MARC Flashcards
MARC
Machine-Readable Cataloguing
MARC Definition
“Machine-readable” means that a computer can read and interpret the data in the cataloguing record.
MARC Origin
- Developed at the Library of Congress in the 1960s by programmer Henriette Avram.
- Completed the MARC Pilot Project in 1968.
- By 1971, MARC had become the US national standard for dissemination of bibliographic data.
- By 1973, MARC became the international standard.
- MARC 21 was created in 1999 (as a harmonisation of the U.S. and Canadian MARC formats.
MARC Format
245 10 $a Lifereimagined
245 = Tag
10 = Indicator
$ = Delimiter
a = Subfield Code
$a Lifereimagined = Field
Lifereimagined = Subfield
Field
- The place provided for each piece of bibliographic information (author, title, call number).
- The best file structure allows for records with an unlimited number of fields and field lengths, as not all titles are the same length.
- Each field is associated with a 3-digit number called a tag.
- Fields are divided into subfields.
Tag
Identifies the field (the kind of data) that follows.
Indicators
- Two character positions that follow each tag.
- Sometimes an indicator is undefined or left blank.
First Indicator
Value of 0
Means a title main entry is involved, no additional tracing required.
Value of 1
There should be a separate title entry in the catalogue.
Second Indicator
(Non-filling characters)
Displays the number of characters at the beginning of the field to be disregarded
E.g. 4
“The Emperor’s New Clothes”
- Disregard “T” “h” “e” “space”
- File under “emperor’s”
Subfield Code
One lowercase letter followed by a delimiter.
Delimiter
A character used to separate subfields.
Different software programs use different characters
E.g.
@ $ _ “
Leader
The first 24 characters of the record.
Directory
Tells what tags are in the record and where they are placed (by a count of the characters to the position where each field begins)
010
LCC Control Number (LCCN)
020
ISBN
