Abstract
Familiarity with the basic elements of the MARC format and their effect on the display and retrieval of bibliographic data is an essential element of public service in those libraries with MARC-based online catalogs. A MARC record consists of the leader, the directory, and the variable fields. The first two allow the system to store and retrieve the cataloging data. The variable fields begin with a three character numeric tag and are of two types: control fields and data fields. The former provide information about language and country of publication, presence of illustrations, publication status (active or ceased), physical medium (e.g., microfilm), and the like. The data fields include those designated for call number, main entry, title, physical description, series, notes, subjects, added entries, and local information. To successfully retrieve the information sought from an online catalog, the catalog user must know whether it is in an indexed field and, if so, must be familiar with the search strategies required by the system.
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