MARC XX project : oral history, 1988-1990.

Scope and Contents

This project, underwritten by the American Library Association, deals with the impact of the closing of card catalogs and the early use of computers in library work. It is comprised of interviews with staff members of the Library of Congress (LC) and other organizations instrumental in shaping the development of library automation reviews the first twenty years. The focus is on MARC (MAchine Readable Cataloging), a program initiated at LC in 1965 to encode bibliographic data in a format readable by computers and distribute records to other libraries. Various institutions developed computer programs to manipulate MARC-format records in support of library activities, including cataloging, aquisitions, and reference. Online catalogs and sophisticated bibliographic networks are outgrowths of these pioneering efforts. Other major dedvelopments discussed include revision of format (MARC II), establishment of standards, international MARC format (UNIMARC), retrospective conversion of records (REMARC), and ongoing problems. Participants and pagination of transcripts: Henriette Avram, 132; Larry Buckland, 41; Paul Fasana, 36; Kay D. Guiles, 44; Fred Kilgour, 52; Barbara Markuson, 78; Charles Payne, 40; Lucia Rather, 48; William J. Welsh, 23.

Subjects

• Interviews.
• Librarians--Interviews.
• Libraries--Automation.
• Library catalogs.
• Library information networks.
• Library of Congress.
• MARC formats.
• Machine-readable bibliographic data.
• Oral histories.
• Searching, Bibliographical.