Stanford Libraries - Introduction to Library Technology MARC Records and the ILS

MARC short for MAchine Readable Cataloging, is an electronic format and carrier for bibliographic records and is also a standard supported by the Library of Congress. MARC21 is the latest version of the standard and also refers to binary format made up of fixed length and variable length fields.

Each field is usually referred by it's tag name, typical a three digit number from 001-999 depending on the vendor. For fixed length fields the position in the data usually references a pre-defined value. In variable length fields, the data is organized into indicators and subfields. Indicators are the first two characters and usually define types or supplement the remaining subfields. The subfields are made up of a dictionary or hash with a data element identifier, typically a single character or number, followed by the value of the subfield.

     
=LDR  00789nam  2200253Ii 4500
=001  4124646
=003  OCoLC
=005  19980413123232.0
=008  780810s1946\\\\ohua\\\\\\\\\\000\1\eng\d
=035  \\$a.b13135971$btbp$c-
=040  \\$aIQU$cIQU
=049  \\$aCOCA
=090  \\$aPR4034.P7 1946b
=090  \\$aPR4034$b.P7 1946b
=100  1\$aAusten, Jane,$d1775-1817.
=245  10$aPride and prejudice /$cJane Austen ; with illustrations by Edgard Cirlin.
=260  \\$aCleveland :$bFine Editions Press,$c1946.
=300  \\$a435 p. :$bill. ;$c21 cm.
=700  1\$aCirlin, Edgard,$d1913-
=907  \\$a.b13135971
=902  \\$a130106
=999  \\$b2$c980413$dm$ea$f-$g0
=994  \\$atbp
=945  \\$aPR4034.P7 1946b$g1$i33027004811729$j0$ltbp  $h0$oh$p$0.00$q $r-$s-$t1$u11$v4$w0$x0$y.i1373510x$z980413

Field	About
001	Control (identifier) Number for the Record
090	Local Call Number (This example uses Library of Congress Call Number)
100	Personal Name for Author/creator
245	Title Statement
260	Publication, Distribution, etc. statements
300	Physical Description
700	Added Entry-Personal Name


             <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
         <collection xmlns="http://www.loc.gov/MARC21/slim">
         <record>
           <leader>LEADER 00000nam  2200289Ia 4500</leader>
       	<controlfield tag="001">8383316</controlfield>
       	<controlfield tag="003">OCoLC</controlfield>
       	<controlfield tag="005">19981012112243.0</controlfield>
       	<controlfield tag="008">820430s1918    nyu           000 1 eng  </controlfield>
       	<datafield tag="010" ind1=" " ind2=" ">
             <subfield code="a">18007296</subfield>
           </datafield>
       	<datafield tag="040" ind1=" " ind2=" ">
       	  <subfield code="a">DLC</subfield>
             <subfield code="c">ZMM</subfield>
             <subfield code="d">ZMM</subfield>
           </datafield>
       	...
       	<datafield tag="100" ind1="1" ind2=" ">
             <subfield code="a">Austen, Jane,</subfield>
             <subfield code="d">1775-1817.</subfield>
           </datafield>
       	<datafield tag="245" ind1="1" ind2="0">
             <subfield code="a">Pride and prejudice /</subfield>
             <subfield code="c">by Jane Austen; with an introduction by William Dean Howells</subfield>
           </datafield>
       	<datafield tag="700" ind1="1" ind2=" ">
             <subfield code="a">Howells, William Dean,</subfield>
       	  <subfield code="d">1837-1920</subfield>
       	</datafield>
       	<datafield tag="830" ind1=" " ind2="0">
       	 <subfield code="a">Modern student's library</subfield>
       	</datafield>
         </record>
          </collection>

MARC XML

The Library of Congress has also released an XML version of MARC called MARCXML that represents the MARC structure in an XML schema. MARCXML is useful because of the large number of XML software and techniques that exist but the drawback is that the MARCXML can be larger than the MARC21 record and that it is merely a direct representation of the MARC21 record into corresponding XML elements and attributes.

ILS (Integrated Library System)

A classification of Library enterprise software, an ILS started to be developed and offered by larger institutions for. These first generation catalogs usually tried to mimic the card catalog already understood by library patrons and were primarily text-based and accessed through dump terminals connected to a central mainframe computer.

By connecting these mainframes together, libraries were able to support services like intra-library loan, very early in the adoption of the ILS.

Stanford's current ILS is SirsiDynx's Symphony.