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ISSN 1443-0568 | no. 38 | April 1999


Networking with the library community

National bibliographic services—in Denmark, an international conference

The first International Conference on National Bibliographic Services for many years was held in Copenhagen, Denmark during November 1998. Participation was by invitation only, and around 100 people from national libraries and bibliographic agencies worldwide were in attendance. The National Library of Australia was represented by Ms Jan Fullerton, Deputy Director-General (Acting).

The Conference was held to consider revisions to the guidelines on national bibliography arising from the 1977 UNESCO-sponsored International Congress on National Bibliographies. These guidelines have been widely influential in shaping developments in bibliography over the past 20 years, and have resulted in a significant improvement in national bibliography throughout the world. However, with changes to publishing formats both in national bibliographies themselves and in the items they record, a review of the guidelines and updating was felt to be necessary.

Five papers were delivered at the conference on the topics of national bibliographic services: coverage, standards, distribution and exchange and legal deposit. The papers are available at http://www.ifla.org/VI/3/icnbs/

The garden and main entrance, Royal Library, Copenhagen
Above: The garden and the main entrance of the Royal Library in Copenhagen. Photograph reproduced courtesy of the Royal Copenhagen Library

The conference also made 23 recommendations on national bibliography relating to legal deposit (introducing, broadening and updating deposit laws), coverage, presentation and timeliness, the international standards which should be used, and future activities for IFLA and national bibliographic agencies. The recommendations may be found in full at: http://www.ifla.org/VI/3/icnbs/fina.htm

And in Australia—a report

The International Conference on National Bibliographic Services was timely for Australian libraries. They have been considering the future of the Australian national bibliography through a report from an advisory group set up to brief the National Library on users needs, content and delivery. The Council of Australian State Libraries has also discussed the report. It can be found on the National Library's Web site at: http://www.nla.gov.au/ANBreport.html

The National Library is responding to the report's recommendations in a number of ways. Responsibility for policy on the national bibliography has been passed to the Library's Collection Management Division, while the Kinetica Division will deliver the Australian national bibliographic product. Kinetica will be the vehicle for the national bibliography, and a number of its features will be utilised. Records that qualify for inclusion in the national bibliography will be flagged, and pre-packaged searches (e.g. for a `March 1999' group of items) will be developed. The cost of a retrospective ANB on CD-ROM and its potential market will be explored, and the Library will hold discussions with other libraries and cultural institutions in an attempt to enlist the widest coverage of records for all types of material, including films, videos and sound recordings.

The National Library is committed to ensuring the continuation of the national bibliography, and will work on the ANB Advisory Group recommendations during the year.

| Contents list for this issue of Gateways |

Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: lkirwan@nla.gov.au

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