Domsa Károlyné, Fekete Gézáné, Kovács Mária (szerk.): Gondolatok a könyvtárban / Thoughts in the Library (A MTAK közleményei 30. Budapest, 1992)

KÖNYVTÁR ÉS KORSZERŰSÉG – LIBRARY AND MODERNITY

Co-operation in social science information Somé achievements In spite of these obstacles, somé paths remain open and lead to concrete achievements in the fíeld under consideration. A conspicuous example is offered by the international bibliographical data base created along the years by the International Committee for Social Sciences Information and Documentation. It is the result of the cooperative effort of many specialized institutions, which enrich the base with records of documents published in their respective country. All participants agreed on common criteria for the selection of items, on a standardized formát for bibliographic description, on a common thematic üst of descriptors for indexing, so that different contributions may be merged into one unique base. Records use the originál language of the primary documents, but an English translation is provided in each case. The computerized memory was for years located in Guelph, Ontario; it is now in London; but that does not affect the whole process. From this cooperative venture various products are available to the whole community of the social sciences. The most traditional one is an international bibliography, which is annually published in printed volumes. A monthly current awareness service is alsó issued since 1990. A part of the data were distributed on a CD-ROM to institutions in developing countries as an experiment, which was successful. On-line retrieval has alsó been tested. Further developments are being prepared. The same kind of cooperation organized as a rather centralised network has made possible the compilation and publication on a number of international directories of the main institutions which perform SSID: research centres, documentary units, specialized primary and secondary periodicals. These directories are published periodically under the serial title of: World social science information services by the Social Science Documentation Centre of Unesco, in cooperation with the International Committee for Social Sciences Information and Documentation. Data are provided and updated on a permanent basis by all interested institutions, which regularly receive specific questionnaires to be filled up. All members of the world social science community take advantage of information emanating from all other members. International cooperation alsó proved its efficiency in exercises aimed at a better training of social science information workers. For such exercises the most wanted but scarce resource is well qualified manpower. By putting together humán resources drawn from various countries it is possible to constitute a team enriching a common program with the diverse experiences of its members. Seminars or courses may then be organised which disseminate to a broader group the knowl„ Gondolatok a könyvtárban " 193