FOLIO Documentation – Inventory

Docs: MARC authority

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

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The MARC authority app allows the management of MARC authority records within FOLIO.

Definition of terms related to the MARC authority app:

Access point. Element in a bibliographic record intended to be searched, e.g., contributor’s name, title, subject. Also referred to as a “heading.”
Authority record. A record that records the authorized forms of names, subjects, and subject subdivisions to be used in constructing access points in MARC records, the forms of these names, subjects, and subject subdivisions that should be used as references to the authorized forms, and the interrelationships among these forms.
Authorized access point. An access point that is represented by an authority record.
Heading. Same as: access point.
Reference. An entry in an authority record that points the user to either the authorized access point or a related authorized access point.

Capabilities and Capability Sets

Beginning with the Sunflower release, the Eureka platform replaces permission sets with Capabilities and Capability sets. For more information about Capabilities and Capability sets, see Roles Management with Eureka.

The capabilities listed below allow you to interact with the MARC Authority app and determine what you can or cannot do within the app. You can assign capabilities to users via user roles.

Permission (OKAPI)	Resource (EUREKA)	Type	Action	Description
MARC Authority: View MARC authority record.	UI-Marc-Authorities Authority-Record	data	view	This allows the user to view authority records.
MARC Authority: Edit MARC authority record.	UI-Marc-Authorities Authority-Record	data	edit	This allows the user to edit authority records.
MARC Authority: Delete MARC authority record.	UI-Marc-Authorities Authority-Record	data	delete	This allows the user to delete authority records.
MARC Authority: Create new MARC authority record.	UI-Marc-Authorities Authority-Record	data	create	This allows the user to create authority records.
quickMARC: View, edit MARC authorities record.	UI-Quick-Marc Quick-Marc-Authorities-Editor	data	manage	This allows the user to view and edit MARC authority records.
quickMARC: Create a new MARC authority record	UI-Quick-Marc Quick-Marc-Authorities-Editor	data	create	This allows the user to create a new MARC authority record in quickMARC.

Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts allow you to perform actions in this app using the keyboard. See Platform Essentials > Keyboard shortcuts for more information.

Viewing a MARC authority record

Once you search for a heading or reference, the following information appears in the MARC authority pane:

Authorized/Reference. Indicates whether the heading is an authorized heading or a reference.
Heading/Reference. Heading or reference.
Type of heading. Type of heading (personal name, corporate name, conference name, topical, geographic name, genre, uniform title, or other).
Authority source. Source authority file of the heading or reference.
Number of titles. Number of bibliographic records that are linked to the heading or reference.

Clicking a heading in the Heading/Reference column opens the full MARC record in the third pane. The heading or reference you selected will be highlighted in the record.

Creating MARC authority records

Creating new MARC authority records via Data Import

MARC authority records can be created via Data import. To create one or more authority records via Data Import, see instructions on starting a data import job.

Creating new MARC authority records in the MARC Authority app (via quickMARC)

To create a new authority record in the MARC authority app, follow these steps:

Open the MARC authority app.
Click Actions > New.
Follow instructions for editing authority records via quickMARC.

Editing MARC authority records

Updating MARC authority records via Data import

MARC authority records can be updated via Data import. To update one or more authority records via Data Import, see instructions on starting a data import job.

Editing MARC authority records via quickMARC

When viewing the MARC authority record you wish to edit, click Edit in the upper right. The record opens in edit mode.

In the Edit MARC authority record window, you can perform the following actions:

Add a field. To add a field, click the +. The new field appears below.
Delete a field. To delete a field, click the trash can icon. The field is deleted.
Move a field up. To move a field up, click the up arrow in the row of the field you want to move. The field is moved one row up.
Move a field down. To move a field down, click the down arrow in the row of the field you want to move. The field is moved one row down.
Edit text within a field. Click into a field to make changes to the text. To add a literal dollar sign ($) (i.e., not a subfield delimiter) in a field, enter {dollar}.
Once you have made your desired changes, click Save & close. A confirmation message appears, and the record is updated.

Validations and restrictions

A subfield is defined by a $ (dollar sign).
Tags must consist of 3 numeric characters.
Indicators must consist of single characters.

The following additional validation rules and restrictions apply:

The leader (LDR) field can be edited via dropdown menus under each position. Only Record status (Status, corresponds with position 05), Type of record (Type, position 06), Encoding Level (Elvl, position 17), and Punctuation policy (Punct, position 18) can be edited. Type of record (position 06) must contain a value of “z”.
The 008 field can be edited via dropdown menus under each position.
Fields 001 and 999ff are system supplied and cannot be edited or deleted.
Field 001 is non-repeatable.
Field 010 is non-repeatable and can only contain one $a.
1xx is required and non-repeatable.
By default, no other validation is performed. Additional validation rules can be configured at the tenant level via the mod-record-specifications API (see the developer documentation).

