MARC is "machine readable" but only to a limited point. A classic example is the 300 field, which I go into some depth in http://dltj.org/article/defining-metadata-accessibility/ from an accessibility and machine readability point of view:
it is the difference between "ix, 74 p. : ill. ; 23 cm" and "9 pages of introductory material followed by 74 numbered pages. Includes illustrations. 23 centimeters high." If the only way to transmit this information was auditory, which one of these would you like spoken to you? Is it: "eye-ex, seventy four pee. ill. twenty three cem"? Given the variation that is possible in the MARC 300 field, it is very hard to write a computer algorithm to parse them. Others have commented on this problem as well: http://carolslib.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/marc-and-machine-readability-revisited/ http://www.librarything.com/topic/90309 http://blog.infomuse.net/2010/05/20/why-punctuation-matters/ LibraryThing has a page with MARC 300 tags showing the wide variety of what can be found there: http://www.librarything.com/test_physicaldescription.php The problems aren't limited to the 300 tag. Another example comes with the 245 field. See Jason Thomale's "Interpreting MARC: Where's the Bibliographic Data?" in the Code4Lib journal: http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/3832 My point in listing these examples is not to denigrate the work that has been done through the ages. Rather, it is to reinforce the notion that new rules and new formats are needed for a new information era. Peter -- Peter Murray peter.mur...@lyrasis.org tel:+1-678-235-2955 Assistant Director http://dltj.org/about/ Lyrasis -- Great Libraries. Strong Communities. Innovative Answers. The Disruptive Library Technology Jester http://dltj.org/ Attrib-Noncomm-Share http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ > -----Original Message----- > From: Resource Description and Access / Resource Description and Access > [mailto:rd...@listserv.lac-bac.gc.ca] On Behalf Of J. McRee Elrod > Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2010 3:08 PM > To: RDA-L@LISTSERV.LAC-BAC.GC.CA > Subject: Re: [RDA-L] Straight jacket? > > Jonathan Rochkind said: > > >The machines exist to serve the patrons too. No patron in a a 2010 > >library (Or at least 99% of libraries) looks at the records you are > >creating _except_ through machine interfaces. > > We find MARC21 coding makes our records quite machine friendly. In > fact, MARC means MAchine Readable Cataloguing does it not? > > We also find we can crosswalk from MARC21 to HTML MARC, Dublin Core, > Onix, and several other ILS systems we support, but not back again. > > Being machine readable should not require limiting ourselves to a set > list of "vocabularies", which force us to lie about the item being > ctalogued! The varied bibliographic universe can not be reduced to a > set lists of relationships. > > > __ __ J. McRee (Mac) Elrod (m...@slc.bc.ca) > {__ | / Special Libraries Cataloguing HTTP://www.slc.bc.ca/ > ___} |__ \__________________________________________________________
