Interaction between IFLA standards and other library standards: ISBD, RDA, UNIMARC and ISSN: a long-lasting relationship

Abstract

Since the inception of ISSN in the 1970s, there have been numerous interactions between the ISSN network and IFLA standards communities. Bibliographic debates are still vibrant today with the further dimension of electronic publications and the expanding interactions between libraries, bibliographic databases, union catalogues and publishers.

The ISSN network is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2015 and it seems timely to delineate its achievements in serial cataloguing standardization. This paper traces the history and ongoing cooperation between ISSN, ISBD, UNIMARC, and AACR/RDA cataloguing rules. The future of this cooperation is also explored in the context of the future reviews of ISO 3297 standard and the endorsement of PRESSoo by IFLA.

This article builds upon milestone contributions by the ISSN community and its members such as Marie Rosenbaum, Albert A. Mullis, Suzanne Santiago, Françoise Pellé, Regina Romano Reynolds, and many more who have written extensively about serial identification and cataloguing. It also relies on the impressive work done by the ISSN Review Group which convenes on a regular basis and involves representatives from national libraries and scientific institutions around the globe. It shows the essential relationship that exists between the communities involved in bibliographic description that has culminated recently with the work done on PRESSoo.