Note that validation rules are only applied when creating or editing an authority record in quickMARC, not when records are imported via the Data import app.

Viewing the version history of a MARC authority record

When viewing a MARC authority record, click the clock symbol at the top right of the third pane. A new pane will open displaying the record’s version history. Each version displays the source (i.e. user who created the version) and which fields were edited, added, or deleted. To view the changes in more detail, click the version name. A new window will pop up showing each action, field, and the change that was made.

Deleting MARC authority records

To delete a MARC authority record, follow these steps:

With the authority record open in the third pane of the MARC authority app, click Actions > Delete
In the Confirm deletion of authority record dialog, click Delete. The authority record is deleted.

Searching for authority records

You can search for MARC authority records in the Search & filter pane. Enter your search terms in the box and click Search. Select the Keyword drop-down list to search through one of the following:

Keyword. Keyword search through the title, contributor, and identifier fields.
Identifier (all). Keyword search through all identifier types.
LCCN. Keyword search through all Library of Congress control numbers.
Personal name. Keyword search through the personal name field. The search terms must be ordered as follows: Last Name, First Name, Initial.
Corporate/Conference name. Keyword search through the name corporate/conference name field.
Geographic name. Keyword search through the geographic name field. The search terms must be ordered as follows: City, State/Province, Country.
Name-title. Keyword search through the name-title field. The search terms must be ordered as follows: Last Name, First Name, Title.
Uniform title. Keyword search through the uniform title field.
Subject. Keyword search through all subject fields. This may include a single term, phrase, or a group of terms.
Children’s subject heading. Keyword search through all children’s subject heading fields.
Genre. Keyword search through all genre/form fields.
Advanced search. Keyword search through multiple fields.

Advanced Search

Advanced Search allows you to add additional requirements to your search.

To use Advanced Search, follow these steps:

Select Advanced Search in the Search segment drop-down list on Search & filter pane. A pop-up box will appear.
Enter a search term into the first box.
On the same row, click the Contains all drop-down list and select an option from the list below:

Exact phrase. Results include records that contain only an exact match to the search term.
Contains all. Results include records that contain the entire search term, but individual words can appear in any order.
Starts with. Results include records that contain a field that starts with the search term.
Contains any. Results include records that contain any of the words included in the search term.

On the same row, click the Keyword drop-down list and select a field. See searching for authority records for a list of fields.
To enter search terms into additional rows, you must select an operator from the AND drop-down list.
Click the AND drop-down list and select an operator from the list below:

AND. Results include records containing all of the search terms.
OR. Results include all records containing at least one of the search terms.
NOT. Results do not include records containing the search terms in this row.

Continue entering additional search terms and selecting the appropriate fields for each row.
Click Search.

After performing a search, you can limit results by selecting any of the filters in the Search & filter pane.

The following filters can be applied to search results:

Authority source. The authority source is the name of the authority file. Authority sources can be added, edited, or marked as inactive (See Settings > MARC Authority).
References. “See from” and “See from also” references can be excluded from the search results.
Thesaurus. The thesaurus for authority records is assigned according to the 008 field Subject heading system/thesaurus (position 11).
Type of heading. The type of heading is assigned according to the 1XX field. Options are chronological subdivision, chronological term, conference name, corporate name, form subdivision, general subdivision, genre, geographic name, geographic subdivision, medium of performance term, named event, personal name, topical, and uniform title.
Date created. The date the record was created, entered as a range.
Date updated. The date the record was most recently updated, entered as a range.

When using filters, keep the following in mind:

Multiple filters can be combined to limit searches further.
Multiple values in the same filter are combined with “OR.”
Multiple values in different filters are combined with “AND.”

Browsing authority headings and references

You can browse for MARC authority records in the Search & filter pane. Click Browse at the top of the pane, select the Select a browse option drop-down list to search through one of the following:

Personal name.
Corporate/Conference name.
Geographic name.
Name-title.
Uniform title.
Subject.
Genre.

Enter your search terms into the text box and click Search.

