Extending MARC for Bibliographic Control in the Web Environment:Challenges and Alternatives

Abstract

This paper deconstructs the "MARC format" and similar newer tools like DC, XML, and RDF, separating structural issues from content-driven issues. Against that it examines the pressures from new types of digital resources, the responses to these pressures in format and content terms, and the transformations that may take place. The conflicting desires coming from users and librarians, the plethora of solutions to problems that constantly appear (some of which just might work), and the traditional access expectations are considered. Footnotes There are a large number of terms being used in the broader information community that often mean approximately the same thing, but relate concepts to the different backgrounds of the players. For example librarians are sometimes confused that metadata is something new and a replacement for either cataloging or MARC. Metadata is cataloging and not MARC. In this article terms based on library specialist terminology are used, with occasional use of alternative terms indicated below, depending on context. No difference in meaning is intended by the use of alternative terminology . The descriptions of the terms are indicative, not strict. cataloging data or cataloging content = metadata - used broadly, in this context, for all data (descriptive, administrative, and structural) that relates to the resources being described. content rules - rules for formulation of the data including controlled lists and codes. data elements - the individual identifiable pieces of cataloging data (e.g., name, title, subtitle) and including elements that are often called attributes or qualifiers (since generally this paper does not need to isolate data elements in to subtypes). relationships - the semantics that relate data elements, e.g., name is author of title, title has subtitle. content rules - the rules for formulating data element content structure = syntax - the physical arrangement of parts of an entity record - the bundle of information that describes a resource format = DTD - a defined specification of structure and markup markup = tag set = content designation - a system of symbols used to identify in some way the following data. ANSI/NISO Z39.2, Record Interchange Format, and ISO 2709, Format for Data Interchange. The two standards are essentially identical in specification. ANSI/NISO has a few provisions where the ISO standard is not specific, but there is no conflict between the two standards. Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records. IFLA Study Group on the Functional Requirements for the Bibliographic Record. Munich, Saur, 1998. ISO 8879, Standardized General Markup Language (SGML).