The most important criteria of MARC from the Iranian MARC expert's point of view

The Purpose of this paper is to determine the criteria and required specifications for MARC formats according to new information and communication technologies, with an emphasis on special features of the IranMARC. A review of the literature, the reading of the latest version of UNIMARC and MARC21 and their related documents, and the results of Iranian expert's views helped to develop a list of 22 criteria. This list was delivered to the Iranian MARC experts for the purpose of choosing the most important criterion, and adding some more. A list of 22 criteria was prepared for the IranMARC evaluation. Findings showed that “attention to the needs and progress of the world” and “consideration of International cataloging rules” are the most important criteria.Originality/value: The originality of the paper lies in the proper list of criteria and required specifications for MARC formats, with emphasis on special features of IranMARC.