MARC 372 Field of Activity

This article contains outdated information and needs review.

MARC field 372 in the authority format contains information

For a person: a field of endeavor, area of expertise, etc., in which the person is engaged or was engaged
For a corporate body: a field of business in which the corporate body is engaged; its area of competence, responsibility, jurisdiction, etc.

Policy and formulation

Restrict to actual fields of endeavor; don't apply to literary or artistic movements.
Use broad terms in 372; specific terms in 374. For example, Book industries and trade for Field of activity, and Publishers for Occupation.
Use Shakespeare as field of activity for all people who have anything to do with Shakespeare--which we know because we're cataloging it--even if it's only one thing and the person is completely obscure.
Other personal name headings may be used in 372, but apply these more conservatively than with Shakespeare.
Use whichever controlled vocabulary is most convenient for the cataloger.
Terms apply to both practitioners and scholars/critics. For example, Music for musicians and musicologists; Theater for actors and theater historians.
See Authority control for attribute clusters for the following types of persons and industries (these clusters are in the process of being developed and will be eventually deleted here):
- Booktrade (including printmaking and selling)
- Creative writing
- Education and scholarship
- Religion
- Theater