J. McRee Elrod wrote:
>
> > As a result of the return of Hong Kong to China's rule, the
> >USMARC country code for Hong Kong is being revised. Previously it
> >was coded [hk] (Hong Kong); it will now be included under China
> >[cc].
>
> Is anyone else bothered by this loss of specificity? While we don't
> have codes for other provinces of China, Hong Kong produces as many
> English language publications as all other provinces combined.
>
At a time when the question of extending the codes used in 043 has been
raised already (MARBI Discussion paper 98) it seems a short-sighted and
retrograde step to eliminate this code.
This decision underlines how uneven LC's treatment of geographical
information is; for instance, compare recent discussions on Autocat
about the first-order elements in indirect geographic subdivision of
topical subject headings.
Hal Cain, Joint Theological Library, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
<[log in to unmask]>
|