In a Manifestation entity, should E01C02 Manifestation identifier be mandatory ?

[franciscave]

It has been reported that at least one major implementation of LCF is not populating E01C02 Manifestation identifier. But this element has always been mandatory in the LCF data framework. The explanation for it being mandatory in the LCF data framework is the assumption that a Manifestation will always require two identifiers:

• E01D01 contains the record identifier assigned by the LMS and used for reference purposes in LCF messages;
• E01C02 contains a non-LCF Manifestation identifier assigned in accordance with some standard or proprietary scheme, such as an ISBN for a book.

However, the LCF entity XML binding does NOT specify E01C02 to be mandatory. This inconsistency between the LCF data framework and the LCF entity XML binding has existed from the first version of LCF.

This inconsistency needs to be fixed, and the obvious (non-breaking) change will be to make E01C02 non-mandatory in the LCF data framework.

[franciscave]

At the Technical Panel meeting on 11 October 2022 it was agreed that E01C02 should be made non-mandatory in the LCF data framework. The necessary change is in pull request #297.