Country of production

Add a 257 field to incoming records for all video recordings. Retrospectively add a 257 field to other records for video recordings as encountered. If country of production absolutely cannot be determined, this field may be omitted.

Identifying and selecting countries

• Use the country that corresponds to the production company named in the statement of responsibility.
• If multiple companies are involved, use catalogers' judgment to decide how important each is. Generally disregard companies that only provide funding.
• Check Internet Movie Database or Wikipedia if unsure.
• Beware of countries that have changed headings over time (e.g., Germany, Russia, Hong Kong, Czechoslovakia). Use the name that was appropriate when the video recording was produced. Check the countries' authority records for guidance.
• Use "Great Britain" for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (e.g., BBC), or for any single one or combination of those four.

Recording countries

• Use the form found in the Name Authority File.
• When there are multiple countries, use a separate ‡a for each country. Order of countries is not important.
• In the local database:
  • Delete any semicolons, periods, or any other punctuation between or after country names.
  • Do not use square brackets in this field.
  • If ‡2 is present, it may be retained, but delete any periods preceding it.

Examples

257  Korea (South)
257  United States‡aGreat Britain
257  Russia (Federation)‡2naf
257  Germany (West)‡aFrance‡aSwitzerland
257  Hong Kong (China)‡aChina

INCORRECT for local records:

257  United Kingdom  (Authorized form is: Great Britain)
257  USA  (Authorized form is: United States)
257  Italy ; France.  (Insert ‡a before second country name, and delete semicolon & period)
257  France ;‡aSpain  (Remove semicolon)
257  United States.‡2naf  (Remove period; optionally remove ‡2)