blished the first edition of UNIMARC: Universal MARC Format, followed
by a second edition in 1980 and a UNIMARC Handbook in 1983. UNIMARC
(Universal Machine Readable Cataloging) is a common bibliographic
format for library catalogs, as a solution to the 20 existing national
MARC (Machine Readable Cataloging) formats, which meant lack of
compatibility and extensive editing when bibliographical records were
exchanged. With UNIMARC, catalogers would be able to process records
created in any MARC format. Records in one MARC format would first be
converted into UNIMARC, and then be converted into another MARC format.

[In Depth (published in 1999)]

At the time, the future of online catalogs was linked to the
harmonization of the MARC format. Set up in the early 1970s, MARC is an
acronym for Machine Readable Catalogue. This acronym is rather
misleading as MARC is neither a kind of catalog nor a method of
cataloguing. According to UNIMARC: An Introduction, a document of the
Universal Bibliographic Control and International MARC Core Programme,
MARC is "a short and convenient term for assigning labels to each part
of a catalogue record so that it can be handled by computers. While the
MARC format was primarily designed to serve the needs of libraries, the
concept has since been embraced by the wider information community as a
convenient way of storing and exchanging bibliographic data."

After MARC came MARC II. MARC II established rules to be followed
consistently over the years. The MARC communication format intended to
be "hospitable to all kinds of library materials; sufficiently flexible
for a variety of applications in addition to catalogue production; and
usable in a range of automated systems."

Over the years, however, despite cooperation efforts, several versions
of MARC emerged, e.g. UKMARC, INTERMARC and USMARC, whose paths
diverged because of different national cataloguing practices and
requirements. We had an extended family of more than 20 MARC formats.
Differences in data content meant some extensive editing was needed
before records could be exchanged.

One solution to incompatible data was to create an international MARC
format - called UNIMARC - which would accept records created in any
MARC format. Records in one MARC format would first be converted into
UNIMARC, and then be converted into another MARC format, so that each
national bibliographic agency would need to write only two
programs - one to c