# date1, date2
my $my_008 = $record->field('008');
$my_008 = $my_008->as_string() if ($my_008);
- unless (length $my_008 == 40)
+ unless (defined $my_008 and length $my_008 == 40)
{ print XF ">> Bad 008 field length in rec. $id\n"; return \%marc }
$marc{date1} = substr($my_008,7,4) if ($my_008);
$marc{date2} = substr($my_008,11,4) if ($my_008); # UNUSED