The union catalogue of academic libraries in India: an initiative by INFLIBNET

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to describe the union databases maintained by the INFLIBNET for university libraries in India. INFLIBNET maintains union databases of serials, books, theses and an “experts” database. Efforts to collect the raw data, maintain it and make it available to the end user via the internet are also discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

The article describes the workflow of maintaining union databases and the steps involved are discussed. Various software are being used to provide a systematic approach to these databases and to ensure that the searching for needed documents is user friendly; the user should be able to go automatically to the document supply system with a single click of the mouse button.

Findings

If the library system is large, it becomes most important to know the location of documents. The Indian educational system is one of the largest in the world. INFLIBNET maintains union databases of various types of documents for more than 150 university libraries and membership is growing rapidly to accommodate all university and college libraries. Many best procedures on bibliographic standards and guidelines have been adopted and are updated regularly. UniCat, an in house software package has been used to process bibliographic raw data which is then hosted on the website for access by users.

Originality/value

This article is significant to researchers and librarians in India and also more widely.

Citation

Chand, P. and Chauhan, S.K. (2008), "The union catalogue of academic libraries in India: an initiative by INFLIBNET", Interlending & Document Supply, Vol. 36 No. 3, pp. 142-148. https://doi.org/10.1108/02641610810897854