MARC, its history and implications

Introduction

For academic libraries, the transition to even clunky online acquisitions systems became appealing when vendors began to provide detailed data about purchased titles that could be seamlessly integrated into the library’s own systems, including downloadable MARC (Machine-readable cataloging) records. MARC records, developed in the 1960s by Henriette Avram for the Library of Congress, made computer catalogs possible by sorting library data into numerical fields. When the standardized record fields outlined by MARC were taken up by libraries around the world, it became easier to unify library catalogues and draw on detailed cataloging from other repositories. Avram was a former employee of the NSA and pioneer in applying automation techniques to cataloging, searching, indexing, and retrieving library functions. MARC records not only streamlined how users would discover books in their home library, but facilitated interlibrary lending, which today Columbia students rely on to utilize the full networked resources of, for example, the Borrow Direct member libraries. But though MARC established a standard format that made possible the automation and communication of bibliographic communication, we are again living through a moment when the development of new forms of information and new media formats are likely to again revolutionize how information is catalogued, shared, and discovered.

Additional Information

Label

MARC, its history and implications

Author

Henriette Avram

Original Publication Date

1975

New Publication Date

1975

Publisher

Library of Congress

Location

Butler Stacks

Case

8