How to use a group catalogue: the example of the CCUC

Unlike a library catalogue, which gives access solely to the bibliographic collection of that library, a group catalogue provides access to the bibliographic information of different documentation centres or libraries, which generally have the same aim or are part of the same organisation, institution or union.

 

Their main aim is to make available to users the collections of the different libraries that participate in the catalogue from a single entry point. Group catalogues are, therefore, an extremely important bibliographic instrument and an essential source of information when running bibliographic searches.

In Spain, there are group catalogues of great informational value, such as the REBIUN catalogue (University Library Network), which provides access to the bibliographic collection of more than 60 Spanish universities; the CSIC Libraries Group Catalogue, which provides access to the collection of the network of almost 100 libraries in this organisation; the RBIC (Group Catalogue of the Cervantes Institute Library Network), which provides access to the collections of all the Cervantes Institute libraries worldwide; and the CCPB (the Spanish Bibliographic Heritage Group Catalogue), the aim of which is the inventory and description of the Bibliographic Heritage (between the fifteenth and the twentieth centuries) deposited in Spanish public and private libraries that are part of the Spanish Historic Heritage due to their age, unique nature or wealth.

As regards Catalonia, we also have a large number of group catalogues of great informational value, such as the CCUC (Catalan Universities Group Catalogue), which provides access to the bibliographic data of all the universities in Catalonia; the Specialist Libraries Catalogue of the Catalan Government (BEG), which allows consultation of the collections of 35 libraries and documentation centres that provide support to the agencies of the public administration in Catalonia; Aladí, which is the group catalogue of the Municipal Libraries Network of the province of Barcelona; and the Public Reading Group Catalogue of Catalonia, which provides access to the collections of the public libraries of the Catalan Government.

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