----------------------------Original message---------------------------- There are several items of interest to the cartographic community to be discussed at ALA in meetings of the Machine-Readable Bibliographic Information Committee. In my role as the Map and Geography Round Table liaison to MARBI, I've summarized the papers here. The full text of the papers and proposals can be found at http://www.loc.gov/marc/ The major proposal to be discussed is Proposal 96-8, which attempts to bring CAN/MARC and US/MARC into close alignment. The proposal covers both the bibliographic and authory formats. Given the complexity of the proposal, it is broken down into subproposals. The subproposals dealing specifically with cartographic fields are: 96-8/007-01 (Globe): Adds two addidtional values for lunar globe and unknown; 96-8/007-02 (All): Removes all coding for original vs. reproduction and makes the definition of the position obsolete; 96-8/008-18-21 (Maps): Changes definition of relief code c from "gradient tints" to "gradient tints/bathymetric tints" and adds code m for "rock drawings"; 96-8/008-22-23 (Maps): Two options: Option 1 is to add codes for azimuthal--other specific projection, cylindrical--other specific projection, conic--other specific projection, Chamberlin trimetric, and Lambert conformal; Option 2 is to add all codes in Option 1 and make obsolete the codes for azimuthal--specific type unknown, cylindrical--specific type unknown, and conic--specific type unknown; 96-8/008-24-25 (Maps): Make obsolete the codes for Prime Meridian and maintain the current codes for Type of Cartographic Material; 96-8/009 (Maps): Calls for additional codes in 007/04, 007/06, and 008/25. Discussion Paper 95 addresses adding coding to the 007 field for remote sensing. This paper was posted on MAPS-L in a slightly different form. Proposal 96-7 suggests minor changes for FTP file labels and comes from a European group interested in sharing records via FTP. Discussion Paper 96 concerns the possible creation of a field defined to contain the Uniform Resource Name for resources on the Internet. The URN identifies a unit of information independent of its location and will be less changable than the URL. Discussion Paper 97 explores questions concerning the coding of digital items in the Leader/06. The focus of the paper is to code for the content of the item, not the format. If anyone has any comments on any of the items to be addressed by MARBI, please feel free to either share them with me ([log in to unmask]) or attend the MARBI sessions. The agenda is available at http://www.loc.gov/marc Thank you Susan Moore Catalog Dept., Rod Library University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA 50613