Quoting john g marr <jmarr_at_UNM.EDU>:
> That may be the wrong question. Try this: why can't format
> developers be encouraged to start with what already works and make
> modifications, instead of reinventing way too many wheels that are not
> interoperable? Did they all start life in the auto industry?? :)
When MARC was developed, there was nothing anywhere near it that
already worked. Nothing. In 1965 (which is not before MY time :-))
data was
- all upper case
- all of fixed length, and very short fixed lengths at that
- ASCII only
MARC was a game-changer, and it is unfortunate that it was only used
in libraries. Variable length fields, upper and lower case plus
accents, and what seemed like an endless expandability. That it has
lasted more than 40 years is a tribute to its design. Few data formats
are used and usable for that length of time. It was absolutely genius
in its day; but the world has changed in ways that could not have been
anticipated at that time.
kc
--
Karen Coyle
kcoyle@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
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Received on Mon Jun 07 2010 - 13:08:09 EDT