On May 3, 2010, at 1:55 PM, Karen Coyle wrote:

> 1. MARC the data format -- too rigid, needs to go away
> 2. MARC21 bib data -- very detailed, well over 1,000 different data  
> elements, some well-coded data (not all); unfortunately trapped in #1



The differences between the two points enumerated above, IMHO, seem to be the at the heart of the never-ending debate between computer types and cataloger types when it comes to library metadata. The non-library computer types don't appreciate the value of human-aided systematic description. And the cataloger types don't understand why MARC is a really terrible bit bucket, especially considering the current environment. All too often the two "camps" don't know to what the other is speaking. "MARC must die. Long live MARC."

-- 
Eric Lease Morgan