ABSTRACT
Since the 1960s, the MARC 21 format data element set has grown in response to many factors, such as user requests to satisfy existing needs, the description requirements of new media, new functions identified for bibliographic data in automated systems, and changing description practices. While the MARC community has reviewed additions and revisions to the formats to ensure that they meet the principles for MARC format content, 1 the creation of a more formal bibliographic data model, the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records, provided an excellent opportunity to review the MARC 21 formats. The Network Development and MARC Standards Office (NDMSO) at the Library of Congress contracted with Thomas Delsey to examine MARC 21 from several different perspectives: a comparison with the Functional Requirementsfor Bibliographic Records, the Logical Structure of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, and a set of user tasks that MARC 21 may logically support. The resulting study is called the Functional Analysis of the MARC 21 Bibliographic and Holdings Formats. It is available online at: <www.loc.gov/marc/frbr/functional-analysis.html>;.
