DAHR-to-MARC Cataloging Tool

The UC Santa Barbara Library is pleased to announce the availability of MARC records for all of the 78rpm discs documented in the Discography of American Historical Recordings. DAHR currently documents over 165,000 master recordings that were issued on over 120,000+ 78rpm discs between 1894 and 1941. The MARC records are displayed in a special tab of the disc view section of DAHR and can be cut and paste into OCLC Connexion with minimal modification. The tool was created with funding from the Packard Humanities Institute, which funds DAHR.

78 rpm discs in libraries and archives are underdescribed and many of the largest collections are still uncataloged. This tool will help libraries catalog many items in their collections even if the cataloger (or cataloging technician) doesn’t have particular expertise in the format. Because DAHR uses Library of Congress name authorities, searching the LCNAF for composers and performers is not necessary, saving significant time.

Instructions and documentation for the tool can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t54A_Xv5V6tW5vY4BNidQV2J0t_DPKqP8UTNOGD_7Rk/edit?usp=sharing

As there are relatively few institutions with 78rpm holdings, we welcome active communication with those catalogers. We welcome your feedback and input.