Spanish Language Terms in the MARC 653 Field in Puvill Vendor Records for Monographs

A noticeable improvement in the quality of Spanish language vendor records for monographs provided by Puvill Libros has been observed in the past few years. The improvement in Puvill’s records seemed, in part, due to the selection of Spanish language terms for the MARC 653 field to more accurately reflect the subject of the monograph. To document this change, a sample of Puvill records, upgraded to standard cataloging, was extracted from Columbia University’s OPAC and the subject terms in the MARC records were examined. In addition, representatives from Puvill Libros were contacted with questions relating to their procedures for creating vendor records and future efforts in producing standard cataloging records