This standard specifies the requirements for a
generalized information interchange format that
will accommodate many types of data, especially
bibliographic description of all forms of materials
and related data such as authority, holdings, circulation,
etc.’ It describes a generalized structure, a
framework, designed specifically for exchange of
data between processing systems and not necessarily
for use as a processing format within systems.
This standard does not specify the content of a
record and does not, in general, assign meaning to
tags, indicators, or data element identifiers. Such
specifications shall be provided by particular implementations
of the standard. The format may be
used for the interchange of records using various
communication media.