MARC::Record and its family
===========================

SYNOPSIS

The MARC::* series of modules create a simple object-oriented 
abstraction of MARC record handling.  The files are:

MARC::Doc::Tutorial
    A tutorial explaining how to use MARC::Record.

MARC::Record
    The core class for representing a single MARC record.

MARC::Field
    Another core class for representing a single field in a record.

MARC::Batch
    The basic object for access to a batch of one or more MARC records.

MARC::File
    Base class for the MARC file.

MARC::File::USMARC
MARC::File::MicroLIF
    Subclasses of MARC::File specific to the USMARC and MicroLIF formats

MARC::Lint
    Extension to check MARC records for validity.
    

INSTALLATION

To install this module type the following:

   perl Makefile.PL
   make
   make test
   make install


DEPENDENCIES

If you would like to run MARC::Record under a Perl version that is earlier than 
v5.006 there is a patch which you can apply prior to installing:

    tar xvfz MARC-Record-1.XX.tar.gz
    cd MARC-Record-1.XX
    patch -p1 < pre5006.patch

MARC::* requires Perl and Test::More for tests. Test::More comes standard in
Perl 5.8.

Tests are known to fail under Perl 5.6.0. We recommend you upgrade to a later
version of Perl, or downgrade to an earlier one if you want to use
MARC::Record. Perl 5.6.0 is known to have been an unstable release of Perl,
which was quickly rectified in 5.6.1 and later releases.

COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE

This software is free software and may be distributed under the same
terms as Perl itself .

Copyright (C) 2001-2002 Andy Lester <marc@petdance.com>