Question

We are trying to copy the contents of the 917 subfield a to the 852 subfield x.  Can the Global Data Change (GDC) "Copy MARC Field/Subfield" consequence copy to a different MARC field and a different MARC subfield?  In other words, create a new $x subfield in an existing field.

Answer

No.  At this time GDC can only add a subfield to the existing destination field using the source's subfield code. This is true for both bibliographic and holdings records.

Additional Information

One possible option you might consider to achieve this requires three different rules sets, run in three different data changes jobs:

1. Copy 917 $a to new 9XX $x (where 9XX is any field not used for other purposes  (the "Copy MARC Field/Subfield" rule does work in this variation where you create a new field)
2. Copy 9XX $x to 852 $x (since the subfield code does not change, this also works)
3. Delete the 9XX fields

• Article last edited: 25-Jan-2021