Page 58 - DLIS405_INFORMATION_STORAGE_AND_RETRIEVAL
P. 58
Unit 5: MAchine-Readable Cataloguing and Online
the Library of Congress beginning in the 1960s. It provides the protocol by which computers Notes
exchange, use, and interpret bibliographic information. Its data elements make up the foundation
of most library catalogues used today.
The record structure of MARC is an implementation of ISO 2709, also known as
ANSI/NISO Z39.2.
MARC records are composed of three elements: the record structure, the content designation, and
the data content of the record. The record structure implements national and international standards
(e.g., Z39.2, ISO2709). The content designation is “the codes and conventions established to identify
explicitly and characterize ...data elements within a record” and support their manipulation. The
content of data elements in MARC records is defined by standards outside the formats such as
AACR2, L.C. Subject Headings, and MeSH.
The future of the MARC formats is a matter of some debate in the worldwide library
science community.
On the one hand, the storage formats are quite complex and are based on outdated technology. On
the other, there is no alternative bibliographic format with an equivalent degree of granularity. The
huge user base, billions of records in tens of thousands of individual libraries (including over
50,000,000 belonging to the OCLC consortium alone), also creates inertia.
MARC Formats
Name Description
Authority provide information about individual names, subjects, and uniform titles.
records An authority record establishes an authorized form of each heading, with
references as appropriate from other forms of the heading.
Bibliographic describe the intellectual and physical characteristics of bibliographic
records resources (books, sound recordings, video recordings, and so forth).
Classification MARC records containing classification data. For example, the Library
records of Congress Classification has been encoded using the MARC 21
Classification format.
Community MARC records describing a service providing agency. For example, the
Information local homeless shelter or tax assistance provider.
records
Holdings provide copy-specific information on a library resource (call number,
records shelf location, volumes held, and so forth).
MARC 21
MARC 21 is a result of the combination of the United States and Canadian MARC formats (USMARC
and CAN/MARC). MARC 21 is based on the ANSI standard Z39.2, which allows users of different
software products to communicate with each other and to exchange data.
LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 53
