MetaBibCatsWiki INTRODUCTION
From UCONN Libraries Staff Wiki
Contents |
Preface
The purpose of this directory is to provide direct online access to all the world’s national online collective catalogs that are available free, without subscription, to anyone with internet access. What is an online union catalog? It is a collection of bibliographic records from multiple libraries all searchable from a single website.
It is hoped that this resource will be of value to scholars, researchers and librarians worldwide.
Almost a decade ago, the IFLA Directory of National Union Catalogues was created with a somewhat similar intent. It was indeed an exceptional achievement, well designed, and presumably the first of its kind. Unfortunately, even though the website encourages the submission of corrections to the IFLA organization, the current resource is largely unreliable because of omissions and very inconsistent updating.
The present directory offers a fresh start, as well as a mechanism via the Wiki format, for the direct and ongoing updating of information. All responsible parties with a stake in keeping their own nation’s scholarly resources as accurately represented as possible, are urged to participate in maintaining the MetaBibCatsWiki.
Organization and description of content
The directory is organized and searchable by country name, both in English and in the native language. It is also searchable by library and catalog name keywords, either in the native language or English translation.
The following types of online catalogs are included, as available:
- Catalogs that represent the holdings of a significant percentage of a country's libraries, with a special focus on academic, research, and public.
- National library catalogs are included as secondary resources. No attempt was made to include specifically governmental libraries or national archives, unless their holdings were already represented in a given union catalog.
- Where no union catalogs exist, national directories of online library catalogs are included to assist researchers in exploring the holdings of a given nation's libraries.
If a fee is charged for basic access to a primary level union catalog - the catalog will be listed with a "$$" designation. Although these fee based catalogs will be acknowledged if they are the only collective resource for their country, the focus of this directory is to direct users to freely available resources.
A few notable multinational union catalogs are listed and described in the Section titled International. They are also searchable by catalog name keywords using the search box at left.
Contact Information
For questions about the MetaBibCatsWiki, or to suggest additions or amendments if you choose not to edit yourself, please contact: [lana.babij@uconn.edu]
How to update the directory
You are encouraged to help keep this wiki up to date! The online catalogs and related services being offered throughout the world are in continual development and national library institutions are continually releasing new or enhanced products on the web. Librarians and researchers who are aware of new national union or collective catalogs that fit the criteria described in "Organization and description of content" above , or that have other verifiable corrections or revisions to existing information in this wiki are welcome to edit this wiki's content.
- To edit, you must first Register.
- Select the edit marker closest upper left to the section you wish to edit. Follow the editing conventions outlined here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Wikitext_examples . Be sure to hit "show preview" to see your submission in final format, make adjustments as needed, then hit "save page" to have your edit stick. Follow the same procedure to add new content.
- If you prefer to have the current wiki manager input your suggested updates, please submit to [lana.babij@uconn.edu]. Include "MetaBibCatsWiki edit" in your subject heading. Input of your edits may take a few days.
- Please note that all content is subject to revision by the manager and other users of the wiki. You may track changes here: http://wiki.lib.uconn.edu/wiki/Special:Recentchanges .
Some additional resources
- lib-web-cats Find links to library websites and catalogs worldwide by searching locations or names of libraries. In addition to links, helpful basic information about each library is available by clicking on "details." An advanced search screen allows locating libraries by various library or library system characteristics.
- Libweb: Library Servers via WWW "Updated daily. Libweb currently lists over 7500 pages from libraries in over 135 countries". Provides a simple and direct means to locate the online catalogs of individual libraries throughout the world(outside the U.S., it is generally the university, national and only the most important public libraries).
- INFO CONNECT: International Union Catalogs. Arguably the most comprehensive non-wiki listing of union catalogs available that is also generally up-to-date. Arranged by four broad world regions. Like MetaBibCats, it appears to be a work in progress.
- Portals to the World International information website of the Library of Congress that includes selected links to resources on various topics for each country. For nearly every country, a "libraries, archives" category includes links to selected major institutions as well as to a variety of other significant collections and catalogs.
- Gateway to Library Catalogs Provides links to over 200 Z39.50 library catalogs worldwide, with the majority in the U.S.
- National Library Websites Thorough and well maintained guide from the University of Queensland, Australia. See also National Library Catalogues Worldwide.
- ShareILL. " a new wiki devoted to all aspects of ILL and resource sharing", with 4 sections of particular relevance to MetaBibCatsWiki's scope: Gateways and Union Catalogs, Library Networks and Consortia, National Libraries and Archives, and Online directories. Major update of an earlier online guide, ILLWEB, by Mary Hollerich and Linda Frederiksen.
- Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes online gateway to hundreds of Spanish literary web sites, libraries, texts, and other digital projects. Includes full-text for more than 30,000 Spanish-language works from the 16th century through the 20th century. Online catalogs for general works, video clips, sound clips, multimedia, archives critical studies, multiple web portals to thousands of related web sites.
Subject Coverage: Literature in Spanish and Portuguese; Renaissance Studies . Geographic Scope: Spain, Portugal, Latin America and the Caribbean (from Arizona State Univ: [1])
- EZB Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek EZB (Electronic Journals Library) 375 libraries, mostly German with some from other Central European and Balkan nations.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks go to Tony Molloy, UConn ITS, who first introduced our staff to the world of wikis, and for several months was my sole source of technical support. His patient assistance has been invaluable. Also, I am very grateful to Barbara Oakley, head of AS at UConn, who encouraged me and gently mentored me on realizing a long held goal. I am also very grateful to Joe Natale, UConn DD/ILL team leader, for his positive support, and to the entire DD/ILL borrowing team, including Steve Bustamante and Lynn Sweet for cheerfully picking up the extra workload when I took some time off to get this project jumpstarted. I would also like to mention Mary Hollerich of NLM and creator of ILLWEB, and co-creator of Shareill with Linda Frederiksen of Washington State University, Vancouver. Mary, Linda and I volleyed numerous helpful emails on wikis, directories, and collaboration.
for fresh formatting assistance: Phoebe Ayers, wiki whiz and Reference Librarian, Physical Sciences and Engineering Library, UC Davis. Looking forward to further suggestions and assistance!
for China and Taiwan: Xiaolin (Charlie) Pei, Homer Babbidge Library, UConn. His assistance was invaluable in confirming and identifying the most important resources for these two countries.
for Paraguay: http://chuma.cas.usf.edu/~swohlmut/lis4930/unit2.html#national_lib Sonia Ramírez Wohlmuth, Instructor: LIS 4930 Latin American Information Sources.
for The European Library: Thanks to Elisabeth Unger of the U.S. National Agricultural Library for recommending this resource.
