This document describes several tables in the Sierra bibliographic database that contain bibliographic metadata. It includes tables for bibliographic records, descriptive data, views, variable fields, and subfields. These tables store data like titles, authors, subject headings, and other bibliographic information that can be queried, indexed, and used for reporting. The document also provides references and resources for working with Sierra's SQL database and MARC standards.

1. Bibliographic Data Spring Cleaning with Sierra DNA
Bib entity tables
bib_record
• Each row of bib_record contains data fields
for a specific bibliographic record.
• Contains III field, course reserve
information
bib_record_property
• Each row of bib_record_property contains
primary descriptive data from a specific bib
record.
• Contains “best” (authoritative) title and
author information
bib_view
• Each row of bib_view includes metadata for
one bibliographic record. The metadata
includes identification and status
information, as well as data that determines
how the system handles the record.
• Contains III field information, as well as
primary title (245)
Tip:
Looking to search on an indexed field?
Try the phrase_entry table!
General Record entity tables
control_field
• Each row of control_field contains the
variable-length field data for a specific
record.
• Contains 006-008 field information, with
every character assigned to its own column
phrase_entry
• Each row of phrase_entry defines a phrase
index entry.
• Contains information from indexes,
including title, author, subject, and control
number
subfield_view
• Each row of subfield_view includes data for
one subfield. The data includes both
identifying metadata and field content.
• Contains subfield information from variable
fields in all record types
varfield_view
• Each row of varfield_view includes
metadata and field content for one variable-
length field of one record.
• Contains variable field information from all
record types
References and Resources
• Sierra DNA documentation
o http://techdocs.iii.com/sierradna/
• Sierra Direct SQL Access (Sierra Documentation)
o http://csdirect.iii.com/sierrahelp/Default.htm#ssql_direct_access.html
• pgAdmin
o http://www.pgadmin.org/
• Jasper iReport Designer
o http://community.jaspersoft.com/project/ireport-designer
• Working with MARC (Code4Lib wiki)
o http://wiki.code4lib.org/index.php/Working_with_MARC
• PostgreSQL: Pattern Matching
o http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/functions-matching.html
• Typo of the Day GitHub repo
o https://github.com/GrinnellCollegeLibraries/typooftheday
Becky Yoose , Grinnell College IUG 2013
yoosebec@grinnell.edu