GB/T 46969-2025China machine-readable catalogue format for library authority data (English PDF)

Foreword

This document complies with the provisions of GB/T 1.1-2020 "Standardization Work Guidelines Part

1.Structure and Drafting Rules of Standardization Documents". Drafting. Please note that some content in this document may involve patents. The issuing organization of this document assumes no responsibility for identifying patents. This document was proposed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China. This document is under the jurisdiction of the National Library Standardization Technical Committee (SAC/TC389). This document was drafted by: National Library of China, Capital Library of China, Peking University, East China Normal University, Macau University of Science and Technology, and Beijing Guotu Bookstore. Limited Liability Company. The main drafters of this document are. Wang Yang, Gu D, Mao Yajun, Zhang Qimin, Wang Lu, Yu Shuangshuang, Yu Fei, Wang Yanqiao, Cui Yunhong, Wang Guangping, and Zhang Juan. Yuan Yun and Wang Qin.

0.1 Background Machine-Readable Catalogues (MARC) were developed with the advancement of computer automation. MARC is a computer-recognizable and processable data format. The advent of MARC marked a significant shift in document cataloging from traditional manual operations to... The era of automation in computer processing. Research on MARC in my country began in the 1980s, initially focusing primarily on developing machine-readable books. The format is as follows: In.1991, the first edition of the UNIMARC standard format was published, and my country began developing its own machine-readable standard format. (See "China Machine-Readable Standard Format") The MARC format (WH/T 15-2002) was implemented as a cultural industry standard in.2002.Currently, the MARC format has become the standard for books in my country. It is an indispensable tool for information resource exchange and communication within embassies and intelligence departments. The rapid development of information technology and the constantly changing information environment bring... This has revolutionized cataloging theory and practice. To enable efficient and economical sharing of standardized data in the Internet environment, both in terms of quantity and authority... To meet user needs, the Permanent Committee of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) UNIMARC revised the standard format multiple times, and it was officially published in.2009. UNIMARC Manual. Authorities Format (3rd Edition,.2009) UNIMARC Specification Format Manual (online version 1.0.0, 2023) was released in 2023. The document was published. Furthermore, many countries have joined the Virtual International Standard Documentation Project (VIAF) to address standardization issues in the Semantic Web environment. The issue of open data sharing.

0.2 Compilation Principles This document is based on the Ministry of Culture's industry standard "Chinese Machine-Readable Specification Format" (WH/T 15-2002), and refers to the international standard published by the International Federation of Library and Instruction (IFLA). The "UNIMARC Standard Format Manual (Online Version 1.0.0, 2023)" was compiled based on my country's cataloging practices and user needs.

0.3 Major Changes Compared with similar standards currently in use, this document has the following main updates and changes.

a) Changes in terminology Some terms have been renamed, such as. Change "label" to "retrieval point", "unified label" to "standardized retrieval point", and "non-standard label" to "variant retrieval point".

b) Renaming function blocks Some functional blocks have been renamed. For example. "Title Block" was changed to "Canonical Search Point Block", "Simple Reference Root Block" was changed to "Variant Search Point Block", and "Related Reference Root Block" was changed to... The "Related Search Point Block" and "Classification Number Block" have been changed to "Classification and Entity History Block," and the "Connecting Title Block" has been changed to "Other Languages and..." (or) the standard retrieval point of the text.

c) Controlling changes to subfield names and ranges The content of some control subfields has been expanded. For example. The name of the $5 subfield has been changed from "Root Lookup Control" to "Relationship Control". The character limit has been increased from 2 to 5 characters. (Added works) Specific relationship code, actor-specific relationship code, relationship code between actor and work or content expression. The name of the $7 subfield has been changed from "Text" to "Cataloging Text and Basic Retrieval Point Text". The length has been expanded from 2 characters to 8 characters. Symbols. Added options for the direction of catalog text, rewriting of catalog text, basic search point text, text direction of basic search points, and basic... The rewriting of the text for this search point. The name of subfield $8 has been changed from "Cataloging Language" to "Cataloging Language and Basic Retrieval Point Language". It has also been expanded from 3 characters to 6. Characters. Basic search point languages have been added.

d) Adding new fields 003 Permanent record identifier 010 International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI) 017 Other Identifiers 033 Other system permanent record identifiers 035 Other System Control Numbers 036 Music Introduction 050 International Standard Text Encoding (ISTC) 051 International Standard Music Composition Code (ISWC) 052 International Standard Audiovisual Works Number (ISAN) 061 International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) 101 entity languages 102 Entity Nationality 104 Encoded Data Field. The Entity's Primary Date 105 Encoded Data Fields. The Format of Content Expression 106.Encoded Data Field. Entity Name Used as a Subject Retrieval Point 120 Coded Data Field. Personal Name 122 Encoded Data Field. Period of the Work's Content 123 Coded data field. Administrative jurisdiction or geographical name 125 Encoded Data Field. Reader Object 127 Encoded Data Fields. Playback Time and Shooting Information 128 Encoded Data Fields. The form of the musical work and its key or mode. 140 Encoded Data Fields. Content and Form of the Work 169 Chinese ethnic groups and historical era codes 180 Encoded data fields. format, genre, or physical characteristics 216 Standard Search Points

--- Trademarks 217 Standardized Search Points

---Printer/Publisher Marks 223 Standardized Search Points

---Role 231 Standardized Search Point

--- Title (Work) 232 Standardized Search Points

--- Title (Content Expression) 241 Standardized Search Points

1 Scope

GB/T 46969-2025 is the Chinese national standard covering the CNMARC authority format - the records that fix the authorised form of a person's name, a corporate body, a subject heading or a uniform title, and the cross-references from every variant to it, which is what makes a catalogue searchable rather than merely stored. At 113,500 words it is a complete field-by-field specification. First edition. It was issued on 31 December 2025 and has been in force since 1 July 2026, as a first edition. The document is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. This page is published from the official record of the 2025 edition; the clause text of a standard this recent is not yet in circulation, and the figures, limits and tables it contains are those of the document itself, delivered in full with the English translation.

This document specifies the standard structure of computer-readable specification records, including field identifiers, field indicators, and subfield identifiers, to... The logical and physical format of the recorded content on media such as magnetic tape, floppy disk, and optical disc. This document applies to cataloging institutions, library and information departments, other document management departments, and international cataloging institutions, using standard accounting methods. Standardized data information exchange in a computer-readable format.

2 Normative references

The contents of the following documents, through normative references within the text, constitute essential provisions of this document. Dated citations are not included. For references to documents, only the version corresponding to that date applies to this document; for undated references, the latest version (including all amendments) applies. This document.

GB/T 1988 Information Technology - Seven-bit Coded Character Set for Information Interchange

GB/T 2311 Information Technology - Character Code Structure and Extension Technology

GB/T 2312 Basic Set of Chinese Character Coded Character Set for Information Interchange

GB/T 2659 (All Parts) Codes for the Names of Countries and Regions and Their Administrative Divisions

GB/T 2901 Information and Document Information Interchange Format

GB/T 3304 Romanization and Codes of the Names of Ethnic Groups in China

GB/T 3792 Description of Information and Document Resources

GB/T 4880.2 Language Name Codes Part 2.3-Letter Codes

GB/T 7408.1 Representation for the Interchange of Date and Time Information - Part