UNIMARC Classification Format

History

The UNIMARC Classification Format was prepared by a working group appointed by the Permanent UNIMARC Committee (PUC) in fall 1997. The working group included representatives of three major international classification systems (DDC, LCC, and UDC) plus other interested parties. In addition, drafts were reviewed by users of the BBK.

The working group was charged to develop a UNIMARC format for classification data that paralleled the contents and development of the MARC 21 Format for Classification Data in order to support the data interchange of classification systems represented in either format. In preparation for its work, the working group studied the requirements set forth in the IFLA Requirements for a Classification Format, issued in 1996 by a joint working group of the IFLA Section on Information Technology and the IFLA Section on Classification and Indexing.

Most of the work on the UNIMARC Classification Format took place over e-mail. The working group met in person during the 1998 and 1999 IFLA Conferences. The final draft of the UNIMARC Classification Format was presented to PUC at the 2000 IFLA Conference in Jerusalem.

Comments

The Permanent UNIMARC Committee invites comments from interested parties, and welcomes testing of the format with classification systems. The committee is particularly interested in testing to ensure the adequacy of the format for use with UDC. Please send comments and suggestions to Marie-France Plassard before 31 MAY 2001.

Working Group on the UNIMARC Classification Format
Joan S. Mitchell (OCLC Forest Press), Chair
Brian P. Holt (retired, British Library), Vice-Chair
Patricia Le Galèze (Bibliothèque nationale de France)
Maria Inês Lopes (Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian)
Sally McCallum (Library of Congress)
Ia C. McIlwaine (University College London)
Aida Slavic (University of Zagreb, Croatia)
Ekaterina Zaitseva (Russian National Public Library for Science and Technology)

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