Study Program Information Note

The Study Program Information Note (526 field) is a field used to denote reading levels of formal curriculum-based programs. Study programs include, but are not limited to, Accelerated Reader AR, Reading Counts RC, DRA, and Fountas and Pinnell. Marcive adds the Accelerated Reader note to the records. Records coming from OCLC can have 526 fields for other programs.

NOTE: If the Guided Reading Level is in the 526, it should be moved to the 521 field like the Lexile level.

Format

A 526 field for Accelerated Reader AR from Marcive has the following subfields:

Subfield	Value
‡a	Program Name
‡b	Interest Level
‡c	Reading Level
‡d	Title Point Value
‡z	Public Note

Example:

526 0  ‡aAccelerated Reader AR‡bMG‡c4.3‡d4‡zQuiz: 504189.

Correcting OCLC Records

Records from OCLC can have information in the 526 field that should not be in the field, like series title, awards notes, reading levels, or Lexile levels. Reading levels that do not specify a study program name belong in the Target Audience Note (521 field). Please move information that does not belong in the 526 field to the correct field or delete it from the record. Study Programs in OCLC records are not consistently formatted. They can have varying abbreviations, punctuation, publisher names, or missing subfields. Punctuation should not be at the end of ‡a. If you identify errors in existing 526 fields, you can correct the fields by adding in the appropriate subfields or correcting the appearance of the program name for consistency.

Correct Format of the Study Program Name	Selected Variations Found in Records
Accelerated Reader AR	Accelerated Reader, AR, A/R, A.R., AR Program, Accelerated Reader/Renaissance Learning, Renaissance
Reading Counts RC	Reading Counts, Reading Counts!, Scholastic Reading Counts
F&P text level gradient	F&P text level, Fountas & Pinnell
DRA	DRA Level, Developmental Reading Assessment Level

NOTE: The F&P Text Level Gradient and the Guided Reading level are the same levels. The F&P Text Level Gradient is for titles whose level has been determined using the F&P Leveled Books website or have the designation "Officially Leveled by Fountas and Pinnell" printed on the material.

Searching

Only the ‡a is indexed in the PAC. Saved SQL queries can be used in Leap or the Client to search for records containing the other subfields. The queries are called “Study Program” and “Study Program by Branch.” See Study Program SQL Query for instructions on how to use the SQL queries.