n. (also MAchine-Readable Cataloging, abbr. MARC or USMARC or MARC 21)a data structure standard for transmitting bibliographic descriptionSpindler and Pearce-Moses 1993, 331The development of the machine-readable cataloging (MARC) formats and their implementation in online catalogs and bibliographic networks has brought libraries and research institutions closer to the dream of fully integrated access to information in all formats.Stielow, Hankins, and Jones 1995, 465The argument, dating back to the author’s ill-spent youth and training as a systems analyst and data processing section chief in the late 1960s, was then and is now that Machine Readable Cataloging (MARC) format seems to be a “technological dinosaur.” MARC simply could not escape its origins during that almost paleolithic era of mainframes with expensive storage costs and military communication protocols. Since then we have had a microcomputer revolution.MARC 21, 1998The Library of Congress and the National Library of Canada are pleased to announce that the harmonized USMARC and CAN/MARC formats will be published in a single edition in early 1999 under a new name: MARC 21. The name both points to the future as we move into the 21st century and suggests the international character of the format, which is appropriate and important given its expanding worldwide use. ¶ MARC 21 is not a new format. From 1994-1997 the USMARC and CAN/MARC user communities worked to eliminate all remaining differences in their two already-similar formats. Compatibility had been a feature of the development processes for both formats for many years. In 1997 and early 1998, updates to the formats were issued that made the format specifications identical. MARC 21, a continuation of both USMARC and CAN/MARC, publishes the formats in one edition under a new name.Rubinstein 2017, 302The MAchine Readable Cataloging format (MARC), developed by Henriette Avram at the Library of Congress in 1965, officially ushered libraries into the automation age. Though some of its first uses involved the printing of catalog cards by computer, MARC became widely used as a means for distributing catalog data across institutions and eventually paved the way for the OPAC and union catalogs like RLIN and OCLC.MARC 2025The MARC formats are standards for the representation and communication of bibliographic and related information in machine-readable form. They are community-driven with the Library of Congress as coordinator.
Notes
MARC is a United States implementation of the Information Interchange Format (ANSI Z39.2). Other countries implemented that standard with minor variations. The variations included UKMARC and CanMARC. Efforts to harmonize the variations to create a single standard are reflected by the use of the acronym MARC 21. In common usage in North America, MARC is the acronym that generally refers to the standard.
