Bibliographic Control at the Cross Roads

Abstract

At the beginning of the eighties the Library Establishment was engaged in a battle with the heretics over the implementation of AACR2. Those who were in favour of the new code wanted immediate implementation. The critics, however, wanted delay, arguing that the disruption of implementation would damage library services and be very expensive. They also argued that delay would mean that progress in automation would make implementation easier in a few years' time. No one would claim that the early implementation was a complete disaster. Few, however, could pretend that it made a dramatic impact in improving the quality of our catalogues while some would argue that it had made them worse. Since there are no figures for the cost of the implementation, the critics are justified in arguing that the Library of Congress and the British Library paid a heavy price in order to ensure that implementation took place. Today we face a new challenge. Bibliographic control is at a stage of development which could lead to a dramatic improvement in its scope and effectiveness. This will not be done by producing another edition of AACR. Nor will it be done by maintaining that the main entry is essential. Horizons need to be widened. Principles need to be reexamined. New methods need to be considered and the whole exercise must be linked to automation and not the traditional methods of the past. This paper is an attempt to look at some of the possibilities.