On Fri, May 25, 2001 at 05:16:06PM -0400, COURYHOUSE@aol.com said:

preference would of course be to also store them in MARC as well but one thing at a time!

ed

Hi Ed Forgive me if im wrong, and please correct me if I am, but Im not sure why its nessecary to store things in MARC. A MARC file AFAIK is just a sequential file that follows a set format. Having the format set allows the file to be transferred between systems that understand that format. I dont see why it is nessecary to store the data as a sequential file, if you have some easy routines that can a) easily parse said file and store it in our database and b) can retrieve information from our database and create a MARC record from it. # From what I gather the main things the Library of Congress looks for when assesing MARC 21 compatibility is that the system loads in the full record with no false or arbitritary limitations on such thing as the length of the notes field, or the number of subject headings. And that the system allows for the records to be written back in MARC 21 communications format. Of course it may well work out, that these two aims are very hard to achieve without storing them in MARC format, then again it may not. Just thinking aloud really Chris -- Chris Cormack Programmer 025 500 789 Katipo Communications Ltd chris@katipo.co.nz www.katipo.co.nz