Working with Linked Bib Records

Libraries often have bib records that should logically “go together.” (For example, a bib record of a translation title “goes with” the bib record of the original title.) You can link these bib records together by adding certain tags to the bib records. These tags are referred to as “Link Tags.”

Linking bib records lets users view and quickly access related titles when they do a catalog search. (For information, see “Viewing Related Works” in the “Searching” chapter of the Horizon Basics Guide.) Linking bib records may also result in a broader range of hits when users perform a keyword search. (For more information, see “Using Keyword Inheritances” in the “Working with Linking Tags” section of the Cataloging Setup Guide.)

Linking bib records affects searches against your database only if the search mode in the PAC flavor is set to trace links. (For more information, see “Assigning a Search Mode to a PAC flavor” in the “Searching Setup” chapter of the System Administration Guide.)

Bib record links consist of these elements:

Element

Description

Link From” bib

The bib record from which the link starts.

“Link To” bib

The bib record to which you want to link the first bib record.

A “Link To” bib record is also referred to as the “hooked” bib record.

Link tag

The “hook” that links records together.

Link tags display information about the record they are linked to. The link tag is made up of several subfields from different tags in the Link To bib record. (For example, a link tag may display the title and publication information of the bib record to which it links.)

Reciprocal link tag

The tag that Horizon adds to every “Link To” bib record.

These tags show that the bib record is linked, or “hooked.” Like link tags, reciprocal link tags display information about the records that they are linked to. When you double‑click on a reciprocal link tag, Horizon opens the Link From bib record.

MARC21 linking entry fields are tag numbers 76X through 78X. Each of these tags describes a specific relationship between the linking bib records. (For more information, see your MARC documentation or the Library of Congress web site at this address: http://www.loc.gov/marc/.) Your system administrator needs to set up linking before you can use this feature. (For instructions, see “Setting Up or Changing Tag Linking” and “Setting Up or Changing General Subfield Parameters” in the “Setting Up or Changing Valid MARC Record Components” section of the Cataloging Setup Guide.)

Here is an example of two linked bib records:

This section explains these topics:

 


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