UNIMARC-The role of UNIMARC

The role of UNIMARC

Initially, UNIMARC was used for the exchange of records on magnetic tape but has since been adapted for use in a variety of exchange and processing environments.The UNIMARC format is available to all agencies concerned with the exchange of bibliographic information. In practice, though, UNIMARC is orientated towards the requirements of libraries.
The fields, which are identified by three-character numeric tags, are arranged in functional blocks. These blocks organise the data according to its function in a traditional catalogue record. In the table below, fields 0-- - 1-- hold the coded data while fields 2-- - 8-- contain the bibliographic data:

Block	Example
0-- Identification block	010 International Standard Book Number
1-- Coded information block	101 Language of the work
2-- Descriptive information block	205 Edition statement
3-- Notes block	336 Type of computer file note
4-- Linking entry block	452 Edition in a different medium
5-- Related title block	516 Spine title
6-- Subject analysis block	676 Dewey Decimal Classification
7-- Intellectual responsibility block	700 Personal name - primary intellectual responsibility
8-- International use block	801 Originating source
9 - Reserved for local use

In addition to the 9-- block any other tag containing a 9 is available for local implementation.
The fields defined by UNIMARC provide for different kinds and levels of information. This can be shown by looking at a typical record in the UNIMARC format.