IFLA Standards, UNIMARC and COBISS System: The Importance of Authority Data

Abstract

Bibliographic control is one of the few internationally highly standardized activities. The generally accepted IFLA Library Reference Model (IFLA LRM) has influenced the modification of numerous other standards in the field of bibliographic control. In this context, also on UNIMARC and ISBD. Moreover, at the IFLA WLIC 2022 Congress, the working group for the revision of international cataloguing principles announced that it was analyzing the introduction of the term “work with entities”. In the COBISS system, developments in the field of bibliographic control and standards related to it are closely monitored. The transition to the new millennium shed a new light on the organization of bibliographic information, placing in the focus of interest authority data as the basic building block of a new approach to managing the sources of the bibliographic universe. Therefore, first of all, the state of authority data in the COBISS.net network should be analyzed, which can serve as a starting point for development and cooperation between the member countries of the COBISS.net network also on this field.