This
issue of Journal of Internet Cataloging
is devoted to five papers presented at the XVI Colloquium of Library Science
Research held at the University Center for Library Science Research at the
National Autonomous University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de
México (UNAM)). The Colloquium’s theme
was “Internet, Metadata, and Information Access to Libraries and Networks in
the Electronic Age.” The topic is
universal and the peoples of the world share the challenge of developing
effective library services in the new digital age.
It
is an honor to be able to publish six of the presentations at the Colloquium in
Journal of Internet Cataloging. I would like to thank Lic. Elsa M. Ramírez
Leyva, director of the UNAM Center for Library Science Research, and Dr. Felipe
Filberto Martínez and Lic. Lina Escalona Rios, the colloquium organizers, for
permission to publish the papers included here. I also thank the colloquium organizers for their introduction and
each of the authors of the following papers who readily agreed to make their
presentations available to JIC’s readers.
Cataloging
records have always had an international audience to one degree or
another. Although cataloging rules
developed reflective of various cultures and cataloging conventions,
international standards sought to provide some commonality. The International
Standard for Bibliographic Description series (ISBDs) for the various
formats serves that purpose. Today, the
organization and description of the resources accessible via the Internet have
no national or regional limit thereby increasing the need for cooperation. Yet, collaboration in this venue requires
not just willingness but an understanding of the issues, options, and
possibilities in organizing, describing, and classifying the Internet. The papers presented here outline issues,
pose questions, demonstrate what is possible, and provide some options and
recommendations for considerations.
All
of us around the globe must meet the Internet access challenges. The UNAM Center for Library Science Research
is congratulated for devoting its sixteenth colloquium to the critical topics
of the Internet and metadata as they pertain to the provision of information
access to libraries and networks in our increasingly electronic age. I appreciate very much having the opportunity
to add to the access for these important papers. Muchas gracias! --
Ruth C. Carter