Policy for Eliminating GMDs in Bibliographic Records

Beginning April 1, 2022 Main will no longer add GMDs to bibliographic records entered into the system.

“GMD” stands for General Material Designation. They were part of older cataloging standards that have long since been rendered obsolete by current international cataloging standards. They were used in the title field of a bibliographic record to identify the type of format the item in the bibliographic record was. For example, “Large Print,” or “DVD-Widescreen,” or “Spoken Word Audio.” Main commonly used GMDs such as [large print], [videorecording (DVD)], [sound recording (unabridged CD)], and others. In the past, it was more difficult for ILS systems to easily display format icons in catalogs and signal what they were to patrons, so GMDs were used to provide patrons and staff with a clearer way to see this. Many library systems, like Main, kept using GMDs when in fact they probably should have phased them out years ago as catalogs became more user friendly.

The decision to eliminate GMDs in bibliographic records is based on the following:

• They are not authorized in the current cataloging standard, RDA. We need to bring our bibliographic database in line with current standards.
• Aspen, our new discovery layer for the catalog, does not display GMDs anywhere in the public interface.
• Aspen also more clearly labels and prominently displays format labels and icons that identify what an item is. They also have a wider variety of format labels than GMDs can provide.
• For linking purposes, there are other ways in LEAP and in the Polaris client to identify the format/type of material of an item.
• It will help streamline the migration process if Main adds more libraries in the future.

This change only applies to bibliographic records added to the system beginning on/or after April 1, 2002. Existing GMDs will not be removed at this time but may be removed in the future.