The ISTIS magnetic tape communication format for bibliographic records

Abstract

The problems of communication formats for the exchange of bibliographic records on magnetic tape have always been regarded as issues of primary importance in scientific and technical information. In this artiele the structure and elements of communication formats are analyzed in detail. The two types of record structure adopted by ISTIS (the International Scientific and Technical Information System of the CMEA countries) are compared and their compatibility is proved. An attempt to classify document types is made and the elements of the standardized communication format MEKOF-I are deseribed.