Enhancing MARC Language Metadata with Ruby and Indigenous Tenacity
There are many Indigenous and minority languages that are grouped in broader MARC language codes, limiting the ability to find materials in a specific language. I was inspired by the University of Hawaii’s Indigenous Pacific Languages cataloging project, which highlighted the limitations of the MARC Language Codes. I undertook this project to improve language-related discoverability by parsing free text language metadata from MARC field 546 to create new 041 fields with matching ISO 639-3 language codes. The goal was improving the discoverability of Indigenous and minority language materials by enhancing language metadata accuracy. ISO 639-3 language codes can supplement MARC Language Codes for more accurate language representation. In the process, I identified many candidate materials in the library’s collection. This talk will discuss the importance of supplementing with ISO 639-3 language codes, as well as the challenges I encountered as I developed software tools to make that easier for catalogers.