Maurice, Thanks to you and the others who have chimed in so far. I am on the right now road and so I apologize for a lag in responding to some good input. I definitely do not have any interest in developing a totally new system if there are already viable options. In fact I hope that was clear in my initial post. I do have some issues with what I feel are limitations with the current common modes of cataloging (mostly in the area of being able to isolate specific performers and works within an overall recording) but am more interested in using or adapting what already exists than in starting from scratch. I am not sure what your specific recommendation is but I will spend some time following the link in your message and would be happy for any further input. Once again, thanks to all, Peter Hirsch On Fri, Nov 21, 2014 at 10:58 AM, Maurice Mengel <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Peter, > > why reinvent the wheel? There are actually quite a few tools that import > MARC and some of them may accommodate the level of complexity that you are > looking for. There should be open source cataloging tools for libraries, > but I don't know any in particular. Definitely worth a look. > > You could also check, for example, open source repository softwares, such > as those managed by DuraSpace (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuraSpace). > They are made not ONLY for cataloging, but they also catalog and they > should import MARC as well as other stuff. > > maurice > > > > On Fri, Nov 21, 2014 at 7:50 AM, Carla Arton <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > Since you are interested in MARC, be aware that any investment you make > now > > in a database that is MARC based may need additional investment if/when > > BibFrame is implemented as a replacement for MARC. > > > > http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/ > > > > See the AV Modeling Study > > <http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/pdf/bibframe-avmodelingstudy-may15-2014.pdf > > > > released this past year. It explores the relationships you mention > between > > varying performers and performances on one album. You can also play with > > filling in fields they have proposed in their testbed editor > > <http://bibframe.org/tools/editor/>. > > > > There are other options as well, such as PBCore <http://pbcore.org/>. > They > > just held a How-to <http://vimeo.com/109940772> webinar about a month > ago > > which is available online. > > > > You may also consider contacting the ARSC Cataloging Committee > > <http://www.arsc-audio.org/committees/cataloging-committee.html>. > > > > Best, Carla Arton > > > <SNIP><Much additional useful advice deleted to save space>