Slovenian bibliography

For many years, the National and University Library has been collecting literary material, serial publications, articles and other library material (sound recordings, cartographic material …). In addition to the printed Slovenian bibliography, they have been preparing a CD-ROM edition for some time now – this time it is the fourth in a row.

The creation of the National and University Library is connected with the decree of Empress Maria Theresa from 1774, with which 637 books, which were saved by the fire of the disbanded Jesuit college in Ljubljana, were intended for general use by the established library at the Ljubljana lyceum. As early as 1807, the Lyceum Library received the right to receive a mandatory copy of all prints from the area of the region of Carniola, and during the French occupation from the entire administrative area of the Illyrian provinces. After the abolition of the Ljubljana Lyceum in 1850, the library became the provincial Study Library. After the end of the First World War in 1919, with its renaming to the State Study Library, it became the central library for the whole of Slovenia with the right to receive a compulsory copy of publications from this area. With the founding of the first Slovenian university in Ljubljana in 1919, the library also took over the function and the tasks of the central university library.

The Slovene National Bibliography is a catalog of all publications that are written in the Slovene language, have a Slovene author or have been published by a Slovene publishing house (foreign and emigrant publishers are also taken into account). The bibliography includes original works by Slovene authors, translations of works by Slovene authors into foreign languages and foreign works translated into Slovene, as well as the entire production of Slovene publishing houses. The Slovenian bibliography is created on the basis of a mandatory copy of publications and monitoring the production of foreign and emigrant publishers.

The National and University Library has been publishing the Slovenian National Bibliography in printed form since 1945. Until 1985, the printed bibliography was published annually and contained lists of books, serial publications, articles and other material. Since the year 1985 it has been published four times a year and it only lists books. The Slovene Bibliography panel contains records of monographic publications published after 1988. Included are records for books and brochures, electronic publications, music prints and cartographic material, both from real publishing editions and self-published editions. The collection also includes conference proceedings, jubilee proceedings and radio plays published by Radio Slovenia.

Compared to the printed edition, the panel version has a bunch of advantages. The main one is, of course, the possibility of fast and efficient search, as bibliographic records can be searched by author, title, publisher, year of publication … The panel has a very good index (index – the program calls it a dictionary?), which allows quick selection of values for any field. The results of the query can be printed in standard, ISBD, UNIMARC or ISO 690 format, and can be edited by (almost) any field. The bibliography can also be printed or saved to a file.

The software for the national bibliography was developed by i-Rose. The program is simple and useful, but not the latest. It has a somewhat cumbersome user interface with large buttons and an awkward way of printing. There is no way we can adapt this to our requirements, as we cannot change even such a basic thing as the width of the column. The program also has some nice features. Let us mention only two: the first is the possibility of quickly switching between the selected language (in addition to Slovene, we also have English available); the other is the ability to run the program directly from the board (which is still not the rule today).

In order for the Slovenian bibliography, not only to be useful – ordinary mortals will certainly not spend time with it often – they also took care of its appearance. The plaque is in a nice folder, which is decorated with a detail from the front door of the famous Plečnik building. The enclosed instructions are also very useful, but unfortunately the whole image is somewhat spoiled by the awkward language, which does not belong to such a reputable institution as the National and University Library without a doubt.
The Slovenian bibliography is a solid product that will make life much easier for every librarian. The rest will probably be deterred by the high price.

Slovenian bibliography 4
Content: A panel with records of monographic publications published after 1988.
Requirements: Windows, a CD-ROM drive; the program does not need to be installed on disk.
Producer: National and University Library, www.nuk.uni-lj.si, 061/200 11 10.
Price: 10.000 tolars.
Intent: It works reliably, allows queries in all fields, much more convenient than the print edition.
Shortcomings: Slightly awkward interface, high price.