Automated serials control at the British Library Lending Division

The British Library Lending Division serials system is unusual both in its size and in the fact that it has been automated for more than 20 years. The present version involves an on‐line database in‐house, using a PDP‐11/34, together with external operations which produce an index on microfiche. The in‐house part of the system is concerned with purchase control. This paper describes the system and indicates the philosophy which led to its design.