MARC

MARC, or MAchine Readable Cataloging, is a set of standards developed by the Library of Congress in the 1960s by the Library of Congress to enable consistent formatting and sharing of catalog records in an approaching digital environment. Folger catalog records are formatted according to the MARC 21 standard, which is used by most major libraries.

MARC is not to be confused with AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, 2nd edition) or RDA (Resource Description & Access), though these terms are frequently used together. MARC is a formatting standard, while AACR2 and RDA are content standards: AACR2 and RDA determine what information goes into a catalog record, and MARC determines where it goes and what the record looks like.

Folger adoption of MARC

The Folger began using MARC as its primary cataloging standard in the mid-1990s, when it transitioned to a online public access catalog, or OPAC (now known as Hamnet).

The Folger had been creating online records for new acquisitions, using the RLIN database, since 1981; however, retrospective conversion of the catalog card files for the decades of previous acquisitions only began in 1992. Around this time, the leadership of the Folger began to consider the need for an OPAC and an updated ILS (integrated library system), and the subsequent advantages of transitioning to MARC cataloging. The RFP for an ILS vendor went out in 1994; a memo from then-Folger Director Werner Gundersheimer on January 3rd of that year read, "...our long-range goal is to come up with a system and set of formats that will enable us to include all of our collections in an online catalogue. To the extent that it is applicable, we will almost certainly use the MARC format." After several rounds of meetings, research, and evaluation, Voyager was selected as the Folger's ILS, and the transition to an online MARC catalog took place in 1996-1997.

Current use of MARC at the Folger

The Folger currently uses MARC 21 to catalog its resources, including both open stacks and Vault materials. Folger staff are in the process of adding MARC cataloging documentation to Folgerpedia; please see the List of MARC 21 fields for bibliographic data and the List of MARC 21 fields for authority data for information on how Folger catalogers use each MARC field.