UKOLN - Bibliographic Management |
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UKOLN - Bibliographic Management |
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Bibliographic management covers a range of issues in the management of bibliographic data. No longer confined to the concept of catalogues entries for predominately printed materials, bibliographic data can be described as any data that identifies, describes and locates specific works of intellectual or artistic creation, in whatever physical form they exist. Bibliographic management is concerned with:
UKOLN's bibliographic management research focuses on the quality, standards and format of records for bibliographic materials in both current and retrospective cataloguing and on performance measurement of bibliographic databases.
No.1 May 2003
No.2 Feb 2004
No.3 May 2004
The Reveal project to develop the national database of resources in accessible formats is making progress. Following the strategic review by UKOLN in 1999 and the feasibility study in 2000, further development work has been funded by DCMS and Resource, the British Library, Lloyds TSB, the Ellerman Foundation, with contributions of staff time, resources and expenditure from NLB and RNIB. The database structure is now in place and data is being migrated, cleaned and enhanced. The first stage of Reveal was launched on 16 September 2003.
In the autumn of 2000, the British Library undertook a major consultation into the future development and maintenance of the UKMARC format. The outcome revealed a significant majority among UK libraries and information agencies in favour of the adoption of the MARC21 format in place of UKMARC. As a result, the British Library has decided that MARC21 will be the standard for data creation and processing of its bibliographic records. The implementation of MARC21 by the British Library is now currently anticipated to be in the latter part of 2003.
During the consultation, a number of concerns were articulated about how the Library would implement MARC21, and what practical consequences this might have for UK users of USMARC. A document "The MARC21 format and the UK library community: proposals by the British Library" is now available. It endeavours to answer some of the questions raised, and describes how the British Library proposes to undertake the transition.
Although the deadline for response has passed, the consultation documents are still available. They comprise a report on harmonisation by the BIC Bibliographic Standards Technical Subgroup with a covering letter and a response form / questionnaire.