A Brief History

Playing With MARC | home

A Brief History

In 1968 Henriette Avram guided the creative effort known as the MARC record. This enabled the machine-readability of bibliographic records. It was originally designed to allow for the distribution of bibliographic information on magnetic tape, but today is available via diskette, CD-ROM, and direct file tranfer (first appearing in the 1994 edition of MARC 21 specifications.)

Another development coincided with the creation of the MARC record which helped to change the face of bibliographic control. Fred Kilgour left his position at the Yale University Library and began OCLC as its first director. Due to the development of the MARC format, OCLC was able to send various cataloging information via cable to all its member libraries. They in turn put their own cataloging online for use by other members. By contributing their acquisition and catalog records to utility databases, members of those bibliographic utilities could become both producers and users (1).

The sharing of cataloging information was especially advantageous for those libraries with limited funding; for nearly a century libraries of both limited and seemingly unlimted resources ordered their cataloging cards from the Library of Congress, in an effort to save both time and cost.

This system of sharing information was taken a step further with the onset of computer technology. No longer did typists need to retype the same data for each item, when a computer could be programmed to print them in succession. Even those libraries that still requested cards be sent to them were receiving bibliographic records based on Library of Congress MARC tapes.

Today, software programs allow libraries, large and small, to operate their own self-contained circulation system or online public access catalog. Libraries today can simply upload bibliographic records, their programs facilitating the storage, reading, and printing of these records with relative ease(2).

The motivation underlying the development of the MARC 21 formats bibliography and authority formats, especially - was to allow for the communication of catalog records between the Library of Congress and other institutions. Today, there is an ongoing venture to allow compatibility between national and international formats (UNIMARC, CAN/MARC, UKMARC). For more information on national and international formats, click here.


	Playing With MARC \| home A Brief History \| The Machine-Readable Cataloging Record \| Content Designators \| Field Tag Formulas \| The Necessity of Standards \| Bibliography A Brief History In 1968 Henriette Avram guided the creative effort known as the MARC record. This enabled the machine-readability of bibliographic records. It was originally designed to allow for the distribution of bibliographic information on magnetic tape, but today is available via diskette, CD-ROM, and direct file tranfer (first appearing in the 1994 edition of MARC 21 specifications.) Another development coincided with the creation of the MARC record which helped to change the face of bibliographic control. Fred Kilgour left his position at the Yale University Library and began OCLC as its first director. Due to the development of the MARC format, OCLC was able to send various cataloging information via cable to all its member libraries. They in turn put their own cataloging online for use by other members. By contributing their acquisition and catalog records to utility databases, members of those bibliographic utilities could become both producers and users (1). The sharing of cataloging information was especially advantageous for those libraries with limited funding; for nearly a century libraries of both limited and seemingly unlimted resources ordered their cataloging cards from the Library of Congress, in an effort to save both time and cost. This system of sharing information was taken a step further with the onset of computer technology. No longer did typists need to retype the same data for each item, when a computer could be programmed to print them in succession. Even those libraries that still requested cards be sent to them were receiving bibliographic records based on Library of Congress MARC tapes. Today, software programs allow libraries, large and small, to operate their own self-contained circulation system or online public access catalog. Libraries today can simply upload bibliographic records, their programs facilitating the storage, reading, and printing of these records with relative ease(2). The motivation underlying the development of the MARC 21 formats bibliography and authority formats, especially - was to allow for the communication of catalog records between the Library of Congress and other institutions. Today, there is an ongoing venture to allow compatibility between national and international formats (UNIMARC, CAN/MARC, UKMARC). For more information on national and international formats, click here.