Unicorn Record Structure

Each record in UNICORN consists of three levels:

The Title level record (including the descriptive bibliographic record and fixed fields)

The Call number level record

The Copy level record

The record structure (although not necessarily all existing fields) is seen when the command CREATE ITEM is issued. The first screen "Create Item" (see illustration) requires that action be taken regarding the creation of a new title, etc. (for additional information see Cataloging Documentation - 4). The entire title, call and copy structure is called an Item.

The Title record is the master record for each title in the system, and a single Title record for each work cataloged is shared among all libraries in the system (?). Each Title records consists of the following fields:

control #

no.of volumes

record format

created by

date cataloged

date created

shadowed title information

fixed fields

descriptive information

holdings

spine label

The Call number record is linked to the Title record. The title record may contain more than one Call number record, depending on how many libraries hold the title, and whether that library has assigned varying call number to the work. The Call number record consists of the following fields:

call number

class scheme

library

shelving key

shadowed call number information

The Copy record is linked to the Call number record and represents one physical copy in the collection. The Call number record may be linked to more than one Copy record, if a library holds multiple copies with the same call number. The Copy record consists of the following fields:

barcode

copy number

item type

number of pieces

home location

current location

item cat1

permanent

item cat2

circulate

total charges

price

library

shadowed copy information