National Bibliographies – Do They Have a Future?

Abstract

National bibliographies serve a variety of functions, but act essentially as archival records of the national imprint. A number of factors may, however, alter our views of their purpose and affect our expectations of their long term future. Coverage and currency are often constrained by inadequate legal deposit mechanisms, but it may be questioned whether the national bibliography needs to include all publications or whether the national bibliographic agency (NBA) should act as a coordinator of current bibliographic data. Some NBAs have been driven to reduce the bibliographic content of their records as a result of declining income and increases in publishing output. Such measures have not met with universal approval, but appear to have resulted in improved currency. Technology continues to have an impact on the production of national bibliographies, with CD-ROMs, the UNIMARC format and, particularly, networking initiatives all facilitating greater availability of and access to bibliographic information. Networking may well render less relevant the local basis of national bibliographies, with possibilities for supranational coverage and the linking of document supply to bibliographic access. Closer cooperation with the book trade should result in the reuse of publishers' bibliographic data, rather than the NBA having to create bibliographic records from scratch. Politically, the concept of what constitutes a national grouping is evolving, with new alliances between countries as well as the disintegration of former federal states taking place. Important questions arise as to the future purpose of the national bibliography, the potential for cooperation with other producers of bibliographic data and whether the role of the national bibliography is likely to be usurped at the international level. NBAs must view these questions as an opening up of opportunities rather than as threats to their existence.