Beyond MARC: New Trends for the Library of the Future

Abstract

It is vitally important that the library profession keep pace with new technologies being developed for the public by industries across the world. The library has to adapt to changing trends and lifestyle issues. Some changes may necessitate a different approach to the traditional roles and methods of operation. Most libraries are meeting a host of challenges presented by industries and new technologies, and are incorporating new ideas into the profession to better serve their clients. The influence of recent industrial changes has resulted in some libraries experiencing change in their methods of operating. For example, some functions of technical services are being outsourced to private businesses. Some libraries find outsourcing easier and more cost-effective than hiring personnel to perform these traditionally held functions. Another profound change that has already affected how libraries operate as service providers is the change in how they present and describe content. MARC, once the traditional language of choice for libraries in describing format and content, is now being questioned as to its relevance. As a library-specific language, it lacks interoperability with other more modern languages used on the internet such as HTML, SGML, and XML. MARC's inability to be offered as an industry-wide standard was cause for concern among vendors that historically provided service to libraries. Unlike MARC, however, XML is derived from HGML and SGML, and is better suited to describe the attributes of the technological offerings of the private sector, colleges, hospitals, and institutions. XML is extensible, interoperable with other ML languages, and its use has opened the collections of libraries across the world for viewing, unlike a unique program or stand-alone application could. The author focuses specifically on DC-XML (Dublin Core-Extensible Markup Language), OCLC's first attempt at migration from MARC to an extensible markup language.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA457122

Entities

People

  • Bessie Mayes

Organizations

  • Naval Information Warfare Systems Command

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Biomedical
  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Traffic Controllers
  • Department Of Defense
  • Emerging Technology
  • Employment
  • Governments
  • Language
  • Local Governments
  • Markup Languages
  • National Governments
  • Naval Warfare
  • Personnel Management
  • Standards
  • Systems Engineering
  • Three Dimensional
  • United States Government
  • Warfare
  • Xml

Readers

  • Database Systems and Applications
  • Economics
  • Research Science/Academic Research