Metadata has been used in libraries since the days of card catalogues. With the automation of libraries and the development of MARC formats, metadata schemes have gained an important role in the implementation of different functions, common to library practice. In the 1960s, the technology of magnetic tapes influenced the development of MARC records and the ISO 2709 standard. Similarly, the eXtensible Markup metaLanguage (XML) and XML tools for processing XML documents have influenced the development of XML schemas for description and exchange of bibliographic and related data, which are equivalent to those in MARC records. In the past few years, we have started to standardise metadata XML schemas for the description of different types of library materials (digital and non–digital), which are not dependant upon MARC records. The development and implementation of specifications, such as XML Schema, XSLT, XPath and XQuery, enables saving, searching, presenting, verifying and other kinds of record processing in XML formats in accordance with metadata schemes. This article describes the most commonly used metadata schemes in library information systems, namely MARC DTD, MARCXML, MODS, MADS, METS, BiblioML, DC and ONIX. Records in some of the aforementioned formats can also be transferred from the COBIB.SI shared bibliographic database using COBISS/OPAC software and authorised access.
The concept of web accessibility provides the basis for ensuring accessibility of websites and mobile apps for all users, primarily for persons with a disability. The Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications Act from 2018 represents a regulation of minimal harmonization and it summarizes the EU directive. Although the act was adopted several years ago, the situation in Slovenia is still relatively undeveloped.
The paper reviews, with some historical distance, the circumstances leading to the VMS operating system becoming the basis for developing and implementing the COBISS national shared bibliographic system.
The article presents and analyses selected digital humanities projects and research initiatives in which libraries and other heritage institutions participate actively. These ambitious global projects supplement the existing knowledge on general and specific social and cultural-historical phenomena in the field of written cultural heritage with the help of web-based applications, tools and the collaborative location-independent research approach.
Due to a large number of web devices and many end users, who want constant availability and quick responsiveness of applications, new approaches to computer programming are required. The concept of reactive programming, its basic characteristics, reactive solutions and microservices based on asynchronous operation are presented.
The E-CRIS web applications representing research activities in countries that participate in the COBISS.Net system make it possible to access data in the XML format adjusted for communication among computers. Internal IZUM applications and different applications of scientific institutions access the data. In 2016, access to a wider data set in the JSON format was made possible.
