MARC standards
This article may be too technical for most readers to understand.(September 2010) |
Filename extension |
.mrc, .marc |
---|---|
Internet media type |
application/marc |
MARC (machine-readable cataloging) is a standard set of
History
Working with the
The MARC 21 family of standards now includes formats for
Record structure and field designations
The MARC standards define three aspects of a MARC record: the field designations within each record, the structure of the record, and the actual content of the record itself.
Field designations
Each field in a MARC record provides particular information about the item the record is describing, such as the author, title, publisher, date, language, media type, etc. Since it was first developed at a time when computing power was low, and space precious, MARC uses a simple three-digit numeric code (from 001-999) to identify each field in the record. MARC defines field 100 as the primary author of a work, field 245 as the title and field 260 as the publisher, for example.
Fields above 008 are further divided into subfields using a single letter or number designation. The 260, for example, is further divided into subfield "a" for the place of publication, "b" for the name of the publisher, and "c" for the date of publication.
Record structure
MARC records are typically stored and transmitted as binary files, usually with several MARC records concatenated together into a single file. MARC uses the ISO 2709 standard to define the structure of each record. This includes a marker to indicate where each record begins and ends, as well as a set of characters at the beginning of each record that provide a directory for locating the fields and subfields within the record.
In 2002, the Library of Congress developed the MARCXML schema as an alternative record structure, allowing MARC records to be represented in
Content
MARC encodes information about a bibliographic item, not information about the content of that item; this means it is a metadata transmission standard, not a content standard. The actual content that a cataloger places in each MARC field is usually governed and defined by standards outside of MARC, except for a handful of fixed fields defined by the MARC standards themselves. Resource Description and Access, for example, defines how the physical characteristics of books and other items should be expressed. The Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) are a list of authorized subject terms used to describe the main subject content of the work. Other cataloging rules and classification schedules can also be used.
MARC formats
Name | Description |
---|---|
Authority records
|
provide information about individual names, subjects, and uniform titles. An authority record establishes an authorized form of each heading, with references as appropriate from other forms of the heading. |
Bibliographic records | describe the intellectual and physical characteristics of bibliographic resources (books, sound recordings, video recordings, and so forth). |
Classification records | MARC records containing classification data. For example, the Library of Congress Classification has been encoded using the MARC 21 Classification format. |
Community Information records | MARC records describing a service-providing agency, such as a local homeless shelter or tax assistance provider. |
Holdings records | provide copy-specific information on a library resource (call number, shelf location, volumes held, and so forth). |
MARC 21
MARC 21 was designed to redefine the original MARC record format for the 21st century and to make it more accessible to the international community. MARC 21 has formats for the following five types of data: Bibliographic Format, Authority Format, Holdings Format, Community Format, and Classification Data Format.[3] Currently MARC 21 has been implemented successfully by The British Library, the European Institutions and the major library institutions in the United States, and Canada.
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
MARC 21 allows the use of two
MARCXML
MARCXML is an
The MARCXML primary design goals included:[6]
- Simplicity of the schema
- Flexibility and extensibility
- Lossless and reversible conversion from MARC
- Data presentation through XML stylesheets
- MARC records updates and data conversions through XML transformations
- Existence of validation tools
Future
The future of the MARC formats is a matter of some debate among libraries. 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 billions of MARC records in tens of thousands of individual libraries (including over 50,000,000 records belonging to the
See also
- Cataloging
- International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD)
- ISO 2709
- JACKPHY
- Maschinelles Austauschformat für Bibliotheken (MAB)
- metadata standards
- Z39.50
- ONIX for Books
References
- ^ Schudel, Matt. "Henriette Avram, 'Mother of MARC,' Dies". Library of Congress. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
- .
- ^ a b Joudrey and Taylor, Organization of Information, p. 262
- ^ "Character Sets: MARC-8 Encoding Environment: MARC 21 Specifications for Record Structure, Character Sets, and Exchange Media (Library of Congress)". loc.gov.
- ^ a b "MARC 21 XML Schema". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
- ^ "MARC XML Design Considerations". Loc.gov. 2004-12-30. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
- ^ "Bibliographic Framework Initiative". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ^ "Bibliographic Framework Initiative Update Forum" (BIBFRAME, Library of Congress). Library of Congress. 2013-11-22. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
- ^ "MARC Usage in WorldCat". OCLC Research. 2013. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
- ^ "MARC Advisory Committee". Library of Congress. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
- Reitz, J. M. (2004) Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science.
Further reading
- MARBI (1996). MARC 21 Formats: Background and Principles. Library of Congress.
- Joudrey, Daniel N., Arlene G. Taylor, and David P. Miller (2015). Introduction to Cataloging and Classification. Libraries Unlimited.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Joudrey, Daniel N., and Arlene G. Taylor (2018). The Organization of Information. Libraries Unlimited.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Coyle, Karen (2011-07-25). "MARC21 as Data: A Start". The Code4Lib Journal (14).
- Tennant, Roy (2002-10-15). "MARC must die". Library Journal.
External links
- Understanding MARC Bibliographic Machine Readable Cataloging, a good introduction
- MARC authority records
- "MARC 21 home page". Library of Congress.
- MARC frequently asked questions
- List of MARC country codes
- Network Development and MARC Standards Office
- MARC 21 Character Sets
- "Tools For MARC Records". Library of Congress.
- Kevin J. Comerford (12 September 1996). "Notes on MARC Format". Usenet: [email protected].
- Amazon to MARC Converter
- MAB information, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Archived 2016-04-14 at the Wayback Machine
- NISO/ANSI Z39.2
- 2709:1996
- Converting MARCBN into MARC21
- Library of Congress: MARCXML
- "Library of Congress Announces Standard MARCXML Schema"
- Interpreting MARC: Where’s the Bibliographic Data? by Jason Thomale ISSN 1940-5758