MARCIVE: A Cooperative Automated Library System

The MARCIVE Library System is a batch computer system utilizing both the MARC tapes and local cataloging to provide catalog cal'ds, book catalogs, and selective bibliographies for five academic libraries in San Antonio, Texas. The development of the system is traced and present procedures are described. Batch retrieval from the MARC 1·ecords plus the modification of these records costs less than twenty cents per title. Computer costs for retrieval, modification, and card production average sixty-six cents per title, between seven and ten cents per card. The attributes and limitations of the MARCIVE system are compared with those of the OCLC system.