About This Resource: Part II

Part I

Here’s another of Wendell Stavig’s questions to one of my earlier posts:

What is a MARC record?

MARC stands for Machine Readable Catalog, and is a Library of Congress standard way of specifying resource metadata, that is, information about the book. Think of it as an electronic card catalog entry. You could use the MARC record information to do a library search, and if you printed this information out and took it to your local library, your librarian would probably know what she was looking at, but mostly the MARC record represents cataloging information that is used by the Libronix DLS to help organize and find resources in your library.

If you want to learn more about the MARC format in all its splendor, the Library of Congress has a page for you. If you follow that link, I recommend that you refrain from operating heavy machinery for at least twelve hours afterward. Better make it twenty-four, just to be safe.

Anyway, this illustrates one of the things that sets the Libronix DLS apart from other Bible software programs: We really have built an electronic library, and not simply a Bible study program. To be sure, the Libronix DLS is an excellent Bible study program, but that’s not all it is; the features we’ve built for Bible study are simply specialized ways to access certain kinds of information in your electronic library shelves.

Say it with me: It’s not a program, it’s a library.

This is why, for example, we call books “resources” — a library has all sorts of resources, not just books. (So do we: A video resource isn’t a “book,” it’s … a video resource.) We are not tied down to presenting only one kind of information. Just like a library.

This is also why the My Library browser shows you not only the actual title of each book, but also alternate titles, popular titles, and any abbreviated titles we know about. You can type “Little Kittel” into the My Library browser to find The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume. Or you can find them by subject. Or by author. There’s more than one way to find the book you’re looking for.

Just like a library.