It's not too often that opening your email becomes a transformational moment, a "Wow" moment. Well, that was yesterday for me when the announcement came down from LC: Transforming our Bibliographic Framework: A Statement from the Libraray of Congress. I sort of though a movement away from MARC was never going to happen (at least not in my work-lifetime). This statement is the direction a lot of us have been waiting for.
As the REM song goes, this really could be "the end of the world as we know it."
A website has been set up for all the activity surrounding this initiative: Bibliographic Framework Transition Initiative. I will keep an eye on it with cataloger-like, detail-oriented intensity. So, we'll see what this brings, but it sure does seem like a postive step forward.
Update: See also John Mark Ockerbloom's interesting take from an open data perspective.
Don't forget the rest of that REM quote: "and I feel fine"!
Posted by: Karen | Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 09:23 PM
I certainly feel fine about this (some of the catalogers in my system...maybe not so much).
I read that this morning and was terribly excited.
It remains to be seen, however, whether any real change happens, or whether those who are averse to change derail the process.
The fact that LC seems to finally be looking at the MARC problem seriously is excellent news, in any case.
Posted by: arkham | Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 09:37 PM
Good to see that this is a transition, not a complete tearing down and starting over. MARC was an excellent standard but needs updating in order to remain relevant
Posted by: chris | Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 11:10 AM