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All, I received a question regarding a software library I have created and released as open source. The record length in the leader ( positions 0-4 ) was not being calculated correctly when writing as MarcXML. However, this raises a more philosophical and larger question. What is the point of the first five digits of the leader, outside of a ISO2709 / MARC21 encoded record? Should I calculate the record length AS IF it would be encoded in ISO2709? This would be computationally non-trivial and would likely double the time necessary for my software to write a MarcXML file. Should I just make the first five digits of the leader '00000', since it means nothing in the context of a MarcXML file? Has anyone else pondered this question or have any input on how current systems work? Keep in mind I could be writing a MarcXML record for a record created or modified in memory, so just using a pre-existing record length is not an option. Many thanks for your consideration. Mark V Sullivan Digital Development and Web Coordinator Technology and Support Services University of Florida Libraries 352-273-2907 (office) 352-682-9692 (mobile) [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>