The following filters can be applied to browse results:

Authority source. The authority source is the name of the authority file. Authority sources can be added, edited, or marked as inactive (see Settings > MARC Authority).
References. “See from” references can be excluded from the browse results.
Type of heading. The type of heading is assigned according to the authority record’s 1XX field. Options are chronological subdivision, chronological term, conference name, corporate name, form subdivision, general subdivision, genre, geographic name, geographic subdivision, medium of performance term, named event, personal name, topical, and uniform title.

When using filters, keep the following in mind:

Multiple filters can be combined to limit searches further.
Multiple values in the same filter are combined with “OR.”
Multiple values in different filters are combined with “AND.”

Exporting a single MARC authority record

In the Search & filter pane, search for the records you want to export.
Open the record you wish to export by clicking on the heading in the Heading/Reference column of the MARC Authority pane.
In the third pane, click Actions > Export (MARC). Depending on your browser and its configurations, a .csv file containing the authority record UUID automatically downloads or you are prompted to save it. The export is logged in the Data export app. To view the exported record, follow the instructions in Retrieving data export results

Exporting multiple MARC authority records

In the Search & filter pane, search for the records you want to export.
Click Actions > Export selected records (CSV/MARC). Depending on your browser and its configurations, the file automatically downloads or you are prompted to save it. The export is logged in the Data export app. To view the exported records, follow the instructions in Retrieving data export results

Saving MARC authority UUIDs

Produces a .csv file that is ONLY a listing of UUIDs.

In the Search & filter pane, search for the records you want to save.
In the MARC authority pane, click Actions > Save Authorities UUIDs. Depending on your browser and its configurations, the file automatically downloads or you are prompted to save it. The export is logged in the Data export app.

Saving MARC authority CQL query

Produces a .cql file that contains the ‘commands’ used in the query, in Contextual Query Language (CQL), as defined on dev.folio.org.

In the Search & filter pane, search for the MARC authority CQL query you want to save.
In the MARC authority pane, click Actions > Save authorities CQL query. Depending on your browser and its configurations, the file automatically downloads or you are prompted to save it.

Reporting

Users can generate reports within the MARC Authority app and retrieve them via Export Manager. Two reports are available, MARC authority headings updates and Failed updates: linked bibliographic fields.

The MARC authority headings updates report shows which MARC authority records' 1XX fields have been updated during a particular date range. It contains the following fields: date and time that the authority record was last updated, original heading, new heading, original 1XX, new 1XX, authority source file name, number of bibliographic records linked, and the FOLIO account name of the record updater.

To generate the MARC authority headings updates report:

Open the MARC authority app.
Click Actions > MARC authority headings updates (CSV)
Enter a start date and end date.
Click Export
Open the Export manager app.
Locate the correct job and click its Job ID to download the CSV report.

The Failed updates: linked bibliographic fields report shows when a MARC authority record’s 1XX or 010$a field is updated but the linked bibliographic field(s) has not updated. It contains the following fields: date and time of the failed link, bibliographic title, bibliographic UUID, MARC tag of the bibliographic field that failed to update, linked authority identifier, and reason for error.

To generate the Failed updates: linked bibliographic fields report:

Open the MARC authority app.
Click Actions > Failed updates: linked bibliographic fields (CSV)
Open the Export manager app.
Locate the correct job and click its Job ID to download the CSV report.

Docs: quickMARC

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

quickMARC is FOLIO’s MARC editing tool, which allows you to make edits to instance, holdings, and authority records with underlying MARC records. For all instances or holdings whose source record is a MARC record you have the option to edit the MARC using quickMARC. quickMARC saves to Source Record Storage (SRS) and updates both the Source Record and the corresponding Inventory record. quickMARC has minimal validation by default and is best used in addition to other cataloging tools.

Note: quickMARC is a module that you can access through the Inventory and MARC Authority apps; it is not its own app. For more information, see Accessing quickMARC.

Definition of terms related to quickMARC:

Instance record. A record that contains bibliographic and administrative information about a particular resource. The Instance record is what is known as the bibliographic record. They are mostly derived from full bibliographic records (in MARC or other formats) and are intended to provide information for library staff to identify and select records in order to perform work on associated holdings and items.
Holdings record. A record that contains information such as location, call number, and volumes owned, that enables staff to locate and manage library holdings for materials in all formats. A Holdings record must be associated with an Instance record.
SRS. Source Record Storage. A storage layer in FOLIO. If an instance or holdings has an underlying MARC record, then this record is stored in SRS.

Capabilities and Capability Sets

The capabilities listed below allow you to interact with the quickMARC app and determine what you can or cannot do within the app. You can assign capabilities to users via user roles.

Note: Some actions in quickMARC require capabilities in other apps. Because quickMARC is accessed through the Inventory app, Inventory capabilities are also required in order to interact with quickMARC.

