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Hi Adam, I was told this years and years ago, so I could be misremembering, but I think the reason is simply that other numerical identifiers for musical works (note: not just parts/sections) are coded $n. Yes, a date is a different thing, but as a differentiator (of last resort under AACR2), it is serving the same purpose. Apparently music wasn’t quite “special” enough back in 1979-80 to get its own code for numerical elements used to identify or disambiguate titles of musical works. To be fair, music had already been given the $m, $o, and $r so we were ahead of the treaty crowd who only got a measly $d for the date of signing. The much needed coding for the numerical elements of titles of musical works, especially generic titles (think concertos, symphonies, quartets, etc.), was shoehorned into the $n and the date got shoehorned in along with them. Valerie From: Program for Cooperative Cataloging [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Adam L. Schiff Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2017 6:44 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [PCCLIST] Subfields in music titles Does anyone know WHY a date used to distinguish one musical work from another was put in $n, while all dates used to distinguish other works from each other are not separately subfielded and come immediately after the preferred title of the works? I know music catalogers are special, but… ;) Adam Schiff University of Washington Libraries From: Program for Cooperative Cataloging [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Weinberg, Valerie Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2017 1:24 PM To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Subfields in music titles I wouldn’t recommend changing this longstanding practice at this late date for heading strings though I agree the music example in the authorities format for the X00 $n is horrendous and should be removed. It is from an old NAR that was part of a recon project in the 1980s. This accounts for the strange 400s for non-distinctive titles. Why it was chosen is beyond me. The instruction referring to music in the authorities format for the X00 $n needs to be edited as well. The correct instruction, which is found in the authorities format for the X30 $n and in the bibliographic format for the X00 and X30 $n states: “In music uniform titles, the serial, opus, or thematic index number, or a date used to distinguish one work from another, is contained in subfield $n.” Valerie Weinberg Senior Music Specialist Music Division Library of Congress From: Program for Cooperative Cataloging [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kathy Glennan Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2017 1:46 PM To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: [PCCLIST] Subfields in music titles This is a long standing problem. In my email archive, I found a copy of a detailed report from Richard Hunter (a music cataloger at LC, now retired) dated April 1999 "about the discrepancies in the instructions for subfield $n in the eight places in the two MARC formats in which they occur." I have not compared his analysis and recommendations with the current documentation. I would be happy to share this analysis with anyone who would like to work on clearing up the usage of $n. Kathy Kathy Glennan Head, Original & Special Collections Cataloging University of Maryland Libraries [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> On Mon, Apr 3, 2017 at 4:21 PM, John Hostage <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: There are 3 versions of Beethoven’s Fidelio in the authority file: 1805, 1806, and 1814. They have authorized access points in the form: Beethoven, Ludwig van, ǂd 1770-1827. ǂt Fidelio ǂn (1805) Subfield $n is defined as “number of part/section of a work.” (http://www.loc.gov/marc/authority/adx00.html) The MARC authority format includes the example 400 1#$wnnaa$aHindemith, Paul,$d1895-1963.$tSonata,$mpiano, 4 hands$n(1938) [Parenthetical date in music titles is a part/section of a work.] 400 1#$aHindemith, Paul,$d1895-1963.$tVierhaendige Sonata fuer zwei Klaviere, 1938 [Date is not a part/section number.] It only serves to muddy the water since it uses a pre-AACR2 heading and the bracketed notes say that the same date is a part/section of the work in one case and not a part/section in the other case. The AAP for the work includes no date. The MARC bibliographic format (http://www.loc.gov/marc/bibliographic/bdx30.html) includes “or a date used to distinguish one work from another” in the definition of $n. What is the justification for this treatment? It includes very different types of data in the same subfield, and it treats the same type of data (date of a work) differently depending on the genre of the title. “Date added parenthetically to a title to distinguish between identical titles entered under the same name is not separately subfield coded” is noted in the authority format under subfield $f (Date of a work), which seems more like a date of manifestation. The dates for Fidelio seem to be dates of expressions (RDA 6.10), which the RDA to MARC Authority Mapping maps to subfield $f, but subfield $s (Version) seems like a better match. Considering everything else that has been turned on its head, why is this still being done? ------------------------------------------ John Hostage Senior Continuing Resources Cataloger Harvard Library--Information and Technical Services Langdell Hall 194 Harvard Law School Library Cambridge, MA 02138 [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> +(1)(617) 495-3974<tel:(617)%20495-3974> (voice) +(1)(617) 496-4409<tel:(617)%20496-4409> (fax) ISNI 0000 0000 4028 0917