A library chooses its cataloguing practice, depending on the environment where it operates. Some experience with and dilemmas about the use of the COMARC format are described as seen by cataloguers in a public library while solving their everyday practical cataloguing problems.
The article describes the process of library automation in the Bulgarian National Library and the conversion of the records in their databases into the COMARC format and lists the reasons why COBISS software was chosen by the National Library of Bulgaria and other Bulgarian libraries. It also mentions the need to expand the COMARC format due to countries with different cataloguing practices participating in the COBISS.Net project.
COBISS is a synonym for autonomous library information systems, used in Slovenia and in the countries of the South-Western Balkans for over 20 years. With the aim of faster exchange of bibliographic records in the region, these countries signed an agreement on the establishment of the COBISS.Net network in 2003.
Resource Description and Access (RDA), the successor to the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR), has had a significant impact on both bibliographic and authority data as they are represented in Machine-Readable Cataloging records in MARC 21. A brief history of the develoment of RDA is outlined. Since 2006, OCLC has kept up with some fifteen MARC 21 Bibliographic, Authority, and Holdings Updates through a total of nine OCLC-MARC Updates.
The holdings of Slovenian libraries also include photographs, which can be catalogued and included in the COBIB shared bibliographic database. Photographs as a medium are very specific compared to other types of library material, as one of their characteristics is that the data required for bibliographic description is missing. However, cataloguing in the COMARC format still enables adequate description.
The COBISS.MK system and shared cataloguing represent key issues in the field of librarianship for Macedonia. Research reveals that cataloguers are satisfied with the COBISS2/Cataloguing software module and that the quality of bibliographic records depends primarily on cataloguers’ familiarity with cataloguing rules and on their use of manuals.
Language is an important factor of economic development; translation and localisation are necessary for the overall progress and economic development. In the European Union, language is key and English is no longer sufficient for the development of a common language policy; they are now striving to achieve a situation where every European would speak at least two foreign languages. In science, the number of publications in the researchers’ mother tongues has increased and publishing in English is no longer a sign of prestige.
Library catalogues allow users searching of library materials in different ways. To achieve successful and efficient searching, bibliographic and authority records should be created according to cataloguing rules, besides perfect and accurate records are required. That is why, cataloguers are responsible for an adequate quality of records and the quality control should be regularly examined.
The paper describes the upload of bibliographic records from the COBIB.SI shared database as well as holdings data of certain Slovenian libraries into WorldCat, the Online Union Catalogue. In 2009, the initial upload of records was made and a regular quarterly upload followed.
