Page 245 - DLIS007_LIBRARY AUTOMATION

Library Automation

Notes The MARC project was started in November, 1965 by the Library of Congress, USA. The
latest development in the system includes the CoMARC (Co-operative Machine Readable
Cataloguing). Computer Output Microfilm (COM) was developed in the USA by Stromberg
Carlson Company. The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), previously known as
the Ohio College Library Centre was started in August 1970. All these have successfully
used computers for cataloguing of documents.
(d) Serial Control: Serials are continuing publication having reasonably permanent titles and
appearing usually at regular intervals. Their contents usually vary from issue to issue. An
article as a single bibliographic unit may be published in more than one issue and even in
more than one volume. Obviously, the users may be interested in an issue of a serial as a
bibliographic unit, or an article spread over a number of issues as a bibliographic unit. So,
serial control comprises complex operations of library activities because of the very nature
and characteristics of Serial as library material. Again, the conflict between the physical
unit and the bibliographic unit makes Serial control a complex task.
In case of Serial, the current issues, the retrospective or immediate back issues and bound
volumes under every year of publication is an ongoing process. In this case, the library
should encounter the search problem because of the conflict between the title and the
corporate body, the old titles and the changed titles, nature of irregularity in publication
(more than one issue in a single publication and the like).
These situations pose the problem of listing, acquisition, accessioning, cataloguing and
creation of records in the desired format.
(e) Circulation: The circulation activities are the life-stream of the library services. The library
documents are for use and are intended for the users. At various points, documents are to
be trapped for the users who have recorded their priority in using such documents.

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Caution The circulation is a flow of document, but the flow should be controlled by
library operations so as to serve the users in the best possible way with the available
materials in the library.

13.1.2 Library Administrations

In case of library administration, the library automation helps in
(a) providing Access Right to Staff Members,

(b) providing Access Right to Library Users,
(c) exception Reporting, and
(d) generation of Library Statistics/Report.

13.1.3 Application of IT to Library Services

In libraries, several systems have been developed for their various house-keeping chores and
more still are being designed and refined, due to the technology of large-scale integration.
These are known as microcomputers; designed to handle any of the library processes like
acquisitions, cataloguing, serials control, circulation control, bibliographic control, or Selective
Dissemination of Information (SDI). IT is applied to the operation of libraries and information
centres to ensure that information delivered is timely, accurate, precise and relevant. The concept,
Library Automation, thus became popular and of which Cobin (1985) explained that “in the
traditional manual library system, staff perform the various tasks required to complete each

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