Marc @ Books Asia

Our UKMarc utility was developed in 2005 with assistance from Bradford Central Library. It was tested with Concerto, Dynix and DS Galaxy systems.

Our Marc21 utility was introduced in 2007 with assistance from Leicestershire and Auckland Libraries. It was tested with Talis, Innovative Millennium and SirsiDynix systems.

Our Marc records are free of charge, emailed as a single file with each order, or downloaded via BDS.

We are registered with The British Library with MARC Organisation Code UKBfBA and ISIL Code GB-UkBfBA.

Bibliographic Data Services (BDS)

In 2011 we teamed up with BDS to make our Marc files available via the BDS Direct Data Feed . If you have a Public Library License, your BDS data-feed will stream your Marc records directly to your LMS.

For more information, please review the article in the BDS Newsletter, or contact Sarah Armitage (BDS) on 07860-324570.

Sample files

Our sample Marc files contain titles of various Origins, Languages, and Age Groups. They can be used to confirm compatibility with your systems.

Marc21 sample records

BA-Marc21-d190411-r11-i3306.mrc
BA-Marc21-Summary-d190411-r11-i3306.txt

UKMarc sample records

BA-UKMarc-d190411-r11-i3306.mrc
BA-UKMarc-Summary-d190411-r11-i3306.txt

Our Marc 'Summary' text files are a handy way of validating you have the correct files, with the anticipated number of records.

The filenames are designed to help remind you of the d-InvoiceDate, r-Number of Records and i-Invoice Number.

Our Standard Tags

Books Asia's records are always created from 'books-in-hand'. They are specific to each title, and contain a comprehensive set of 20+ Tags, plus any additional Tags specified by your library. Here's one of our Marc21 records for an Arabic book:

=LDR 00764nam 2200289 i 4500
=001 ba039073
=003 UkBfBA
=005 2011061793123.0
=008 110617s2008\\\\ua\\\\\\\\\\\\000\0\ara\d
=020 \\$a9772718634 (pbk.) :$c£13.95
=035 \\$a(UkBfBA)ba039073
=040 \\$aUkBfBA$cUkBfBA
=041 0\$aara
=043 \\$af-ua---
=082 00$a613$222
=100 1\$aAl Husayni, Ayman.
=245 10$aWara kulimraah samina, mushkilah /$cAyman Al Husayni.
=260 \\$aCairo :$bMaktabat Ibn Sina,$c2008.
=300 \\$a96 p. ;$c23 cm.
=365 \\$a01$b13.95$cGBP
=500 \\$aNon-Fiction.
=500 \\$aDual Language.
=500 \\$aLarge Print.
=520 \\$aTips for weight reduction.
=521 \\$aAdult.
=546 \\$aArabic.
=655 \7$aHealth and Fitness$2bicssc

Our Marc records have gained a reputation for being comprehensive, great value (free!) and for saving much re-keying time.

Shared Cataloguing

Many libraries share a Master Catalogue with other libraries in their group. Our IT System ensures that duplicate Marc records are not issued, even if the same book is ordered by several libraries in the same group.

Customised Tags

Many libraries have special Tag requirements. Some relating to internal cataloguing procedures, or to function with a Vendor solution, or to be compatible with legacy data. Our Marc utilities are developed in-house. This means we have the flexibility to implement your Tag requirements (and free of charge).