The standardization of bibliographical terminology: development and present situation

Abstract

This article is devoted to the standardization of bibliographic terminology. All Soviet and Russian standards , containing the terms in the field of bibliography are considered. The characteristic of the structural and content changes are given. The results of the studying existing domestic SIBID standards, including bibliographic terms are presented. The analysis of their content is carried out, approaches to systematization and terms definition are studied. The development of standardized bibliographic terms were traced through the normative documents. It is concluded that a number of terms are present in the two standards and have different definitions. At the same time, they have not been abolished, that leads to conflicting interpretations in various fields of activity. The lack of bibliographic terms that take into account the features of modern information and communication technologies is indicated. The content of these existing standards is illustrated by specific examples, that today certainly need to be updated. As a result, it was found that the basic standards reflecting the bibliographic terminology are largely outdated and do not correspond to the conceptual apparatus of modern library and information science and practice. The need to develop a national standard «Library and information activities. Terms and definitions» in which is proposed to include only general concepts relevant to the field of bibliography, becomes evident. At the same time, a specialized national standard “Bibliographing. Bibliographic resources. Terms and definitions», that should accumulate all the terms that reflect the processes of creating bibliographic information (bibliography, a special case of which is cataloguing) and diverse forms and types of its existence (bibliographic record, bibliographic reference, bibliographic resource), is being developed. The key term is “bibliographic resource” – the term, which has never been presented in the SIBID terminology standards before. An attention to the controversial issues of terminology is paid. The structure of the standard under development is proposed.