Fill character:

The fill character is defined as the ASCII representation of the hexadecimal digit 7C hex.  It is represented in these MARC Help displays as < | >.  A fill character may not be used in the Leader, or in tags, indicators, or subfield codes.  A fill character may be used in a record when the format specifies a code to be used but the creator of the record decides not to attempt to supply a code.

The use of the fill character in records contributed to a national database is also dependent upon the national level requirements specified for each data element.

See also:

Fill Character and Related Values