Some interesting statistics about how MARC usage has changed in recent OCLC cataloging--perhaps due to the influx of non-US cataloging

R2's commissioned report for the Library of Congress

Tool for catalogers allows searching for MARC tags; assigning cutters; etc.

"The Library of Congress today announced the next phase of its investigation into the creation and distribution of bibliographic data in U.S. and Canadian libraries. The Library has commissioned a study to research and describe the current marketplace for cataloging records in the MARC format, with primary focus on the economics of current practices, including existing incentives and barriers to both contribution and availability. The study will be carried out by R2 Consulting LLC of Contoocook, N.H."

Roy Tennant sampled 856 fields in MARC records to see whether there is a reliable method of determining the availability of the full text access based on the coding the the 856.  His results show wide variablity in the coding, and he argues for one consistant method to code for full text.

Simple tool will create a MARC record based on the Amazon metadata.  Just insert the ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number = ISBN or other standard number).   Subjects and name headings are a bit suspect, but the descriptive looks OK.   I didn't try the download feature, so I'm not sure if the records are true MARC (to move to another system).

The following crosswalk was done by Elizabeth Mangan, Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress.