Retrospective Conversion: The Early Years

Retrospective conversion was initially chiefly associated with catalogues created using MARC (machine-readable cataloguing) records. It was done for two main purposes: to alleviate the problem of catalogues split between two physical forms, and to assist in housekeeping routines. There were two methods of performing the conversion: either to search for records in an external source, or to create fresh records. In either case the work could be either done in-house or contracted out. Optical character recognition was barely usable during the early years. Considerable variations in costs were reported. Various specific projects are described, and some of the author's personal experiences are included.