Conversion of bibliographic records to MARC 21 format
| Date | 13 November 2009 |
| Pages | 950-967 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470911004057 |
| Published date | 13 November 2009 |
| Author | Gordana Rudić,Dušan Surla |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Conversion of bibliographic
records to MARC 21 format
Gordana Rudic
´and Dus
ˇan Surla
Department of Mathematics and Informatics, University of Novi Sad,
Novi Sad, Serbia
Abstract
Purpose – The aim of this researchis the conversion of the bibliographicrecords betweenthe following
different formats for bibliographic material processing – the YUMARC (which is a variant of the
UNIMARC format in which the Serbian BISIS systemoperates), UNIMARC and MARC 21 format.
Design/methodology/approach – The CASE tools that support the information system
developing methodology based on the XML technologies are used.
Findings – The result is the specification and implementation of information requirements for the
conversion of the bibliographic records created in the BISIS system into the UNIMARC or MARC 21
format.
Research limitations/implications – The specification of the rules for bibliographic record
conversion is not formalized, so the implementation of these rules cannot be done automatically. If the
rules could be formalized, then a generator of the programming code could be developed for the
implementation of the rules for the bibliographic record conversion.
Practical implications – The research result is applied for the conversion of the YUMARC
bibliographic records in the Library of the Department for Mathematics and Informatics of Novi Sad
University. The conversion of the records is made at first into the UNIMARC format and subsequently
from the UNIMARC format into the records of the MARC 21 format. The task of conversion of the
bibliographic records formed in the BISIS software system in the UNIMARC or the MARC 21 format is
solved in that way.
Originality/value – The originality of the work is contained in the application of the XML
technologies for the conversion of the bibliographic records between the different bibliographic
formats (YUMARC, UNIMARC and MARC 21). For each of the formats an XML schema is formed and
record conversion between the different formats is done by the XSLT transformations.
Keywords Bibliographies,Extensible Markup Language, Systemssoftware, Data handling, Serbia
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Nowadays, the UNIMARC[1] and MARC 21[2] formats are most often used for
processing of bibliographic material. In recent years, there is a tendency to transfer
towards the MARC 21 because of need for exchange of bibliographic data within the
framework of world library network that is based on the MARC 21 format. In practice,
several variants of these formats are used. So, a variant of the UNIMARC format called
YUMARC is used in the BISIS library software system[3]. A data migration from the
YUMARC format into the UNIMARC as well as the migration from the UNIMARC
format towards MARC 21 are described in this paper.
The development of the BISIS library software system began in the year 1993. The
actual third version of the system is implemented in the Java environment. The system
is used in 35 libraries (eight academic, 23 public and four special libraries) in the
Republic of Serbia. The system is based on the YUMARC format that consists of ten
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm
EL
27,6
950
Received 25 June 2008
Revised 11 July 2008
Accepted 22 July 2008
The Electronic Library
Vol. 27 No. 6, 2009
pp. 950-967
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/02640470911004057
blocks the ninth of which is defined for use on the national level. In the YUMARC
format the subsubfields are introduced for some subfields. The subsubfields have the
same characteristics as the subfields. A review of the BISIS system development is
given in (Konjovic
´and Surla, 2004).
The development of the fourth version of the BISIS system based on the XML
technologies is underway. Within this version an XML editor for bibliographic
material processing in the UNIMARC and MARC 21 formats (Dimic
´and Surla, 2010
forthcoming) as well as an XML editor for searching and retrieving bibliographic
records in the Z39.50 standard (Boberic
´and Surla, 2009) and a segment for library
circulation system (Tes
ˇendic et al., 2009) was developed. The basic goal of the
development of this version is to enable cataloguing within the MARC 21 format. The
first task for the transfer of the libraries to the MARC 21 format is rewriting of the
existing library records into the MARC 21 records and it is the subject of this work.
The use of XML technologies in description and exchange of bibliographic data was
the subject of a larger numberof papers, as well as the usage of DTD, XML Schema and
XSLT. Document Type Definition (DTD) and XMLSchema are parts of the XML
technology andthey are used in defining structureand content of XML document. XSLT
(Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) is XML language by which an XML
document is transformed into the other XML document. A review of using XML for
representing MARCrecords in Library of Congress is given in the paper (Keith, 2004). It
says that in the mid-1990s, the Library of Congress has already hadthe DTD for MARC
which first application was the conversion of MARC records into SGML. The SGML
DTD grows into the XML DTD and then into the XML schema. The MARCXML
architecture implemented in the Library of Congress is also described in this paper as
well as advantages of the use of XSLT language for metadata manipulation in XML.
The use of XML for validation of the MARC records and their transport between
different systems are described in the work (Carvalho et al., 2004), whereas the system
for validation of the bibliographic records in the BISIS system is described in the paper
(Budimir and Surla, 2004). After considering the Dublin Core and FRBR, the author of
the paper (Andersen, 2004) suggests possible directions of the development and
changes of the MARC formats. In addition, the use of the XML technologies offers
many possibilities so that the application of these technologies in the librarianship is
also expected in the future. Development of the MARC format is also discussed in the
papers (Tennant, 2004) and (Coyle, 2004). Previous application of the XML technology
and its further development and use are inseparable parts of further transformations of
the MARC format.
Today, there is a huge need for transformation of records between different formats.
In order such a transformation to be done, mapping of corresponding elements in the
formats is necessary. An example of that kind is described in the work (Chandrakar,
2005) where the corresponding elements in the CCF and DublinCore formats are
mapped. After mapping corresponding elements it is necessary to transform the
records by applying a tool. In the papers (Aalberg, 2006) and (Manguinhas et al., 2006)
the use of the XSLT language is described in the case of the transformation of MARC
records into FRBR, that is, of UNIMARC records into HTML and PDF respectively.
Bearing in mind these mentioned researches one can ascertain that the XSLT
language is acceptable and adequate for the transformation of records between the
different formats. Since the BISIS system supports the export of records in the form of
Conversion of
bibliographic
records
951
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