Rumors have it, or so I hear from sources in New York, that German libraries are about to adopt USMARC. !!! This is very far from the truth !!! It probably came up in connection with information about the REUSE project, conducted at Goettingen based Pica utility for the Northern provinces, and partially funded by OCLC. LC has been represented in it, and I happened to be involved as well. REUSE was meant to investigate possible improvements of formats and cataloging rules on either side to enhance reusability of each other's data. The Final Report of this project is about to be published jointly by OCLC and the Goettingen Pica center. At present, there's no local or regional system in Germany (except 1) that would be able to function under USMARC, although we can and do convert USMARC into local formats, to an extent. What's more, there are very few catalogers here who have a working knowledge of AACR and MARC, most have none at all. Which would mean massive re-education. Can you imagine what it would mean to introduce an entirely different code and format in your environment? And no full German translation exists of either AACR or MARC. Please, if you hear said rumor, do what you can to dispel it. It serves nobody to raise false expectations. And read the Final Report in case you are interested. We'll send out a note on this list as soon as it becomes available. Regards, B.E.