Obiettivo
At the (national) libraries in the European Community about ten different standards of MARC formats are being used. The goal of the project is to develop a toolbox able of converting bibliographic records from any MARC format into any other format through a central conversion format: UseMARCON. For usage of the toolbox no programming experience will be required.
The objectives of the project are:
- to produce a data-driven generic converter;
- to enable the user, via a user-friendly interface, to define how the conversion is to take place between the source and the destination formats.
Impact:
For libraries to agree that a single MARC standard will apply is perhaps unlikely in the short or even medium term - especially since there are so many national versions of it. UseMARCON will improve exchange of bibliographic information considerably, by making it easier for libraries to convert to and from the various MARC formats, without the need for programming expertise, so improving the exchange of bibliographic information between libraries.
Results:
- specification for the conversion functions and conversion tables between different MARC formats;
- software tool to convert MARC formats.
Deliverables
The most significant deliverable is the prototype converter software. Many other deliverables are classified as restricted or confidential, owing to commercial considerations. These will include design and technical documentation, manuals and the project evaluation report.
Currently publicly available are:
User requirements report;
The Phase 1 feasibility report and market survey;
List of anticipated problems.
Available in line with project progress will be:
Recommendations on future product development;
Final report.
Technical approach:
The project is organised into three phases, each subdivided into work-packages as follows:
PHASE 1:
Pre-design defining user requirements, conversion table data and character structures and a generic instruction set as a global design;
Feasibility study to identify problems, assess the technical capability of the global design which will address them and to carry out a market survey;
PHASE 2:
Functional design to convert the global design into a detailed functional specification;
Technical design to select programming tools and translate the functional specification into pseudo code;
Realisation of the prototype and alpha test;
Documentation - system and user manuals;
PHASE 3:
Field testing beta functional testing at four library sites;
Evaluation review and justification, plus information dissemination to recognised experts, conference and event presentations, library training sessions and submission of national and international press articles.
Key issues:
The main technical issues to be explored are:
- validate the use of UNIMARC as core format for the converter;
- automatic filling of the reverse conversion tables;
- feasibility of developing a user-friendly tool with no programming skills needed to use it.
Campo scientifico
Invito a presentare proposte
Data not availableMeccanismo di finanziamento
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2509 LK The Hague
Paesi Bassi