX language materials" in a 650 field with second indicator 0 is used for all Fiction and Nonfiction materials. For example: 

650 _0 Arabic language materials.

Bilingual materials will additionally take the subfield |x Bilingual heading: 

650 _0 Arabic language materials|xBilingual.

For Fiction bilingual materials, please add a Genre/Form heading along with at least one subject heading.

Retain Polish language subject headings and Genre/Form headings such as jhpb and dbn.

650 _7 Powieść polska|y21 w.|2jhpb 
655 _7 Antologia.|2dbn

Retain Spanish-language subject headings such as bidex and qlsp.

650 _7 Cachorros|vLiteratura juvenil.|2bidex
650 _7 Cachorros (Perros)|vLiteratura juvenil.|2qlsp

Non-Roman characters

The use of non-Roman characters in catalog records is supported by Symphony and Aspen, but it is completely optional. It is acceptable in SWAN to provide transliterated or Romanized text without linking to the non-Roman original. Symphony also supports linked fields. If you opt to use non-Roman characters in catalog records, always link to a transliterated equivalent in OCLC before exporting the record. 

In OCLC: Edit -> Linking Fields -> Link Fields

Bibliographic Services will attempt to provide Cyrillic fields linked to their transliterations when possible, but we cannot guarantee this consistently when creating records using these characters. We will not transcribe Arabic, East Asian, and other character sets when creating an original record.

If using an online transliteration tool such as Google Translate and Lexilogos, we recommend verifying accuracy of the transliterated 100 and 245 tags by comparing it to the Library of Congress transliteration tables: https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/roman.html 

 

Parallel Titles

Create 245 fields according to how the titles are presented on the material. Do not favor English-language titles unless they are first or most prominently displayed.

Enter the parallel title in subfield |b preceded by = (equal symbol). 

Give an added entry for each parallel title as needed, using the 246 tag with indicators 31.

245 10 Jak dogonić Geparda =|bKeeping up with Cheetah.
246 31 Keeping up with Cheetah

Note: Parallel titles imply that the item is in more than one language. In these cases, additional languages also need to be represented in the 041 tag, the 500 tag, 546 tag, and the local 650 subject heading tag.               

240 Field - Uniform title

If the item is a translation, ensure the presence of the preferred title (original title) of the item in the 240 tag. Enter the language of the translation in subfield 'l', preceded by a period.

  • First indicator: 1 (if the original title is printed or displayed on the source)
  • Second indicator: zero for "no non-filing characters" (do not enter initial articles)
240 00 Heart of Bones.|lPolish
245 10 Nagie serca /|cColleen Hoover ; translated by Matylda Biernacka.

500 Field - General Note

For titles that are a translation of English titles, please enter a 500 note stating that the item is a translation.

500   Translation of...

Likewise, a record for a title that has been translated into English, needs to have a 500 note stating it.

500   Translated from the Japanese.

546 Field - Language Note         

The 546 tag spells out information regarding the language of the text, the language of the dialogue, and subtitles. Please check that the information matches the codes in the 041 tag.             

546   Text in French. 
546   Spanish or English dialogue ; English subtitles.

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