Argentina: December 2009 Archives

Universidad de San Andrés Library - Biblioteca Max von Buch  - in Argentina has been an OCLC cataloging member for almost a decade. The library participated in a cataloging event in Buenos Aires in November where they shared their experience in cooperative cataloging. I interviewed Estela Chahbenderian, the Head of the Cataloging Services at the library, to find out what Estela has to say about the event.

1) What was the name of the event?

2nd National Catalogers Meeting, November 25, 26 and 27, 2009; organized by the National Library of Argentina.

2) Who did represent the Universidad San Andrés in the Meeting?

Estela Chahbenderian and Liliana Miguez.

3) Which was the main theme of your presentation?

Cooperative cataloging in the Universidad de San Andrés Library: the experience with OCLC and NACO.

4) How many people did participate in the Meeting?

Approximately 180 people.

5) How would you summarize your presentation in one paragraph?

It was presented the experience of the Max von Buch Library (University of San Andrés) in cooperative cataloging of bibliographic records and authorities. We presented details of the OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) bibliographic service used for the cooperative work and its product WorldCat. We exposed the procedures to perform copy and original cataloging of bibliographic records in the international catalog and the possibility of modifying or correcting already existing records. In the case of the work of authorities, we presented the international cooperative program NACO (Name Authority Cooperative Program) of the Library of Congress, and its covenant with the Library. We detailed in what the cooperative cataloging of authorities consists with examples of copied, original and modified records.

6) Which other institutions did participate in the Meeting?

The majority of the institutions were libraries of the National Universities from the different provinces: Universidad Nacional de la Plata, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Universidad Nacional del Rosario, Universidad de Mar del Plata, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, etc.; the Universidad Católica de Córdoba, Universidad Argentina de la Empresa and Biblioteca Nacional de Maestros, and the National Library as well.

7) Which was the main purpose of the Meeting?

The subtitle of the Meeting gives an idea: The Cooperation and the Norms for the Organization and Information Processing in the Argentinean Libraries.

Estela and Liliana concluded their presentation saying:

"The new information technologies facilitate each time more the exchange of records; the great step consists of the agreement in the group of standards, to assume the pragmatic spirit that implies all cooperation and to face the challenge of resolving the tension between the private interests of each library and the library community in general."

The full document of their presentation (in Spanish) can be found here .

Catalogación Cooperativa.pdf (Español)

Catalogação Cooperativa.pdf (Português)