An examination of data elements for bibliographic description : toward a conceptual schema for the USMARC formats

An analysis of data elements in the United States Machine-Readable Cataloging (USMARC) formats for bibliographic, authority, and holdings data is presented. Criteria for the examination of USMARC, derived from the theory of the conceptual schema for databases, are (a) types of entities and data elements that are included, (b) the function of each data element, and (c) the rules of form that govern each data element in the USMARC formats. The major finding of the analysis is that there is a high degree of redundancy present in USMARC, and a more rigorous conceptual plan for USMARC is desirable.