Bib - Language Undetermined
What is this?
The primary language of a resource is encoded in fixed field 008/35-37
using a lowercase three letter code from the
MARC Code List for Languages.
Language code und indicates the primary language of the
resource is undetermined. This is different from the resource having
no primary language (like instrumental music), which would be coded
as zxx.
When is this trouble?
If the language encoded in the fixed field is und for
undetermined, this resource will likely be excluded from from searches
limiting to a certain language.
If the language fixed field is left as "undetermined", this may be an indicator of other issues with the record. If they did not code the language, did they code other fixed fields, like date? Or if they did not know the language of the resource, could they reliably determine the subject or accurately transcribe the title?
How to Find
If you are in Alma, there is an analysis to search for this issue in the "Looking for Trouble" folder. Go to the "Bibliographic" folder and look for the "Language Undetermined" analysis.