Focuses on recent advances in automation, including the trend toward integrated systems, for a variety of applications. Describes the hardware & software options; offers guidelines for planning & implementation of the automation process.

First published in 1992, This guide, one of a series looking at library automation systems, will not only help prospective users in their systems choice, but will also give current a better appreciation of the potential of their own system.Written by users of the system and reflecting their experience, the guide examines BookshelF’s place in the automated libraries’ market, the company’s history, reliability and support services. All the hardware and software used in connection with BookshelF are described and the reader is taken through all the process involved in setting up the system, and introduced to the specific packages and application. This guide will also be interest to students of information management, information science and librarianship.

Fundamentals of automation; Library automation today; Future trends; Planning; Implementation; The risks of automation; Library manager's views.

If you have an automated cataloging system and do any cataloging using the MARC records, this is the users bible. Arranged like a dictionary, tag by tag, the user can look up any tag and find easy-to-understand explanations of what information to put in the tag and in what form. Piepenburg not only explains the tag, but gives numerous examples that cover 90% of the cases one would face. In addition, references to AACR2 and USMARC Bibliographic rules and rule numbers help the cataloger refer to the authoritative sources quickly to make correct judgements.