67th IFLA Council and General
Conference
August 16-25, 2001


Code Number:
135-110-E
Division Number:
IV
Professional Group:
Division Bibliographic Control
Joint Meeting with:
-
Meeting Number:
110
Simultaneous Interpretation: Yes

Section on Bibliography
Review of activities 2000-2001


John D. Byrum, Jr.
Secretary of the Section on Bibliography,
Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. USA







Scope of the Section on Bibliography

The Section on Bibliography is primarily concerned with the content, arrangement, production,
dissemination and preservation of bibliographic information, especially (but not exclusively) where
these pertain to national bibliographic services. It is also concerned with the promotion of the importance
of the discipline of bibliography to library professionals in all types of library (not just national libraries),
to publishers, distributors and retailers and also to end-users. While taking full account of technological
possibilities, the Section is aware that such developments are not yet fully available in some areas of the
world, and it will ensure that its solutions are not necessarily dependent on particular technologies. The
Section is closely associated, where appropriate, not only with the other Sections within the Division of
Bibliographic Control and with the UBCIM Programme, but also with the Sections on Information
Technology and of National Libraries.

Standing Committee Membership and Officers

109 associations, institutions, and personal affiliates are currently members of the Section.

The members of the new Standing Committee for the period 2001-2005 are: 20
full members, 4 corresponding members, and 1 honorary advisor.

Full members of the Standing Committee are from 17 different countries: Croatia, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sri
Lanka, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America.


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Werner Stephan (Universitätsbibliothek Stuttgart) and John Byrum (Library of Congress) will complete
their terms of office as chair/treasurer and secretary, respectively, at Boston and elections will be held for
both offices. Kirsten Waneck (Dansk BiblioteksCenter) is serving as Information Coordinator.

Action Plan 2000-2001

At its two meetings held during the 2000 IFLA Conference in Jerusalem, the Section’s Standing
Committee devoted considerable attention to its Medium Term Program for 1998-2001 and the action
items formulated to achieve the goals for the period. Specific topics of interest from the action plan are
normally handled by working groups. At the moment, the members of the Standing Committee are
involved in various projects of the section itself and in projects in cooperation with other sections of the
Division of Bibliographic Control and with the Sections on Information and Technology and on National
Libraries.

The Section on Bibliography’s Standing Committee has dealt attentively with the recommendations and
results of the International Conference on National Bibliographic Services (ICNBS) held in 1998. The
work showed main points of concern which should be pursued and promoted. Unfortunately, the status of
the proceedings of this conference is still not clear, although most recently publication had been projected
for autumn 2000. However, the document regarding Guidelines for Legal Deposit is now available
electronically on IFLANET at http://www.ifla.org/VII/s1/gnl/legaldep1.htm . This document is a much
needed revision of earlier Guidelines undertaken to consider changes resulting from a larger number
range of jurisdictions and the advent of electronic publishing and publications.

The Standing Committee last year established a small working group to: (1) identify national
bibliographic agencies which essentially comply with the recommendations of the ICNBS, mentioned
above; and (2) to discover bibliographies which could be more effective if produced in greater
compliance with the recommendations. An additional justification for this project is to determine and
suggest ways by which national bibliographic agencies can use their limited resources more efficiently
through voluntary cooperation. A final report has been submitted, and it will be the subject of meetings
during the Boston Conference.

The Section appointed another working group to develop and test a strategy for enlisting publisher
cooperation in providing metadata for electronic resources they produce to assist national bibliographic
agencies in preparing entries for these resources. This group will also investigate how best to utilize
metadata from publishers to promote bibliographic control. The Section will work with the Section on
Classification and Indexing to undertake a survey of “subject gateways” as an emerging form of
webliography of increasing utility to librarians and library users. Yet another working group has been
formed to propose guidelines to serve as selection criteria to assist national bibliographic agencies in
deciding which electronic resources to represent in their bibliographies. In addition, the Standing
Committee is revisiting and updating two earlier surveys in this field which it had commissioned, one by
Ross Bourne on “National Bibliographic Agencies and the Book Trade” and the other by Robert Holley
entitled “Results of a Survey on Bibliographic Control and National Bibliography”.

