36. évfolyam, 1990. 5-6. szám

Archívum

Referral services and information on location.

SONNEVEND Péter

By referral the author means an information and/or documentation service which, in addition to the bibliographic identification of the materials requested, provides information also on their location. This tank is fulfilled by union catalogues and union finding lists. In an analysis of the National Széchényi Library's central services in the early 1980's it was found that the performance of union catalogues should be improved by computerisation. According to the plans at first the union catalogue of foreign journals, then that of books was to be computerised. Because of the too complex system programme, the lack of adequate management, the ceasing of central support, plans could not entirely come true. The publication of the retrospective periodicals catalogue is too slow, the union catalogue of current periodicals is grappling with a backlog of some years. Reporting libraries cannot supply data in a machine-readable form. As a counterpoint, the author describes the capabilities of the periodicals database of a developed country, the services of databases based on union catalogues. The author recommends that the National Periodicals Database be renewed as regards systems organization, the registration of the holding libraries of so far unrecorded types of materials be solved, a unified network be aimed at, and financial problems be solved by financial aid to initial operations. (pp. 488-492)

Országos Széchényi Könyvtár Észrevételek