Fixed Fields

The OCLC Fixed Fields consists of elements of the MARC 21 Bibliographic Leader and field 008, in addition to control fields 001 and 005.

OCLC WorldCat and Evergreen use a fixed field matrix or grid for the Leader and 008 field to simplify input and editing. These fields are codes for computer handling and are often used for OPAC display and search filters. They are constant and are fixed length and fixed variables for coding. All fixed fields should be correctly coded for your resource.

Of special note for original cataloging of books are:

Field	Code	Notes
Type	a	Type of record (Books = a)
BLvd	m	Bibliographical level (monograph = m)
Desc	i	Descriptive cataloging form. Always use i to show you followed RDA punctuation rules which, in turn, follows the conventions of ISBD.
ELvl	blank/7	Code that indicates the fullness of the bibliographic information of the MARC record. Use blank for a full level record or 7 for a minimal-level record.
Cont		Nature of contents. Follow OCLC coding guidelines. NOTE: Code 6 = graphic novels/comics
Ills/Index/Lang/Ctry/Date		Code all areas that are necessary to define the resource. Check that you code illustrations/whether there is an index/language of item/country of publication/date etc. correctly.

Bibformats - fixed fields

Cataloging of the fixed fields should match relevant elements in the rest of the record.