MARC Tagging Structure: Local Variations at Southampton University Library

Libraries wishing to make local variations on the MARC tagging structure should consider the effects of such variations on tapes received from other libraries, on tapes which they may send to other libraries, on their existing cataloguing practice, as well as the effects on possible future benefits from MARC. Types of variation that may be made are the omission of MARC fields, the substitution of local tags for MARC tags, and the addition of local tags to the MARC structure. This paper discusses how Southampton University Library has used these types of variation and the reasons for them.