Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
- What is the Committee for Library Standards?
- Who are the members of the Committee for Library Standards?
- Who is entitled to vote (within the Committee for Library Standards)?
- How can you explain the composition of the Committee for Library Standards?
- How do the Office for Library Standards and the Committee for Library Standards connect with each other?
- Is the Office for Library Standards a member of the Committee for Library Standards?
- Which tasks the Office for Library Standards has to perform?
- What steps have been taken to ensure that the Committee for Library Standards does not hand down decisions taken from "on high"?
- What are provisional minutes?
What is the Committee for Library Standards?
The Committee for Library Standards is a co-operative committee of representatives of important academic libraries in the Federal Republic of Germany, of the regional library networks in Germany, one representative of the Austrian and Swiss library communities each, of the public libraries in the Federal Republic of Germany, of the Ständige Konferenz der Kultusminister der Länder der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, of the ekz Bibliotheksservice GmbH and of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft with the aim to ensure the application of uniform standards for cataloguing, formats and interfaces. The Committee for Library Standards is the national co-ordination board for the library-related areas mentioned above, and it decides questions of principle on a professional level.
Berndt Dugall (Director of the Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg Frankfurt am Main) chairs the Committee for Library Standards.
Who are the members of the Committee for Library Standards?
- Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
- Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
- Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
- Bibliotheksverbund Bayern
- Gemeinsamer Bibliotheksverbund der Länder Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein und Thüringen
- Hessisches Bibliotheksinformationssystem
- Kooperativer Bibliotheksverbund Berlin-Brandenburg
- Nordrhein-westfälischer Bibliotheksverbund
- Südwestdeutscher Bibliotheksverbund
- Österreichische Bibliothekenverbund und Service GmbH as the library representative of Austria
- Schweizerische Landesbibliothek
- Represention of the public library systems
- Ständige Konferenz der Kultusminister der Länder der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
- ekz - Bibliotheksservice GmbH
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft / Arbeitsgruppe Wissenschaftliche Literaturversorgungs- und Informationssysteme
Who is entitled to vote (within the Committee for Library Standards)?
Each member of the Committee for Library Standards has the right to vote. Guests are not entitled to vote. The Committee constitutes a forum as soon as more than half of its members are present.
How can you explain the composition of the Committee for Library Standards?
The Committee has been composed from delegates of institutes and libraries playing an essential role as data suppliers and in data exchange.
How do the Office for Library Standards and the Committee for Library Standards connect with each other?
The Office for Library Standards is an organisational unit of the German National Library. Its task is to lead and to co-ordinate the work in the different subareas; it represents the interests in committees on the national and international levels, and it works as the administrative office of the Committee for Library Standards.
Is the Office for Library Standards a member of the Committee for Library Standards?
The German National Library is a member of the Committee for Library Standards. The Office for Library Standards works as the administrative office of the Committee for Library Standards but is not a member itself and thereby is not entitled to vote.
Which tasks the Office for Library Standards has to perform?
The Office for Library Standards is an organisational unit of the German National Library. Its task is to lead and to co-ordinate the work in the different subareas; it represents the interests in committees on the national and the international levels, and it works as the administrative office of the Committee for Library Standards. The offices of the subareas are organisational units of the German National Library as well. They are responsible for the professional work in detail, e. g. drafts, development, implementation and maintenance of standards. At the moment there are the following subareas: Office for Cataloguing and Indexing Codes/Cataloguing of Electronic Resources, Office for Authority data, and Office for Data formats and interfaces.
What steps have been taken to ensure that the Committee for Library Standards does not hand down decisions taken from "on high"?
The Committee for Library Standards has set up the following expert groups (EG): Data Format EG, Descriptive Cataloguing EG, Authority Data EG and Subject Cataloguing EG. The expert groups support the work of the seconded staff by providing expert advice and discussing and making decisions on drafts which are then presented to the Committee for Library Standards for resolution.
What are provisional minutes?
The Office for Library Standards takes the minutes during the meetings of the Committee for Library Standards. The minutes shall be sent to the members of the comittee within a month. If no requests for amendments reached the Office for Library Standards within 4 weeks, the minutes automatically are considered as approved. The Committee for Library Standards decides on requests for amendments during the next meeting. Until their approvement these minutes are to be seen as provisional then. To inform the public about the results of the meetings nevertheless early the minutes are posted on the server of the German National Library after the four-weeks period for objection has expired.
Last update: 21.2.2012
