The system of the Universal Bibliographical Control - UBC

Abstract

Proposed by the IFLA and supported by the UNESCO, UBC is a comprehensive undertaking to make sure that the fundamental bibliographical data first of books and then of other documents are available for users rapidly, universally and in an internationally accepted form through the national bibliographical services of the individual countries.
Playing prominent role in giving birth to UBC are two organizations – UNESCO and IFLA - while the work of several other organizations, e.g. FID and ISO/TC 46, are related to this undertaking at more than one point.
The decisive step in this respect was taken by the International Meeting of Cataloguing Experts, IMCE, at the Coppenhagen Congress of IFLA in 1969.
IFLA designated UBC as the main topic of its Grenoble Conference of 1973. Several papers were read on this subject which will be published in a special volume some time in 1974.
On June 1, 1974, IFLA set up the international office of UBC with its headquarters in London.
Closely related with the antecedents of the UBC conception is the fact that scientific and technical development over the past decade has brought forth several changes in the library world. With the structure of science changed and with the demand on sciences increased, there has been a corresponding increase in the number of the potencial users of library services. The Library of Congress introduced its shared cataloguing system. Finally, the computer has also appeared in the library life, and as a catalyzer melted the entire library community into one.
Based on the network of national bibliographies, the conception of UBC is closely connected with the role of national libraries in this field and also with the problem of the legal regulation of the copyright deposit. Beyond aiming at the most comprehensive coverage possible, one basic requirement of the effectiveness of UBC is rapidity, i.e. decreasing the time-span between the publication and the bibliographical registration of documents to a minimum. The solution is offered by two possibilities: cataloguing simultaneoualy with the publication and the use of computer. As regards the latter, the MARC project with its rich experiences of three years may be very instructive.
Universality as the fundamental principle of UBC, i.e. the equal usability of data for every country, nation, and language area, is ensured by the acceptance and application of international standards.
UBC is a long-range project, but conditions for its realization have been created, and in more than one country the existing forms of bibliographical control may well be deemed as constituents of the future system of UBC.