[yul-naco] FW: [PCCLIST] German Eszett in Authority Records

[Sarcia, Richard]

Dear NACO Catalogers--

The NACO folks at OCLC forwarded the message below -- sent earlier this year by LC -- as a gentle reminder not to  use the German Eszett in authority records. Apparently they've been seeing quite a few of them lately, and LC cannot load authority records that use it. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for your cooperation.

--Rick

-----Original Message-----
From: Goodson,Luanne [mailto:goodsonl at oclc.org]
Sent: Friday, August 29, 2008 4:30 PM
To: Sarcia, Richard
Subject: FW: [PCCLIST] German Eszett in Authority Records

-----Original Message-----
From: Program for Cooperative Cataloging [mailto:PCCLIST at loc.gov] On Behalf Of Antony Robert David Franks
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 8:23 AM
To: PCCLIST at LISTSERV.LOC.GOV
Subject: [PCCLIST] German Eszett in Authority Records

The addition of new MARC 21 characters in authority records has been much appreciated by cataloguers in need of these. Unfortunately, our enthusiasm in using them has outstripped the actual characters that were implemented. The German Eszett was not among these MARC21 characters.

We have had a rash of records using this character since the original announcement went out. Because records using this character fail contribution to the LC/NACO Master File, OCLC staff have been doing their best to revise the records in their contribution workflow. NACO members then attempt to replace the Eszett and the cycle starts over again.

Please do not include the German Eszett in authority records until we are able to implement it as a MACR21 character.

Anthony R.D. Franks
Team Leader, Cooperative Cataloging Team Library of Congress
202-707-2822 (voice)
202-252-2082 (fax)