Permission (OKAPI)	Resource (EUREKA)	Type	Action	Description
quickMARC: Can Link/unlink authority records to bib records.	UI-Quick-Marc Quick-Marc-Authority-Records Link-Unlink	procedural	execute	This allows the user to link and unlink authority records to access points in bibliographic records.
quickMARC: Create a new MARC holdings record.	UI-Quick-Marc Quick-Marc-Holdings-Editor	data	create	This allows the user to create new MARC holdings records.
quickMARC: Create new MARC bibliographic record.	UI-Quick-Marc Quick-Marc-Editor	data	create	This allows the user to create a new MARC bibliographic record.
quickMARC: Derive new MARC bibliographic record.	UI-Quick-Marc Quick-Marc-Editor Derive	procedural	execute	This allows the user to duplicate and create new MARC bibliographic records
quickMARC: View MARC bibliographic record.	UI-Quick-Marc Quick-Marc-Editor	data	view	This allows the user to view MARC bibliographic records in the Inventory app.
quickMARC: View MARC holdings record.	UI-Quick-Marc Quick-Marc-Holdings-Editor	data	view	This allows the user to view MARC holdings records in the Inventory app.
quickMARC: View, edit MARC bibliographic record.	UI-Quick-Marc Quick-Marc-Editor	data	manage	This allows the user to view and edit MARC bibliographic records.
quickMARC: View, edit MARC holdings record.	UI-Quick-Marc Quick-Marc-Holdings-Editor	data	manage	This allows the user to view and edit MARC holdings records.
quickMARC: View, edit MARC authority record.	UI-Quick-Marc Quick-Marc-Authorities-Editor	data	manage	This allows the user to view and edit MARC authority records.
quickMARC: Create a new MARC authority record	UI-Quick-Marc Quick-Marc-Authorities-Editor	data	create	This allows the user to create a new MARC authority record in quickMARC.

Accessing quickMARC

quickMARC is a module that is contained within the Inventory app. In order for an instance or holdings record to be viewed and edited in quickMARC, its source must be MARC. quickMARC can also be accessed via the MARC Authority app when creating or editing authority records. Instructions for creating or editing authority records are contained in the MARC Authority documentation.

Note: If an instance record was created manually in the Inventory app, then it doesn’t have an underlying MARC record and cannot be accessed within quickMARC.

Open the Inventory app.
Find the record you want to view or edit, and select it.

To open a bibliographic record in quickMARC: In the Instance record details pane, click Actions > Edit MARC bibliographic record. The Edit MARC record window appears.
To open a holdings record in quickMARC: Select View holdings, click Actions > Edit in quickMARC. The Edit MARC record window appears.

Editing a MARC record using quickMARC

To edit a MARC record, click on the appropriate Edit option, located in the Actions menu of an Inventory Instance or Holdings record. A MARC view of the record will display.

To edit a bibliographic record:

Open the Inventory app.
Find the record you want to edit, and select it.
In the Instance record details pane, click Actions > Edit MARC bibliographic record. Alternatively, click Actions > View source and then Actions > Edit MARC bibliographic record. The Edit MARC record window appears.

To edit a holdings record:

Open the Inventory app.
Find the record you want to view or edit, and select it.
In the Instance record details pane, select View holdings, click Actions > Edit in quickMARC. The Edit MARC record window appears.

In the Edit MARC record window, you can perform the following actions:

Add a field. To add a field, click the +. The new field appears below.
Delete a field. To delete a field, click the trash can icon. The field will be deleted.
Move a field up. To move a field up, click the up arrow in the row of the field you want to move. The field is moved one row up.
Move a field down. To move a field down, click the down arrow in the row of the field you want to move. The field is moved one row down.
Edit text within a field. Click into a field to make changes to the text. To add a literal dollar sign ($) in a field, enter {dollar}.
Once you have made your desired changes, click Save & close. A confirmation message appears and the record is updated. Alternatively, click Save & keep editing to save the current changes and stay in edit mode. Click Cancel to discard changes and exit the Edit MARC record window.

Linking to authority records

Link icons can display to the right of the following MARC tags: 100, 110, 111, 600, 610, 611, 650, 651, 700, 710, 711. These fields can be enabled or disabled for automatic linking at the tenant level with the linking-rules API end point.

Linking a single field to an authority record

To link a field to an authority record:

Click on the link to the right of the selected field.
In the Select MARC authority modal, verify that the desired type of entity and authority source are selected.
Search by text string or by identifier.
Select and open the appropriate authority record from the results list. The results list is populated by MARC authority records in the MARC authority app.
Click the Link button in the upper right.

