Posted on behalf of James Elliott at the British Library (apologies to those who have seen it on other lists.) Andrew Coburn Acquisitions and Cataloguing Manager Essex CC Tel. 01245 284981 ext. 255 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA, AND BRITISH LIBRARY AGREE ON FORMAT CONVERGENCE Following the harmonization of the USMARC and CAN/MARC formats into a single format called MARC 21 in 1999, the Library of Congress(LC) and the National Library of Canada (NLC) welcome the recent decision taken by the British Library (BL) to adopt MARC 21. The decision was taken following an extensive consultation exercise carried out by the BL with the UK library community, which clearly indicated support for full adoption of MARC 21. At the May 2001 meeting of the MARC Harmonization Coordinating Committee, LC, NLC and the BL agreed to work together in the ongoing development and maintenance of the MARC 21 format. The current agreement between LC and NLC will be reviewed and modified to introduce the participation of the BL. Technical staff from the three institutions will proceed with resolving any outstanding format issues. The MARC 21 format is used extensively throughout the world. An expression of interest in future cooperation was recently received from the LIBER group. The three national libraries on the Coordinating Committee are committed to ensuring not only the ongoing development and maintenance of MARC 21, but also its interoperability with emerging standards in metadata and exchange formats. Winston Tabb, Associate Librarian for Library Services, Library of Congress, noted: "The goal of MARC harmonization has been to reduce the costs of bibliographic control and to increase the effectiveness of service to our constituents across national boundaries by making it easier to share cataloging data. The decision by the British Library to adopt MARC21, joining other users in Europe and around the world, and LIBER's interest in the work to unify formats are welcome developments that significantly further the effort to achieve this goal." Added Ingrid Parent, Director General, Acquisitions and Bibliographic Services at the National Library of Canada: "Given the globalization of information and the mandate of libraries to facilitate access to information, the adoption by the British library community of MARC 21 will further promote effective record exchange and other cooperative activities." Dennis Pilling, Head of Acquisitions and Cataloguing at the British Library, welcomed these latest developments: "The rationalisation, brought about by the convergence of MARC21 and UKMARC, consolidates the international nature of the MARC format, and will be a major benefit in the future development of MARC to meet the challenge of new information sources, interoperability and interfacing with non-MARC metadata standards." For further information please contact: Dennis Pilling Head of Acquisitions and Cataloguing British Library Boston Spa Wetherby LS23 7BQ UK Telephone: 44 (0)1937 546269 Email: [log in to unmask] ********************************************************************* The information contained in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this e-mail and notify the [log in to unmask] : The contents of this e-mail must not be disclosed or copied without the sender's consent. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the British Library. The British Library does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. ********************************************************************* This e-mail (including any attachments) is intended only for the recipient(s) named above. It may contain confidential or privileged information and should not be read, copied or otherwise used by any other person unless express permission is given. If you are not a named recipient, please contact the sender and delete the e-mail from your system. It is the recipient's responsibility to ensure that appropriate measures are in place to check for software viruses.