UK MARC AND US/MARC: A BRIEF HISTORY AND COMPARISON

This paper traces the development of the US/MARC and UK MARC formats from their origins to the present day, showing some of the divergence between them and illustrating how Library of Congress records have been converted to UK MARC by a continually changing program. Some explanation is included of how the divergence occurred, which may be seen as typical of the ways in which national MARC formats have developed and the ensuing need for international formats is highlighted.