The MODS schema is intended to be able to carry selected data from existing MARC 21 records as well as to enable the creation of original resource description records.
The MODS schema is intended to be able to carry selected data from existing MARC 21 records as well as to enable the creation of original resource description records.
The bibutils program set interconverts between various bibliography formats using a common MODS-format XML intermediate. For example, one can convert RIS-format files to Bibtex by doing two transformations: RIS->MODS->Bibtex. By using a common intermediate for N formats, only 2N programs are required and not N²-N. These programs operate on the command line and are styled after standard UNIX-like filters.