Exchange character set for use in UKMARC and MARC 21
records
The character set, used in UKMARC records created by the British Library, is in
many respects the same as that used in MARC 21.
It is set out as follows:
1. The HEX value assigned to a character; where UKMARC and MARC 21
differ, MARC 21 values are shown in bold red
2. The graphic representation of the particular character
3. The description of the character in UKMARC
4. The description of the character in MARC 21.
Because of its wider repertoire of characters, MARC 21 often has more specific
descriptions than UKMARC, and therefore both are given. An asterisk * after the
description refers to a note at the foot of the table, e.g. Greek small letter alpha*.
Characters that are diacritics are identified by means of the symbol †.
Graphics to represent the end of record character (HEX value 1D), the end of field
character (1E) and the subfield delimiter (1F) are determined by the user's
system. Therefore, no graphic representation of these characters has been
included.
For further information, please refer to The UKMARC Exchange Record Format
and to the MARC 21 Specifications for Record Structure, Character Sets and
Exchange Media.
HEX
GRAPHIC
VALUE
DESCRIPTION
UKMARC
MARC 21
1D
[see above]
End-of-record character
Record terminator
1E
[see above]
End-of-field character
Field terminator
1F
[see above]
Subfield delimiter
Subfield delimiter
Blank
Space
!
Exclamation mark
Exclamation mark
22
"
Double prime
Quotation mark
24
$
Dollar sign (as currency)
Dollar sign (as currency)
25
%
Percent sign
Percent sign
26
&
Ampersand
Ampersand
27
'
Single prime
Apostrophe
28
(
Left parenthesis
Opening parenthesis
20
21
29
)
Right parenthesis
Closing parenthesis
2A
*
Asterisk
Asterisk
2B
+
Plus sign
Plus sign
2C
,
Comma
Comma
2D
-
Hyphen; minus sign
Hyphen; minus sign
2E
.
Full stop; decimal point
Period; decimal point
2F
/
Slash (solidus)
Slash (solidus)
30
0
Numeric
Digit zero
31
1
Numeric
Digit one
32
2
Numeric
Digit two
33
3
Numeric
Digit three
34
4
Numeric
Digit four
35
5
Numeric
Digit five
36
6
Numeric
Digit six
37
7
Numeric
Digit seven
38
8
Numeric
Digit eight
39
9
Numeric
Digit nine
3A
:
Colon
Colon
3B
;
Semicolon
Semicolon
3C
<
Less-than; left angle
bracket
Less-than sign
3D
=
Equals sign
Equals sign
3E
>
Greater-than sign; right
angle bracket
Greater-than sign
3F
?
Question mark
Question mark
40
@
Commercial at sign
Commercial at sign
41
A
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter A
42
B
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter B
43
C
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter C
44
D
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter D
45
E
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter E
46
F
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter F
47
G
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter G
48
H
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter H
49
I
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter I
4A
J
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter J
4B
K
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter K
4C
L
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter L
4D
M
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter M
4E
N
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter N
4F
O
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter O
50
P
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter P
51
Q
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter Q
52
R
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter R
53
S
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter S
54
T
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter T
55
U
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter U
56
V
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter V
57
W
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter W
58
X
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter X
59
Y
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter Y
5A
Z
Upper case alphabetic
Latin capital letter Z
5B
[
Left square bracket
Opening square bracket
5C
\
Back slash
Reverse slash or reverse
solidus
5D
]
Right square bracket
Closing square bracket
5F
73 73
ß
Eszett
converts to 'ss'
60
C4
#
Music sharp sign
Music sharp sign
61
a
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter a
62
b
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter b
63
c
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter c
64
d
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter d
65
e
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter e
66
f
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter f
67
g
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter g
68
h
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter h
69
i
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter i
