Introduction
The Standards for the representation and exchange of bibliographic, authority, classification , holdings, and community information data in machine-readable form in the United States are the five USMARC communication formats: USMARC Format for Bibliographic Data, USMARC Format for Authority Data, USMARC Format for Classification Data, USMARC Format for Holdings Data and USMARC Format for Community Information. These documents are intended for the use of personnel involved in the creation and maintenance of each type of record, as well as those involved in the design and maintenance of systems for the communication and processing of USMARC records.
The USMARC Format for Community Information was approved in January 1992 by the USMARC Advisory Group as a provisional format. Once the format has undergone sufficient experimentation, it will be reviewed again for possible modifications and final approval.
A USMARC record is composed of three elements: the record structure, the content designation, and the data content of the record. The record structure is an implementation of the American National Standard for Information Interchange (ANSI Z39.2). Detailed description of the USMARC record structure and the design principles followed in the USMARC formats are provided in USMARC Specifications for Record Structure, Character Sets, Tapes. The content designation - the codes and conventions established explicitly to identify and further characterize the data elements within a record and to support the manipulation of those data elements - is defined by each of the USMARC formats. The data content of the data elements that comprise a USMARC record is usually defined by standards outside the formats, such as the Library of Congress Classification, Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), or other conventions used by the organization that created a record. The content of certain coded data elements (e.g., the Leader, field 007, field 008) is defined in the USMARC formats.
Components of a USMARC Community Information Record
Field and Subfield Repeatability
Fill Character and Related values
Standards and Other Documents Related to this Format
See also:
USMARC Community Information Format: Contents
