UK National Union Catalogue feasibility study

UK National Union Catalogue feasibility study

Keywords Libraries, Databases

A feasibility study into a National Union Catalogue for the UK, is being undertaken by a consortium led by the University of Sheffield Library and includes Consortium of University Research Libraries (CURL), Glasgow University library and Crossnet Systems. Renewed interest is being shown in the idea 15 years after the demise of the UK Library Database System (UKLDS).

A national union catalogue, listing the holdings of all major libraries in the country could have enormous resource discovery potential for users. In addition, co-operative services such as interlending, document delivery and reciprocal borrowing could arise from the pooling of resources associated with the creation of the catalogue.

The primary focus of the study will be higher education and national library catalogues and collections, although the public library sector will be consulted. The final report will be submitted by the end of 2000.

Source: Information Management Report