6A
j
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter j
6B
k
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter k
6C
l
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter l
6D
m
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter m
6E
n
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter n
6F
o
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter o
70
p
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter p
71
q
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter q
72
r
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter r
73
s
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter s
74
t
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter t
75
u
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter u
76
v
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter v
77
w
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter w
78
x
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter x
79
y
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter y
7A
z
Lower case alphabetic
Latin small letter z
7B
C6
¡
Inverted exclamation mark Inverted exclamation mark
7C
C5
¿
Inverted question mark
Inverted question mark
7D
1B 67 61
1B 73
Greek small letter alpha*
Greek small letter alpha*
7E
1B 67 62
1B 73
Greek small letter beta*
Greek small letter beta*
7F
1B 67 63
1B 73
Greek small letter
gamma*
Greek small letter
gamma*
Upper case Polish letter L
also known as Latin capital
letter L with stroke
also known as Latin capital
letter L with stroke
A1
A2
Ø
Upper case Scandinavian
letter O
A3
Ð
Upper case Serbo-Croat D Upper case D with
crossbar or Latin capital
letter D with stroke
A4
Þ
Upper case Icelandic thorn also known as Latin capital
letter thorn
A5
Æ
Upper case digraph AE
also known as Latin capital
letter AE
A6
Œ
Upper case digraph OE
also known as Latin capital
letter digraph OE
A7
A8
Soft sign, prime or
modifier letter prime
Middle dot
Middle dot
A9
Music flat sign
Music flat sign
AE
Hamza (Alif)
Alif, modifier letter right
half ring
B0
Ain
Ayn, modifier letter turned
comma
B1
Lower case Polish letter l
also known as Latin small
letter l with stroke
Lower case Scandanavian
letter o
also known as Latin small
letter o with stroke
B2
·
Miagkii Znak
ø
B3
Lower case Serbo-Croat d Lower case d with
crossbar, Latin small letter
d with stroke
B4
þ
Lower case Icelandic thorn also known as Latin small
letter thorn
B5
æ
Lower case digraph ae
also known as Latin small
ligature ae
B6
œ
Lower case digraph oe
also known as Latin small
ligature oe
B7
Tverdyi Znak
Hard sign, double prime or
modifier letter double
prime
B8
Lower case Turkish i
also known as Latin small
letter dotless i
British pound sign
B9
£
British pound sign
BA
ð
Lower case Icelandic letter also known as Latin small
eth
letter eth
E0
E1
`
E2
High tone diacritic
Pseudo question mark,
combining hook above
Grave accent †
Grave accent †
Acute accent †
Acute accent †
E3
^
Circumflex †
Circumflex †
E4
~
Tilde †
Tilde †
E5
Macron †
Macron †
E6
Breve †
Breve †
E7
Dot above †
also known as Superior
dot
E8
Umlaut † (Diaeresis)
Umlaut † (Diaeresis)
E9
Hacek †
also known as Combining
caron
Degree
Degree sign
EB
Ligature 1 or first half †
also known as Combining
ligature left half
EC
Ligature 2 or right half †
also known as Combining
ligature right half
ED
High comma off right †
also known as High
comma off centre or above
right
EE
Double acute accent †
Double acute accent †
EF
Candrabindu †
Candrabindu †
Cedilla †
Cedilla †
Hook right †
also known as ogonek
EA
C0
F0
F1
°
¸
F2
.
F3
..
Dot below †
Dot below †
Double dot below †
Double dot below,
combining diaeresis below
†
Circle below †
also known as Combining
ring below
Double underscore †
also known as Combining
double low line
Underscore †
also known as Combining
low line
F7
Hook left †
also known as Comma
below
F8
Rude †
Right cedilla, combining
half ring below †
FE
High comma centre †
also known as Combining
comma above
F4
o
F5
=
F6
_
Notes
1.
In MARC 21 Greek characters are placed in a separate character
set. They are accessed by means of an Escape character and an
ASCII graphic character. Because the Escape character is locking,
all characters following it are designated as being part of the
Greek character set. Therefore, it is necessary to unlock it by
means of a follow-on Escape sequence in order to return to the
Basic and Extended Latin set. For example, the Greek small letter
alpha a is accessed as follows:
Escape character 1B 67
ASCII graphic 61
Follow-on Escape sequence 1B 73
For further details see "Accessing alternate character sets" in the
MARC 21 exchange character set specification.
2.
In UKMARC, HEX value 5E represents a single dagger †, but this
has no equivalent in MARC 21.
3.
In MARC 21, HEX value 7C represents a vertical bar |, where a
blank would be used in the UKMARC 008 field.