Guidelines for Subject Access in National Bibliographies

In a networked and globalized world of information the form of national bibliographies may have changed, however their major function remains unchanged: to inform about a country's publication landscape, its cultural and intellectual heritage. Subject access offers a major route into this landscape providing information about the dispersion of publications in specific fields of knowledge and topics contained in a particular national publishing output. The Guidelines for Subject Access in National Bibliographies give graded recommendations concerning subject indexing policies for national bibliographic agencies and illustrating various policies by providing best practice examples.

The IFLA Series on Bibliographic Control was formerly known as the UBCIM series (Universal Bibliographic Control and International MARC). It consists of reports reflecting the ongoing process towards International Cataloguing Principles, which began in 2003. Through the series of meetings represented by each volume the reader will be able to track the development and consultation taking place throughout different parts of the world that will culminate with the creation of a truly international set of principles to guide the development of cataloguing codes worldwide.