Bibliographical information on books

Abstract

Bibliographical information on books: a survey of provision and use in academic and public libraries. Reports results of a questionnaire survey of acquisitions librarians, cataloguers and head librarians, in 236 UK academic and public libraries, selected from the NIRG directory, followed by interviews and informal discussions with key industry players. The electronic questionnaires were sent out via electronic mail and 50 questionnaires were returned and deemed usable (21 per cent response rate). The broad aim of the study was to determine how and for which reasons libraries obtain bibliographical data on new books and what functional use is made of this data by library staff. In particular, the study sought to discover: which bibliographic providers were used and favoured; what were the valued characteristics of bibliographic data suppliers; the use to which bibliographic data was put; what factors influence book acquisitions; the forms in which bibliographic data was supplied; the extent to which the bibliographic record was being customized; the library budgets for bibliographic data; and whether the overall market in bibliographic information for books can usefully be divided into market sectors (by type of library and geographical sector). Results indicated that two bibliographic providers were used by 25 per cent of libraries, the most frequently mentioned provider being the British Library (14.6 per cent), followed by BLCMP (12.2 per cent), book suppliers (9.8 per cent), Amazon (9.1 per cent), Whitaker’s British Books in Print (7.9 per cent) and Whitaker’s Bookbank (7.9 per cent). Concludes that the situation is volatile and confusing and that any future changes will be at a pace and direction set by Amazon.