Curriculum Enhanced MARC Records will soon be possible using a new addition to the USMARC standard. The changes were approved by the Library of Congress and the American Library Association in Juhe 1993 and will be published in 1994. When the changes go into effect, it will be possible to provide curriculum-based information about local library materials to teachers, librarians, and others. With Curriculum Enhanced MARC records, it will be possible to locate all available materials relevant to a particular curriculum need.
The new index term-curriculum objective field includes primary curriculum objectives (using terms such as math manipulatives, reading objective 1, drug abuse awareness), subordinate curriculum objectives (handicapped impaired education, peer pressure), curriculum codes, and correlation factors.
The target audience field has been expanded to include special audience characteristics (vision impaired, fine motor skills impaired), and motivation/ interest level. There is now a place in the summary field to quote reviews of curriculum materials. These records can then be retrieved by searching for specific curriculum-based terms and special education terms. Curriculum Enhanced MARC records also help meet the needs of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
