[Koha-bugs] [Bug 13912] System preference for default place of publication (country code) for field 008, range 15-17

[bugzilla-daemon at bugs.koha-community.org]

http://bugs.koha-community.org/bugzilla3/show_bug.cgi?id=13912

Thomas Dukleth <td-koha-bugs at agogme.com> changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
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                 CC|                            |td-koha-bugs at agogme.com
             Status|Passed QA                   |Failed QA

--- Comment #11 from Thomas Dukleth <td-koha-bugs at agogme.com> ---
Tomás Cohen Arazi brought this bug to my attention with the concern that the
currently proposed fix is MARC 21 specific and thus ignores implications for
UNIMARC.  The more important issue is that the proposed fix sets a default
value as the code for United States when left blank which would be the wrong
value for far too many users.

1.  DEFAULT VALUE WHEN BLANK.

Given the international nature of the Koha project, it should always be
considered unwise to set a default value for country code in a system wide
preference even for those using English when the default value for country code
is blank.  Even, a least effort patch should either have the value blank when
the system preference is blank with a warning about the unset default value
when checking system preferences and when invoking the related plugin for the
record editor.

A greater effort patch would have the default system wide country of production
for cataloguing set from a value list.  However, a default should be blank. 
Requiring the user to set a default as part of a guided installation or upgrade
would ameliorate the problem.   


2.  MARC DIFFERENCES.

Code for country of production (using a somewhat generic description) is a more
complex problem for MARC 21 Bibliographic than for UNIMARC Bibliographic.


2.1.  BRIEF CONCLUSION.

Given the difference in the treatment for country of production between MARC 21
and UNIMARC, it seems reasonable to specify the system preference label more
generically with the additional lablel note that the system preference only
applies currently to MARC 21 with direction to UNIMARC users to adjust the
default value for 102 $a, $b, or $c if they would choose to have a default
value. 


2.2.  MARC 21.

In the case of MARC 21, the value needs to be set as a small part, positions 15
to 17 of fixed field 008 for which a Koha record editor plugin, such as
marc21_field_008.pl
http://git.koha-community.org/gitweb/?p=koha.git;a=blob;f=cataloguing/value_builder/marc21_field_008.pl;hb=HEAD
, could be used to set the value as specified by a MARC 21 Koha MARC framework
in `marc_subfield_structure`.`value_builder`.

Documentation for values is linked from http://www.loc.gov/marc/countries/ . 
An HTML page with a simple list is at
http://www.loc.gov/marc/countries/countries_code.html .  An XML file for
automated processing is available at
http://www.loc.gov/standards/codelists/countries.xml .


2.3.  UNIMARC.

In the case of UNIMARC, the value occupies a complete subfield for subfields of
field 102.  As a consequence of using a complete subfield, a default value
could be set for a UNIMARC Koha MARC framework in
`marc_subfield_structure`.`defaultvalue`.  Similarly, as a consequence of using
the complete subfield, a value list could be specified by a UNIMARC  Koha MARC
framework in `marc_subfield_structure`.`authorised_value`. The French
framework_DEFAULT.sql,
http://git.koha-community.org/gitweb/?p=koha.git;a=blob;f=installer/data/mysql/fr-FR/marcflavour/unimarc_complet/Obligatoire/framework_DEFAULT.sql;hb=HEAD
does not specify any default values for 102 $a, $b, or $c.

Despite the machine readable utility, the UNIMARC standard gives less
importance to field 102 and does not specify it as a requirement in contrast to
the requirement for full MARC 21 records to at least use 008 overall.

Documentation for values is linked from
http://www.iso.org/iso/country_codes/country_codes .  Values could be parsed
from the text contained in https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#search/code/ .  Sadly,
ISO charges fees for access to a proper machine readable version.  [Their
general fee structure discourages the use of standards which should be opposite
to the goal of any standards organisation.] 


2.4.  MARC NEUTRAL FIX.

A proper MARC neutral fix with some effort would set a default country of
cataloguing for as a system wide preference.  Appropriate value lists would be
included for MARC 21 or UNIMARC as needed.  The system preference would check
the value of marcflavour setting for determining the value list used.  An
appropriate plugin for MARC 21 or UNIMARC would use the appropriate value list.

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