Section on Cataloguing

Annual report 1994-1995

Ms Ingrid Parent (Acquisitions & Bibliographic Services Branch, National Library of Canada, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A ON4, Canada (fax: +(1-891) 9530291; e-mail: inp@abs.ncl-bnc.ca)) was elected Chair of the Section on Cataloguing succeeding Olivia Madison (USA). Ms Suzanne Jouguelet (Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 11 Quai François Mauiac, 75706 Paris Cedex 13, France (fax: +(33-1) 53794428; e-mail: suzanne.jouguelet@bnf.fr)) was re-elected Secretary.

Standing Committee and Section Membership

The Standing Committee has 20 members from 13 countries, four corresponding members, two observers, two honorary advisors, and one special advisor. Interest in SC membership necessitated the conducting of a postal ballot by IFLA Headquarters for the elections to the Standing Committee. Section registration totals 141.

Projects

ISBD(CF)

An ISBD Computer Files review group was created during the Havana 1994 IFLA Conference. Its purpose is the re-examination of the ISBD(CF) to follow the evolution of new technologies. A meeting of the review group was held in Washington DC in April 1995. The scope of the document has been enlarged to interactive media and, more globally, to the remote access of computer files, re-publication of computer files, and new optical technologies. Following the Istanbul Conference, a worldwide review will be conducted, with publication expected at the end of 1996.

Anonymous Classics

A two-stage project was approved during the Havana Conference. The first stage was to update the current document (1978) and the second, to create new sections for those anonymous classics from countries not represented in the current edition.

Form and Structure of Corporate Names

The Standing Committee reviewed a report of the results of a Dutch study to revise rules for the formation of corporate names.

Multilingual and Multiscript Catalogues

The Istanbul Conference offered an opportunity to review the complex question of the integration of multiscript records in various types of bibliographic files. These had been raised at the satellite meeting held in Madrid in August 1993 in cooperation with the Section on Information Technology. Four recommendations of this satellite meeting on Multilingual and Multiscript Automation were of interest to the Section:

encourage changes to cataloguing rules to include all scripts and languages;
develop recommendations on sorting arrangements across languages and scripts;
develop recommendations for treatment of word division in appropriate non-Roman scripts; and
develop recommendations for treatment of abbreviations in bibliographic records to reduce the difficulty of comprehension of data in multilingual databases.

Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records

The study is ongoing and consultants have completed their extensive report. The task at hand is now to identify the basic functional requirements of all general types of national bibliographic records. Following the final results, work on the simplification of the ISBDs will begin.

International Conference on National Bibliographies, 1997

The aim of this conference, to be held in Copenhagen, 12-14 November 1997, is to review, some 20 years after, the recommendations of the Paris Conference. It will be hosted by the Royal Library in Copenhagen and will be open, by invitation only, to 150 participants. There will be a keynote speech looking back at the Paris Conference, followed by eight papers on broad themes, five of which have already been decided upon: standards and access, legal deposit, content and coverage of national bibliographies, format and media, and book trade cooperation. A paper on the final report of the Functional Requirements Study will be part of the conference programme. There will be a pre-conference publication (state-of-the-art, reading list, etc.) with input from various IFLA Sections. The steering committee is composed of Marcelle Beaudiquez (France), Barbara Bell (USA), Françoise Bourdon (France), Ross Bourne (UK), Mona Madsen (Denmark), Ingrid Parent (Canada), and Marie-France Plassard (Germany).

Publications

SCATNews

The Section's Newsletter was edited and distributed by Sarah Thomas (USA), who plans on sending electronic copy to as many recipients as possible.

Future Conferences

Beijing 1996

The Section will offer a programme on cooperative cataloguing initiatives with examples from COBRA in Europe; the cooperative cataloguing in the USA; and a Chinese paper on cataloguing-in-publication.

Istanbul Meetings

The Section held an open session and a workshop with the theme, "Multiscript/Multilingual/Multicharacter Issues for the Online Environment".

Papers presented

Towards a National Cooperative Cataloguing System for Manuscripts in Turkey
by MEHMET E. KUCUK and RICHARD HARTLEY

Abstract:
This paper examines ways in which bibliographic control of Turkey's rich manuscript collection can be improved. The approximate sizes of the manuscript collections in Turkey are indicated and the major collections noted. This is followed by a report on the current state of manuscript cataloguing in Turkey. Any proposals for improving the current situation must take realistic account of information technology. By this is meant that the opportunities offered by the technology must be exploited to their best possible effect, but that consideration needs to be given to the constraints of manpower and finances that are available. The technologies that may be used to improve the current situation are considered, and the steps that need to be taken to improve the current situation are outlined.

The State of the Art of Cataloguing in Turkey and Prospects for the Future
by DOGAN ATILGAN

Non-Roman Script Materials in North American Libraries: Automation and International Exchange
by JOHN EILTS

Nine Problems Concerning Arabic
by CHARLOTTE WIEN

Multilingual and Multicharacter Set Data in Library Systems and Networks: Experience and Perspectives from Switzerland and Finland
by RIITTA LEHTINEN and GENEVIEVE CLAVEL-MERRIN

The Unicode (TM) Standard: An Overview with Emphasis on Bidirectionality
by JOAN M. ALIPRAND

Cataloguing of Documents for Multilingual Catalogues of Libraries of Russia: Analysis of the Problem Situation
by NATALIA N. KASPAROVA

Turkish Experiences with Multiscript, Multicharacter and Multilingual Cataloguing Issues
by AHMET CELENKOGLU

System of Multilingual Catalogues and the Problems Arising at the Initial Stage of Electronic Database Creation
by LUDMILA A. TEREKHOVA

Abstracts:
Not available.

Latest Revision: September 4, 1995