Here is what I answered to the question about DC and MARC.  I had several
requests to post it.

Rebecca

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 09:38:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: Rebecca S. Guenther <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Dublin Core and MARC


Dear Ms. Medawar:

Your message was forwarded to me. I am a standards specialist and work on
both MARC and Dublin Core. I am also chair of the DC-Libraries Working
Group.

I am not sure exactly what information you carry in your records and the
amount of specificity needed but am assuming that you use data elements
similar to MARC ones, since you are in a university library.

No, we do not expect Dublin Core to replace MARC. Its purpose is very
different and it does not have the complexity in its element set to
support all the functionality that MARC does. What you might use depends
on how you plan to use the bibliographic data. The Dublin Core element set
is intended as a lowest common denominator among diverse metadata schemes,
of which MARC is one. It is a simple language that other more complex
languages can use to talk to each other at a very general level. Using
Dublin Core means gaining a lot of simplicity and losing a lot of
specificity. In a library environment, where complex searches are
conducted to find relevant research material, a more complex metadata
scheme is necessary that can support the functionality.

For instance, in Dublin Core you have 3 elements for names associated with
a resource: Creator, Contributor and Publisher. You can't say anything
more about those names. There are no rules for expressing them, so you
don't know how to interpret the name, whether the surname comes before the
forename or in direct order. You don't know whether the name is a personal
one or a corporate one. You can't say anything about the role the
person/body played in the creation of the resource. You have no way of
distinguishing between one common name and another because there are no
additional elements used with the name. On the other hand, MARC allows for
using the tagging to indicate whether it is personal or corporate, what
role it played, authoritative forms of name are established and may be
validated against authority files, elements are added to the name with
separate tagging to give further information about the name, etc.  This
allows for precise searching and identification of items in library
systems.

There is a huge investment in MARC throughout the world, with many
millions of bibliographic records (as well as the authority and holdings
records that also contribute to the wealth of data). It is the most
successful and used metadata set for bibliographic data. MARC defines both
a syntax and a data element set with their definitions.  It is possible
that at some point in the future the syntax could be replaced by
something else, but unlikely that the entire data element set would be
replaced.  And Dublin Core is just a data element set that has no rules.

I would be happy to answer any further questions you have.

Rebecca
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^  Rebecca S. Guenther                                   ^^
^^  Senior Networking and Standards Specialist            ^^
^^  Network Development and MARC Standards Office         ^^
^^  1st and Independence Ave. SE                          ^^
^^  Library of Congress                                   ^^
^^  Washington, DC 20540-4402                             ^^
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