National Retrospective Bibliography is an important tool for understanding the historical and cultural identity of Lithuania and other European countries, making it essential to open up research results to a wider public and for scholarly research. The retro-conversion processes, which began at the end of the 20th century, where data were integrated into online databases, helped achieve these goals. Although the compilation of retrospective bibliography in Lithuania is also being modernized, while focusing on international standards, the 21st century has presented new technological challenges. The article emphasizes the necessity of rethinking the current situation in view of the changing digital ecosystem and international experience.
Organizations such as the Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL) actively support cooperation in this field, aiming to improve the accessibility and quality of retrospective bibliography, and stress the importance of continuous data refinement and integration into international networks. The chosen method for compiling national bibliography in Lithuania, where specialized bibliography databases were abandoned, adjusts the approach to the applicability of universal library catalogues for specialized national bibliography needs. Part of the retrospective bibliography data has been transferred to the CERL HPB database, and conditions have been created for their use in the digitized heritage portal ePaveldas; also, authority records are provided to the international database VIAF. The digital integration of data in national and international library catalogues and databases is ongoing, but systemic shortcomings are also observed, determined by the changing attitude towards the scientific importance of national retrospective bibliography research and their relevance in cultural heritage management.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.