UKMARC: A format for the twenty‐first century?

MARC formats have been in use since the 1960s. UKMARC was developed originally by the British National Bibliography and although it now manifests itself in a variety of outputs – online, CD‐ROM, print,microfilm – it remains a tape‐based structure, has become tied to the British Library′s own products and services and is unduly concerned with how bibliographic data is ultimately processed. Anticipates UKMARC′s development over the next few years, during which the British Library is expected to co‐operate and consult more openly with format users; but also speculates whether the book community should not be looking ahead to non‐MARC means of transmitting bibliographic data in ways that are more appropriate to present technology.