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WorldCat Validation release notes, July 2026

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Release Date: 15 July 2026

Introduction

This release of changes to WorldCat Validation involves the following new features, enhancements, and bug fixes that support the Library of Congress's latest MARC standards, enable richer authority data for discovery, and resolve validation errors reported by the cataloging community.

  • New features and enhancements:
    • OCLC-MARC Validations of New MARC Codes Announced 4 April-3 June 2026
      • Classification Scheme Source Codes
      • MARC Code List for Relators
      • Name and Title Authority Source Codes
      • National Bibliography Number Source Codes
      • Standard Identifier Source Codes
      • Subject Heading and Term Source Codes
    • MARC 21 Bibliographic Update No. 42 (Announced May 2026)
    • MARC 21 Authority Update No. 42 (Announced May 2026)
    • Subfield $a no longer required in bibliographic field 044

These enhancements and fixes are the result of announcements of new MARC elements and codes by the Library of Congress as well as feedback and requests from members of the OCLC community.

New features and enhancements

OCLC-MARC Validations of New MARC Codes Announced 4 April-3 June 2026

You may now use all new MARC Codes announced by the Library of Congress in the following LC Technical Notices:

Classification Scheme Source Codes

The following source code has been added to the Classification Scheme Source Codes list for usage in appropriate fields and elements.

  • rdi - Rigler Deutsch index numbers

MARC Code List for Relators

The following relators have been added to the MARC Code List for Relators list for usage in appropriate fields and elements.

  • afd [assistant film director] - A person responsible for assisting a film director by managing the logistics and daily operation of the set, attending to the cast and crew, and ensuring that a film production stays on schedule.
  • gst [guest] - A person invited to appear on a program or podcast. For a person invited to appear on a television program use "television guest".
  • wap [writer of approbation] - A person who writes an approbation for a work.

Name and Title Authority Source Codes

The following source code has been added to the Name and Title Authority Source Codes list for usage in appropriate fields and elements.

  • czenas - AUT - Databáze národních autorit NK ČR = Czech National Authority File (Národní knihovny ČR (The National Library of the Czech Republic))

National Bibliography Number Source Codes

The following source code has been added to the National Bibliography Number Source Codes list for usage in appropriate fields and elements.

  • cnb - Česká národní bibliografie (Praha: Národní knihovna České republiky)

Standard Identifier Source Codes

The following source codes have been added to the Standard Identifier Source Codes list for usage in appropriate fields and elements.

  • bmdb - Bibliotekenes metadatabrønn (Oslo: Biblioteksentralen and National Library of Norway)
  • rdt - Répertoire des divisions territoriales = Territorial Division Directory (Institut de la statistique du Québec)

Subject Heading and Term Source Codes

The following source code has been added to the Subject Heading and Term Source Codes list for usage in appropriate fields and elements.

  • psh - Polythematic structured subject heading system (Praha: Národní technická knihovna)

MARC 21 Bibliographic Update No. 42 (Announced May 2026)

You may now begin to use the following changes to Bibliographic elements implemented as part of OCLC-MARC Bibliographic Update for July 2026, based on the MARC 21 Bibliographic format changes announced in MARC 21 Bibliographic Update No. 42 (May 2026).

  • Existing Bibliographic All Materials element 008/35-37 (Language) has been revised to remove the requirement to use fill characters when the first 041 field uses non-MARC language codes. Code ||| (No attempt to code) has been revised to reflect this change. Code sgn (Sign languages) has been redescribed to clarify that both field 041 and 546 may be used to record information about an individual sign language.
  • In existing Bibliographic Continuing Resources elements 008/21 and 006/04 (Type of continuing resource), codes a (Activity report), i (Serial zine), and q (Serial podcast) have been defined. Code # (None of the following) has been redescribed.
  • In existing Bibliographic field 041 (Language Code), subfield $a was renamed Language code of text or sound track (formerly Language code of text/sound track or separate title), and the definition was revised to incorporate changes to 008/35-37.
  • In existing Bibliographic field 341 (Accessibility Content), the field definition and scope were revised to add sensory hazards as information about accessibility content of the resource.  First indicator values have been updated to reflect this revised field definition and scope: 0 - Accessibility information related to primary content and 1 – Accessibility information related to secondary content. Subfields $h (Sensory hazards) and $7 (Data provenance) have been defined. Second indicator (previously undefined) is now Presence of accessibility features/hazards and has these four values defined:
    • # - No information provided
    • 1 - Accessibility features present
    • 2 - No accessibility features present
    • 3 - Sensory hazards present

MARC 21 Authority Update No. 42 (Announced May 2026)

You may now begin to use the following changes to Authority elements implemented as part of OCLC-MARC Authority Update for April 2026, based on the MARC 21 Authority format changes announced in MARC 21 Authority Update No. 42 (May 2026).

 Note: These changes apply only to the OCLC-MARC Authority validation rule set that includes all valid elements of MARC 21 Authority Format and cannot be used in the LC/NACO Authority File.

  • In existing Authority fields 400 (See From Tracing-Personal Name), 410 (See From Tracing-Corporate Name), 411 (See From Tracing-Meeting Name), and 451 (See From Tracing-Geographic Name), Second indicator (previously undefined) is now Preferred variant heading and has these two values defined:
    • # - No information provided
    • 1 - Preferred variant heading
  • In existing Authority fields 430 (See From Tracing-Uniform Title), First indicator (previously undefined) is now Preferred variant heading and has these two values defined:
    • # - No information provided
    • 1 - Preferred variant heading

Name Authority Cooperative (NACO) participants cannot use new indicators in fields 400, 410, 411, 430, and 451 in the LC/NACO Authority File at this time. The Library of Congress and OCLC will announce the implementation of these elements for use in name and subject authority records in the LC/NACO Authority File at a future date.

Subfield $a no longer required in bibliographic field 044

In Bibliographic field 044, you are no longer required to provide a MARC country code when providing a Local subentity code in subfield $b or an ISO country code in subfield $c.

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