It takes just a good will to reach a mutual agreement: the routine cooperative of authorities making

The contribution offers new suggestions and guidelines, how we could unify the creation and use of authority files. The only correct way is the creation of national authority files in a sole central database. Administration and management of the central base should be localized in the National Library of the CR. Only consequent cooperation and coordination can assure a high quality of all the catalogues and bibliographies that are being processed every day in our libraries. The crucial point is the unification of selection data, which can be assured only with the help of authority files. The technical means which can help as many libraries as possible to take part in such a cooperation, is the communication protocol Z39.50. This protocol has already been localized for the Czech use and nothing hinders its wide application. Cooperation of Czech libraries on the basis of a consortium should become the platform that will assure both effective and efficient use of the national authority files, which will in its turn make the same the processing of local and union catalogues.

Author information:

Head of National Authorities Department National Library of the Czech Republic and National Authority Project Manager