National Library News January 1999 Vol. 31, no. 1

The Evolution of the Canadian MARC Communication Formats: From CAN/MARC to MARC 21

In 1972, the National Librarian of Canada established a MARC Task Group "to study the requirements of a format for machine-readable bibliographic records for use in Canada." ¹ Since the Library of Congress had already developed a format, one of the critical issues for consideration by the MARC Task Group was whether Canada needed to develop its own format. The key question was: "Can we accept LC MARC without modification?" After lengthy national consultation, the MARC Task Group made two significant recommendations that became the underlying principles for the development of the CAN/MARC format:

• that the National Library of Canada assume responsibility for developing a separate and distinct Canadian MARC format which would address specific Canadian requirements;
• that variations in the CAN/MARC format from the LC MARC format be kept to a minimum.

The MARC Task Group recognized that as Canada is a bilingual country, the National Library of Canada must respond to specific bibliographic needs. In addition, it was understood that it was important not to diverge significantly from the LC MARC format, since Canadian libraries needed to be able to make use of cataloguing information from non-Canadian sources, particularly from the Library of Congress. Following the MARC Task Group recommendations, the first CAN/MARC format was published in 1973.

A turning point in format development came in November 1994 when representatives of the British Library, the Library of Congress and the National Library of Canada met to discuss ways to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of producing bibliographic records. One area of the discussion focused on the possibility of aligning their national formats. Recognizing that the emergence of the Internet and current telecommunications technology make national boundaries less relevant to the exchange of bibliographic data, the libraries acknowledged the significant benefits of a harmonized MARC format. They agreed that a common format would facilitate the exchange of bibliographic information by making it faster and more cost-effective for themselves and their constituents. Conversion to and from national formats would no longer be a major obstacle to record exchange. The objective was to align the three formats. Each library resolved to identify the essential features of its national format. The National Library of Canada undertook this activity with the support of its MARC advisory committee, the Canadian Committee on MARC. The Committee agreed that changes should be made to CAN/MARC to align it with USMARC. The Committee also identified a number of essential features of CAN/MARC which represented a difference from USMARC. Chief among these differences were elements that support the bibliographic requirements of a bilingual country. Decisions regarding the alignment of CAN/MARC and USMARC were reached in February 1997; the harmonization of the USMARC and CAN/MARC formats was accomplished, in principle. Complete harmonization with UKMARC remains a long-term goal. Meanwhile, all format changes are being monitored to ensure partial alignment with UKMARC in the short term.

Following agreement on the changes required, work began on implementation issues and activities. In January 1998, the National Library announced its two-phase implementation schedule for the MARC harmonization. The changes affecting CAN/MARC only are being implemented in January 1999. In late fall 1999, the National Library of Canada and the Library of Congress will coordinate the implementation of changes affecting both CAN/MARC and USMARC. When the National Library announced its implementation schedule, it also issued a pre-implementation update to the bibliographic format to enable the Canadian library community and system vendors to assess the impact of the harmonization changes on their own system implementations. An update to the CAN/MARC authority format for harmonization was also made available on the National Library Web site.

Additional issues and activities are being addressed. The Library of Congress and the National Library of Canada are discussing mechanisms for the coordination and approval of future format development. In addition to the existing national consultative mechanisms, which will continue, this new relationship with the US MARC community offers a further opportunity to review how the Canadian contribution to the development of the common MARC format can be most effective. Although all the changes have been made available through advance updates, the National Library of Canada and the Library of Congress will publish a single edition of the MARC formats under a new name, MARC 21. The bibliographic format will be available early in 1999, to be followed by the authority, holdings and classification formats. The National Library of Canada is responsible for publishing French editions of the format documentation.

Over 20 years ago, the MARC Task Group identified the principles for the development of a Canadian MARC format. Adherence to these principles has eased the transition of CAN/MARC from a national format to a format for use worldwide. Not only will the move to the MARC 21 format facilitate record sharing and reduce the cost of record conversions, but it will also provide further opportunities for greater cooperation in bibliographic activities across national boundaries.

Information on MARC is available at:

http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/marc/emarc.htm

or contact:

Standards and Support Division
National Library of Canada
Telephone: (819) 994-6936
Fax: (819) 953-0291
Internet: canmarc@nlc-bnc.ca

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¹ Canadian MARC: a report on the activities of the MARC Task Group. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1972, p. iv.