MARC standards 727334 223252849 2008-07-03T07:19:12Z CJLL Wright 259138 /* MARC formats */ link {{technical}} '''MARC''' is an acronym, used in the field of library science, that stands for [[machine readable|'''MA'''chine-'''R'''eadable]] [[cataloging|'''C'''ataloging]]. The '''MARC standards''' consist of the MARC formats, which are standards for the [[representation]] and [[communication]] of bibliographic and related information in machine-readable form, and related documentation. It defines a [[Bibliography|bibliographic]] [[data]] format that was developed by [[Henriette Avram]] at the [[Library of Congress]] beginning in the 1960s. It provides the [[Communications protocol|protocol]] by which [[computers]] exchange, use, and interpret bibliographic information. Its [[data element]]s make up the foundation of most [[library catalog]]s used today. The record structure of MARC is an implementation of [[ISO 2709]], also known as ANSI/NISO Z39.2.<ref>MARBI, "MARC 21 Formats." page 1. L.O.C.1996 http://www.loc.gov/marc/96principl.html</ref> 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 (computer science)|record]]"<ref>MARBI, "MARC 21 Formats." page 1. L.O.C.1996 http://www.loc.gov/marc/96principl.html</ref> and support their manipulation. The content of data elements in MARC records is defined by standards outside the formats such as [[AACR2]], [[LCSH|L.C. Subject Headings]], and [[MeSH]].<ref>MARBI, "MARC 21 Formats." page 2. L.O.C.1996 http://www.loc.gov/marc/96principl.html</ref> 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 On the one hand, the storage formats are quite complex and are based on outdated technology.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|OCLC consortium]] alone), also creates [[inertia]]. (See also, [[Path dependence]].) ==MARC formats== [[Authority record]]s — MARC authority records provide information about individual names, subjects, and [[uniform title]]s. An authority record establishes an authorized form of each heading, with references as appropriate from other forms of the heading. Bibliographic records — MARC 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. For example, the local [[homeless shelter]] or tax assistance provider. Holdings records — MARC holdings records provide copy-specific information on a library resource (call number, 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). MARC21 is based on the [[American National Standards Institute|ANSI]] standard Z39.2, which allows users of different software products to communicate with each other and to exchange data.<ref>Taylor, Arlene G. ''The Organization of Information'', page 77. Libraries Unlimited, 2004</ref> 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.<ref>Taylor, Arlene G. ''The Organization of Information'', page 77. Libraries Unlimited, 2004</ref> 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 allows the use of two character sets, either MARC-8 or [[Unicode]] encoded as [[UTF-8]]. MARC-8 is based on [[ISO 2022]] and allows the use of Hebrew, Cyrillic, Arabic, Greek, and East Asian scripts. MARC 21 in UTF-8 format allows all the languages supported by Unicode. Samples of MARC 21 record in Utf-8 formats can be downloaded from the website of D.K. Agencies Pvt Ltd [https://www.dkagencies.com/result.aspx?From=1023&To=1343 (www.dkagencies.com)] ==MARC variants== There are many national and international variants of MARC, including * MARC 21: the "harmonization" of USMARC and CAN/MARC; it is maintained by the Network Development and MARC Standards Office of the Library of Congress. * AUSMARC: national MARC of [[Australia]], published by the [[National Library of Australia]] in 1973; USMARC adopted in 1991 * BIBSYS-MARC: used by all Norwegian University Libraries, the National Library, all college libraries, and a number of research libraries. * NORMARC: national MARC of [[Norway]], based on MARC21 * danMARC2: national MARC of [[Denmark]], based on MARC21 * INTERMARC: MARC used by [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]] * UNIMARC: created by [[International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions|IFLA]] in 1977, it is the official MARC in [[France]], [[Italy]], [[Russia]], [[Portugal]], [[Greece]] and other countries. * CMARC: national MARC of the [[Republic of China]], based on UNIMARC * KORMARC: national MARC of [[South Korea]], KS X 6006 * MARCBN: national MARC of Poland, based on MARC21 * IDSMARC: (inter)national MARC of Swiss German University Libraries, [[Luxembourg]], [[Liechtenstein]], based on MARC21 MARC 21 is not a new format. The original American version of MARC became known as '''USMARC''' in the 1980s; there was also a separate Canadian version with minor differences called CAN/MARC. After making minor changes to both formats, the USMARC and CAN/MARC specifications were merged in 1997 to create MARC 21,<ref>[http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/harmonization.html Format Harmonization Announcement<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> the name intended to reflect the 21st century. The [[British Library]] has announced that it will no longer develop the UKMARC standard it had maintained since 1975 and will instead adopt MARC 21. In [[Germany]] a non-MARC format called MAB (Maschinelles Austauschformat für Bibliotheken) is used. == See also == * [[Cataloging]] * [[metadata]] * [[MARCXML]] * [[Z39.50]] * [[ISO 2709]] * [[Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules]] * [[LCSH]] * [[Henriette Avram]] * MARC-8, an [[Character encoding|encoding system]] predating [[Unicode]]. A MARC record may be in either MARC-8 or [[UTF-8]], as indicated by the encoding marker. See the [[Library of Congress|Library of Congress's]] explanation [http://www.loc.gov/marc/specifications/speccharmarc8.html | CHARACTER SETS AND ENCODING OPTIONS: Part 2 MARC-8 Encoding Environment]. == External links == * [http://www.loc.gov/marc/umb/ Understanding MARC Bibliographic Machine Readable Cataloging], a good introduction * [http://authorities.loc.gov/help/disphlp1.htm MARC authority records] * [http://www.loc.gov/marc/ MARC 21 home page] * [http://www.loc.gov/marc/faq.html MARC frequently asked questions] * [http://www.loc.gov/marc/countries/cou_home.html List of MARC country codes] * [http://www.loc.gov/marc/ndmso.html Network Development and MARC Standards Office] * [http://www.loc.gov/marc/specifications/specchartables.html MARC 21 Character Sets] * [http://groups-beta.google.com/group/bit.listserv.museum-l/browse_thread/thread/8680c4b3775db899/7d101d8d1681ac0b?q=MARC+bibliographic+holdings+authority&rnum=19#7d101d8d1681ac0b Usenet post about MARC] * [http://chopac.org/cgi-bin/tools/az2marc.pl Amazon to MARC Converter] * [http://www.d-nb.de/standardisierung/formate/mab.htm MAB information, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek] * [http://www.loc.gov/marc/marctools.html Tools For MARC Records] * [https://www.dkagencies.com/result.aspx?From=1023&To=1343 MARC Records with Books From India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan ] * [http://www.niso.org/kst/reports/standards?step=2&gid=&project_key=fb7a107043228a342cb704973825aca7bc6ae58d | NISO/ANSI Z39.2] * [http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=7675|ISO 2709:1996] ==Notes== <references/> [[Category:Bibliography file formats]] [[Category:Library cataloging and classification]] [[Category:Library of Congress]] [[ar:مارك (نظام فهرسة)]] [[da:MARC standarder]] [[de:Machine-Readable Catalog]] [[fr:Machine-Readable Cataloging]] [[hr:MARC-Machine-Readable Cataloging]] [[it:MARC]] [[nl:MARC]] [[nn:MARC-standardar]] [[pl:MARC (informatyka)]] [[pt:Formato MARC]] [[ru:MARC]] [[sv:MARC-standarden]] [[zh:機讀編目格式標準]]