Conference Programmes and Workshops

Jerusalem, 2000:

The Section sponsored an Open Forum that was well attended, at which three papers were presented.
Bohdana Stoklasova of the National Library of the Czech Republic presented a paper she prepared with a
contribution by Marie Balikova, also of the National Library, on “The national bibliography of a small
country in international context” (available at http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla66/papers/093-123e.htm )

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Rochelle Kedar, Bar Ilan University, Gamat Gan, Israel presented a paper on “Bibliographic projects and
tools in Israel” (available at: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla66/papers/090-123e.htm ). The final paper was
prepared by Maria Patrizia Calabresi, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale ( Rome) entitled “Two national
central libraries in Italy: bibliographic co-operation or competition?”
(available at: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla66/papers/066-123e.htm)
Three speakers were invited to share their experience with about 30 participants from 13 different
countries who attended the Workshop.

The first speaker was Retha Snyman, a senior lecturer in the Department of Information Science,
University of Pretoria, South Africa. Her talk covered “Bibliographic control - is the current training
still relevant?” is available at http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla66/papers/108-183e.htm . The second speaker
was Mona Madsen, Head of the Department of Information Studies in the Royal School of Library and
Information Science, Copenhagen. Her presentation focused on “Teaching bibliography, bibliographical
control, and bibliographical competence” and is available at http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla66/papers/144-
183e.htm
There followed an extensive and lively discussion on the Workshop topics.

BOSTON 2001:

The Section is planning an Open Forum on August 21, 12:30-15:00, on the topic “Bibliography:
indispensable or redundant” and to include the following presentations:

•
“Bibliographic control or chaos: an agenda for national bibliographic services in the 21st century”
by Michael Gorman (Dean, Library Services, California State University, Fresno, USA)

•
“Selektion von Online-Publikationen für Nationalbibliographien” by Claudia Werner (Head,
Central Bibliographic Services, Die Deutsche Bibliothek, Frankfurt am Main, Germany)

•
“The New Books Project: a prototype for re-inventing the Cataloguing-in-Publication program to
meet the needs for publishers, libraries and readers in the 21st century” by John Celli (Head, CIP
Division, Library of Congress, Washington, USA)

•
“The Canadian National Bibliography: 50 years of continuity and change” by David Balatti
(Director, Bibliographic Services, National Library of Canada, Ottawa, Canada).

In addition, the Section will co-sponsor, with the Section on National Libraries, a half-day Workshop
August 23 13:30-17:30 on “What makes a good national bibliography even better? Current Situation and
Future Prospects”. It will cover the findings of a recent study of the status and trends concerning
production of national bibliographies throughout the world – with particular attention to their
conformance with and implementation of recommendations produced by the International Conference on
National Bibliographic Services (Copenhagen, 1998). In addition, representatives of three national
bibliographies selected for some exceptional accomplishments – Swaziland, South Africa, and Sweden –
will report on their accomplishments and the measures taken to realize them. There will be information
shared regarding the International Conference on National Bibliography in a Changing Information
Environment, held October 2000 in Tallinn, Estonia. In addition, a 1996 survey regarding impacts of new
technology on production and distribution of national bibliographies will be updated. Finally, there will
be a thought-provoking presentation on uses and usefulness of national bibliographies.

The conveners are John D. Byrum, Jr. Secretary IFLA Section on Bibliography, Library of Congress USA
and Fernanda Guesdes de Campos, IFLA Section on National Libraries, National Library of Portugal.
The program consists of presentations by Anne Langballe, National Library of Norway, Oslo Division;

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Barbara Bell, College of Wooster, USA; Tienie de Klerk, National Library of South Africa, Pretoria,
RSA; Paiki Muswazi, University of Swaziland Library; Eva Tedenmyr, National Library of Sweden,
Stockholm; Janne Andresoo, National Library of Estonia, Tallin; Unni Knutsen, National Library of
Norway, Oslo Division; and, Marcelle Beaudiquez, Bibliothèque nationale de France. Time has been
allocated for discussion by Workshop participants.

July 9, 2001