MARC 21 Tagging: A Study of Errors in OPAC Library Catalogues
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2025-09-01
Authors
Advisor
Program batch
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The thesis entitled “MARC 21 Tagging: A Study of Errors in OPAC Library
Catalogues” explores the frequency and nature of cataloging errors on the quality of
bibliographic data in Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs). Errors in cataloging can
significantly hinder the effectiveness of OPACs, degrade catalog quality, and
undermine adherence to professional standards. There are no earlier studies in Nepal
about the library cataloging errors. This study has analyzed and quantified these errors
in OPAC data to improve its reliability.
The main purpose of this study is to examine the quality of catalogue records and the
error rate of the five libraries in Kathmandu Valley. This study identifies the most and
less occurring error tags in MARC 21. For study 250 catalogue records were selected
from the Central Department of Library and Information Science (CDLIS) Library,
Tribhuvan University Central Library (TUCL), Nepal National Library (NNL), Kaiser
Library (KL), and Thapathali Engineering Campus Library (TECL) using a purposive
random sampling method. The data were collected using a Library of Congress MARC
21 checklist, which was prepared based on the Library of Congress standards.
The findings show the most error tag identified was Statement of responsibility (MARC
tag 245$c), which accounted for 219 (17.51%) of the total errors. Conversely, the least
error tag identified was Classification Number (MARC tag 082$a), containing only 6
(0.48%) errors. Among the institutional level, TECL had the highest overall error count
with 365 errors (29.18% of the total), while CDLIS demonstrated the lowest number of
errors, with 162 (12.95%). The most repeated errors were Entry Omission (EO),
recorded 511 errors. The least frequent error was Hyphens Error (HE), with 38 errors.
The study emphasizes the need for enhanced professional training, establish quality
control procedures, develop a style guide, authority files, and regular check, review,
and update existing records of their cataloguing systems to reduce errors and improve
the overall accuracy of bibliographic records.
Key Words: Online catalogues, MARC formats, Cataloging–Errors, Machine readable
bibliographic data, Libraries–Automation
Description
This thesis written about Online catalogues, MARC formats, Cataloging–Errors, Machine readable
bibliographic data, Libraries–Automation
Keywords
1 Online catalogues, 2 MARC formats, 3 Cataloging–Errors, Machine readable bibliographic data, Libraries–Automation
Citation
Shrestha,Sabina(2025).MARC 21 Tagging: A Study of Errors in OPAC Library Catalogues.[Master's thesis.TU kirtipur].https//elibrary.tucdlis.edu.np/