The access point in the bibliographic record will exactly match the authorized access point in the authority record and the $0 will be populated. The link icon to the right of the field is replaced with Unlink from MARC Authority record and View MARC authority record icons. When a field is linked, the access point and $0 cannot be edited.

To unlink a field from an authority record:

Click on the Unlink from MARC Authority record icon to the right of the selected field.
Click again on Unlink in the verification modal.

The field is no longer linked and all subfields can be edited.

Linking all access points in a bibliographic record to authority records

Access point fields must contain a $0 in order to be linked using this feature.

To link all access points in a bibliographic record to authority records:

Click the Link headings button in the upper right.

The access points in the bibliographic record will exactly match the authorized access points in the authority record. The link icon to the right of the field is replaced with Unlink from MARC Authority record and View MARC authority record icons. When a field is linked, the access point and $0 cannot be edited.

Fields must be unlinked individually from an authority record:

Click on the Unlink from MARC Authority record icon to the right of the selected field.
Click again on Unlink in the verification modal.

The field is no longer linked and all subfields can be edited.

Validations and restrictions

A subfield is defined by a $ (dollar sign).
Tags must consist of 3 numeric characters.
Indicators must consist of single characters.

The following validation rules and restrictions apply when working with bibliographic records using quickMARC:

Fields 005 and 999ff are system supplied and cannot be edited or deleted.
The leader (LDR) can be edited using the dropdown menus under each position. Only Record status (Status, corresponds with position 05), Type of record (Type, position 06), Bibliographic level (BLvl, position 07), Type of control (Ctrl, position 08), Encoding level (ELvl, position 17), Descriptive cataloging form (Desc, position 18), and/or Multipart resource record level (MultlLvl, position 19) in the LDR can be edited. Invalid values in the LDR will result in an error message.
008 may be required based on the values entered in LDR Type and BLvl. The 008 field appears after LDR Type and BLvl are entered, and required positions' dropdown menus are highlighted in red. 008 can be edited using the dropdown menus under each position.
010 is non-repeatable.
1XX is non-repeatable.
245 is required and non-repeatable.

The following validation rules and restrictions apply to working with MARC holdings records in quickMARC:

001, 004, 005, and 999ff are system supplied and cannot be edited or deleted.
The LDR must contain 24 characters, including null spaces.
Only Record Status (Status, corresponds with position 05), Type of record (Type, position 06), Encoding Level (Elvl, position 17), and Item information in record (Item, position 18) can be edited in the LDR.
004 is required and non-repeatable, with no indicators or subfields.
004 must be a valid HRID for an instance record with source = MARC.
008 is required and can be edited using the dropdown menus under each position.
010 subfields must contain more than 3 characters.
852 is required; value in /$b must match a valid location code and is non-repeatable.

Additional validation rules can be configured at the tenant level via the mod-record-specifications API (see the developer documentation).

Note that validation rules are only applied when creating or editing records in quickMARC, not when records are imported via the Data import app.

Record status

The record status shows the state of the MARC record in relation to the corresponding Inventory record and the SRS. You can view the record status at the top of the Edit MARC record window. When a MARC record is saved in quickMARC, any changes made to the record are reflected in SRS and in the corresponding Inventory record.

There are three record statuses:

Current. The record is up to date and should be the same as the Inventory record and SRS.
In progress. A change has been made to the record that has not made it to the Inventory record and/or SRS yet.
Error. Something is preventing an update from moving to the Inventory record or SRS.

Creating or deriving a new MARC record using quickMARC

Information on how MARC bibliographic fields are mapped to Inventory instances is available in the FOLIO Wiki.

To create a new MARC bibliographic record for an item without an instance or SRS record:

Click Actions > New MARC Bib Record.
Filling in LDR field Type of record (Type, corresponds with position 06) and Bibliographic Level (BLvl, position 07) will add fillable form fields to the 008 field.
Edit the new record following the instructions in Editing a MARC record using quickMARC.

To derive a new MARC bibliographic record:

Start with an instance record that has an underlying MARC source record and the same Resource type and Format as the record you wish to create.
Click Actions > Derive new MARC bibliographic record.
Edit the new record following the instructions in Editing a MARC record using quickMARC.

To create a new MARC holdings record:

Find the instance record to which you want to add holdings and select it. The instance source must be MARC.
Click Actions > Add MARC holdings record.
Edit the new record following the instructions in Editing a MARC record using quickMARC.