The IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations) published
the first edition of "UNIMARC: Universal MARC Format" in 1977, followed
by a second edition in 1980 and a UNIMARC Handbook in 1983. UNIMARC
(Universal Machine Readable Cataloging) was set up as a solution to the
20 existing national MARC formats, with a lack of compatibility and
extensive editing when bibliographic records were exchanged. With
UNIMARC, catalogers would be able to process records created in any
MARC format. Records in one MARC format would first be converted into
UNIMARC, and then be converted into another MARC format. UNIMARC would
also be promoted as a format on its own.