International List of UNIMARC Users and Experts

by
Marie-France Plassard and Stephanie Ratthei,
(IFLA UBCIM Core Activity)

In 1995 the IFLA UBCIM Programme published a preliminary list of UNIMARC users and experts compiled according to replies to a questionnaire sent to around 100 institutions (mostly but not exclusively national libraries). Only half of the libraries contacted answered the query.

The results enabled the IFLA UBCIM Programme and its Permanent UNIMARC Committee to answer more efficiently the numerous requests they receive about implementation and use of the format. A list of institutions planning to use the format within the next three years was also included. Several indicated that they would welcome assistance in organizing training seminars and workshops and that they would find the presence of UNIMARC experts for teaching sessions or individual consultations extremely useful. This led the UBCIM Programme and the PUC, which had organized several meetings and consultancies in the past, to plan further meetings, a significant number of them in Eastern Europe.

It was decided in 1998 to update the list, widening its scope by contacting further institutions and a range of utilities. The 1995 questionnaire was sent to 118 institutions while another one was designed for the utilities (54 were contacted). The UBCIM Programme received 60 replies from the institutions and 19 from the utilities.

Fifty institutions are currently using the UNIMARC format. They are listed in alphabetical order by country in Table 1.

Ten institutions which do not use UNIMARC plan to implement it within the next three years:

• National Library of Albania
• National Library of Bangladesh
• National Library of Belarus
• National Library of Cuba
• National Library of Iran
• National Library of Korea
• Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
• National Library of Peru
• Bibliothèque de l'Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal
• Schweizerische Landesbibliothek, Switzerland

Of the nine institutions which indicated in the 1995 questionnaire that they were planning to use UNIMARC within the next three years, two of them have fufilled their plans in the meantime: the National Library of Austria and the National Library of Russia.

Ten institutions are planning to offer UNIMARC records for distribution within two years. Also ten are planning to provide training.

The UBCIM Programme received nineteen replies from utilities. Seventeen reported that they had experience in the UNIMARC format. They are listed in alphabetical order by name in Table 2.

Several utilities mentioned problems UNIMARC has presented. These problems are related to conversion or record creation, as well as to data exchange, uncertainty of correct usage and set-ups for automated systems.

The IFLA UBCIM Office welcomes any kind of information concerning the points raised in the questionnaire from UNIMARC users not contacted in the past surveys, including both institutions and utilities.

UNIMARC-DIS, a new listserv discussion list on the Web, has been created with the intention to promote international cooperation among librarians and other professionals using or interested in UNIMARC and to exchange information and experiences.

UNIMARC Users Discussion List: http://infoserv.inist.fr/wwsympa.fcgi/info/unimarc-dis

Table 1. SUMMARY of Responses to 1998 Questionnaire (Institutions)

Table 2. SUMMARY of Responses to 1998 Questionnaire (Utilities)