[12249] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
XML for MARC
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Gerry Mckiernan)
Fri Jun 12 20:11:35 1998
Date: Fri, 12 Jun 1998 16:15:56 -0500
From: Gerry Mckiernan <GMCKIERN@gwgate.lib.iastate.edu>
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU>
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
_XML for MARC_=20
Over the past several weeks, I am noticed more and more mention of =
XML, the eXtensible Markup Language, with many stating that it will be _ =
The Next Step_ in the evoluation of the Web and Web pages. I myself =
am just beginning to learn about it from journal articles, new monographs =
[We've ordered and are receiving all the major quality books on the topic =
here at ISU], and of course, Web sites.=20
To Quote: 'XML is a subset of SGML. XML is not a markup language, =
as HTML is, but a meta-language that is capable of containing markup =
languages in the same way as SGML. UnQuote=20
Quote "...the eXtensible Markup Language (XML), takes document markup =
to the next level, offering human-readable semantic markup, which is also =
machine-readable. As a result, XML makes it dramatically easier to develop =
and deploy new mission-specific markup, enabling the automation of the =
authoring, parsing, and processing of networked data."=20
UnQuote For an excellent review article, a must-read is "X Marks =
the Spot: eXtensible Markup Language opens the door to a motherlode of =
automated Web applications' at http://www.cs.caltech.edu/~adam/papers/xml/=
x-marks-the-spot.html=20
The relationship of XML to SGML prompted me to revisit the Library of =
Congress Web page on MARC [http://lcweb.loc.gov/marc/] and to review an LC =
effort to convert MARC to SGML [For details, see [http://lcweb.loc.gov/marc=
/ ; MARC DTDs (Document Type Definitions ] This in turn prompted thoughts =
about the conversion or mapping of MARC to XML, and to consider all of =
the potential possibilities for enhanced access and navigation and =
presentation of MARC record data and the associated imnformation.=20
As Always, I would much appreciate any comments, questions, concerns, =
queries, contributions, citations, or critiques about the application of =
XML to MARC data, be they bibliographic records, Subject Authority Files, =
Name Authority Files, LCSH, etc.=20
Joy!=20
Gerry McKiernan Curator, CyberStacks(sm) Iowa State University Ames IA =
50011=20
gerrymck@iastate.edu http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/=20
"The Best Way to Predict the Future is To Invent It!" Attributed =
to Peter Drucker=20
