How complete do MARC records have to be in order to be on the Iowa Locator?
“Brief or incomplete MARC records (i.e., containing only author and title), or those that identify the format incorrectly, do not contain the data necessary to merge. The Iowa Locator can quickly become overpopulated with these unmerged records, making the database more difficult to use.” Iowa Locator MARC Record Input Guidelines, 1995. Minimum guidelines have been established for records submitted to the Iowa Locator. Meeting these minimal requirements does not mean you are doing complete MARC cataloging; the minimum fields required for the Locator are adequate, but minimal. (See the Guidelines for list of the fields required.) Good cataloging requires not only correct use of MARC and minimum number of fields, but also knowledge of AACR2 (the guidelines for how you describe the item-how you do the publisher or place of publication, how you do the author’s name, etc.) and subject headings.
