Abstract
At the International Conference on Retrospective Cataloguing in Europe: 15th to 19th Century Printed Materials, held in Munich in 1990, it became obvious that the conversion of catalogues of research collections to machine-readable form has a high priority in most European countries. However, the limited specialist use of automated short-title catalogues, the creation of which incurs considerable costs, should be weighed more carefully against the massive unsatisfied demand for post-1970 and current materials. The advantages that the automated catalogue brings to the user are not in question, but a catalogue in many volumes, like the guard-book catalogue in Cambridge University Library, can provide a range of access points that is unlikely ever to be equalled – a view evidently supported by some senior users. In smaller libraries retrospective conversion is more desirable and more easily achievable. But it is important for all librarians to understand why they are converting their catalogues, to place conversion in the order of priorities and to question if it is what the majority of users want.
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