Repurposing MARC Data: Some Pitfalls

Options to consider when reviewing Machine Readable Cataloging (MARC) data suggest both advantages and disadvantages.

This short piece suggests some issues to ponder that may not be the most advantageous. Opening up the door to perhaps some troubling concerns encourage one to pause and consider the available technologies and the role of the metadata.

Earlier efforts to organize search output from online public access catalog searches retrieved items in reverse chronological order. Commercial indexing efforts were able to retrieve output in relevancy rankings based on search algorithms. This essay suggests that there are reasons for both and MARC contributes some particular nuances that complicate the potential for the most challenging searching.

Provides information of value to library professionals.