KORMARC: Its characteristics and influence on the library automation in Korea

This article investigates the characteristics of KORMARC (Korean Machine Readable MARC) format and the role and influence of KORMARC on the development of library automation in Korea, as an example of library automation in the developing countries. The first section is a general overview of the development of KORMARC. In the second section, the characteristics of the KORMARC format for monographs are investigated, mainly based on the bibliographic characteristics in the East-Asian countries. In the third section, the influence of KORMARC on library automation in Korea is reviewed along with the prospects for the future.