National Bibliographic Control in Mauritius: issues and challenges

Transcription

1 National Bibliographic Control in Mauritius: issues and challenges While primary responsibility for compiling and publishing the national bibliography of Mauritius rests with the National Library, printers, publishers, authors and other stakeholders also have important roles to play. Ibrahim Ramjaun MAURITIUS: AN OVERVIEW Mauritius is an island state of volcanic origin, spread over a surface area of 1,865 square kilometers, located in the South West of the Indian Ocean, 2000 km off the eastern coast of Africa. It was known to Arab navigators around the 10th century, but was officially discovered in 1505 by the Portuguese. The Dutch landed in 1598 and occupied the island until The French colonization lasted from 1715 to After nearly one century, the country was ceded to Britain following the capitulation of the French. British rule lasted one and a half centuries. Finally, Mauritius achieved independence on 12 March 1968 and became a Republic within the British Commonwealth on 12 March The population of Mauritius consists of 1.2 million inhabitants of Indian, African, European and Chinese origins. This rich cultural and linguistic diversity is a salient feature of this country. During the British era, only six public libraries and two special libraries existed. Four decades after independence, the situation is as follows: there are fourteen public libraries, 50 special libraries, five academic libraries, nearly 200 secondary school libraries and a national library. (Directory of Libraries 2000) WHAT IS BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL? A simple definition of bibliographic control is the systematic identification of recorded information and the mechanism for gaining subsequent access to such information (cited in Synman 2000). However, according to the Bibliography Section of IFLA, this process is more comprehensive. It requires the development and maintenance of a system of descriptions of documents that are arranged according to accepted standards within cataloguing, indexing and classification, in order to ensure the identification, retrieval of and access to the documents (Fourie and Burger 2007). This implies a series of activities such as acquiring information sources, compiling bibliographic descriptions for these documents, assigning bibliographic access points to these descriptions, subject cataloguing (classification and allocating subject headings) and authority control. An excellent analogy for describing bibliographic control is that of a finely-meshed net of bibliographic records which is so comprehensive that nothing that is published can escape being recorded, located and made accessible for users. (Lor 1996) IMPORTANCE OF BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL The aim of bibliographic control is to list all information sources in a systematic manner to enable information seekers to become aware of what information is available, and where it can be retrieved and consulted (ibid.). Bibliographic control is not an end in itself. Rather, it is a means to facilitate access to the information contained in them (Reitz 2004). National bibliographic control is a sine qua non for achieving Universal Bibliographic Control as advocated by the International Conference on National Bibliographic Services (1998) The ultimate goal of the bibliographic community can only be achieved if every country painstakingly collects, records and makes readily available to current and future users, the widest possible range of documents produced within its territory. Universal bibliographic control can become a reality if the national bibliographic control is really effective (Fourie and Burger 2007). This implies a systematic and pro-active acquisitions policy comprising, inter alia, legal deposit, purchase, donation and exchange of all relevant materials. The compilation of the national bibliography, i.e. a listing of all the literary production of the country for a given period, arranged in a useful way (subject, title, author), ensures the recording and preservation of the nation s documentary heritage. 296 Information Development (ISSN ) Copyright 2009 SAGE Publications. Vol. 25, No. 4, DOI: /

2 BRIEF HISTORY OF LEGAL DEPOSIT IN MAURITIUS Legal deposit remains by far the principal means for acquisition and bibliographic control irrespective of country. In Mauritius, it was during the British reign in April 1889 that the first draft Ordinance was prepared and submitted to the Governor for approval. For unknown reasons, it was only four years later that the Books Preservation and Registration Ordinance No. 11 of 1893, finally came into force. It stipulated that three copies must be deposited free of charge with the Colonial Secretary. The first copy was sent to the British Museum, the second one to the Archives Office, while the third one would go to a public library. A fine not exceeding 50 rupees (MUR) was also prescribed for non-compliance with this Ordinance. Ever since the enactment of this law, the Archives Department has been closely associated with the legal deposit system due to the non-existence of a national library. According to section 5 of this legislation, it was the responsibility of the Archives Office to compile and print in the Government Gazette on a quarterly basis, a bibliography or Memorandum of Books printed in Mauritius with complete details such as title, content, language, author, translator, editor, subject, place of publication, name of publisher, name of printer, date of issue, pagination, size, edition number of copies of any edition, price, and the name and address of the copyright holder. Nearly 60 years later, the Archives Ordinance No. 71 of 1952 replaced the Books Preservation and Registration Ordinance of Henceforth, the printer was bound to deposit with the Chief Archivist four copies of the whole of every book produced in the colony of Mauritius instead of three. One copy was sent to each of these institutions: the Archives Department, the British Museum, the Library of Congress and the Bibliothèque Nationale of France. Any printer, publisher or editor found guilty of infringement of section 12 was liable to pay a fine of MUR 50. The Chief Archivist was mandated to publish in the Government Gazette a Memorandum of Books on a quarterly basis. Since 1890, a series of unsuccessful attempts had been made by private individuals such as Léon Doyen, Théodore Sauzier, Prosper d Epinay, Emile Daruty de Granpré and Albert Rae to produce a national bibliography. But it was only in 1956 that a significant milestone was achieved when the first ever Bibliography of Mauritius, covering the period was compiled by a team led by Dr August Toussaint, Chief Archivist and Harold Adolphe, Assistant Archivist. Foreign collaborators from England, South Africa, France, India, the Netherlands and the United States of America were also involved in this ambitious project. The total number of entries recorded therein amounted to 8,865 (Toussaint and Adolphe 1956). This work was considered as a feat. Even today, this bibliography remains a valuable tool not only for the historians and history students for whom it was initially intended, but also for retrospective searches of all types by all individuals. Regrettably, no further volume of this bibliography was published thereafter. Instead, a supplement to this initial edition is regularly published in the successive annual reports of the Archives Department under the title Bibliography of Mauritius. THE ROLE OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY After incessant efforts, the National Library Act No. 32 of 1996 was finally proclaimed in 1999, thus marking the official inception of this long awaited corporate body among the plethora of national cultural institutions. Sections 8 14 of the Archives Ordinance No. 71 were repealed and the revised National Archives Act No. 22 of 1999 saw the light of day. The Archives Department ceased to act as a repository for legal deposit, except when a person uses any public archive for the publication of any book, magazine, dissertation, or thesis, in which case he has to acknowledge the material used and deposit one copy of the publication with the Director of Archives. Six copies of such a document still have to be deposited by the printer with the Director of the National Library according to Section 2 (a) of the National Library Regulations GN No. 170 of The main features of the three legal deposit laws are summarized in Table 1. One of the main statutory objectives of the National Library, as spelt out in section 4 (g) of the National Library Act, is To act as the national bibliographic centre and maintain the national bibliography and other bibliographies. In pursuance of this objective, the National Library started to receive as legal deposit six copies of every print and non-print library material printed and produced in Mauritius. It thus began to assume its legitimate role, previously vested in the Archives Department, by embarking on the challenging task of compiling and publishing a standard national bibliography on a more or less regular basis. Two retrospective editions covering the period and respectively have been published since then. Information Development (ISSN ) Copyright 2009 SAGE Publications. Vol. 25, No. 4, DOI: /

3 Legislation Document types No. of copies Delay for deposit Recipients/ institutions Books Preservation & Registration Ordinance No. 11 of 1893 Archives Ordinance No. 71 of 1952 National Library Act No. 32 of 1996 National Library Regulations GN. No. 170 of 1997 Books 3 30 days after publication Books Newspapers Periodicals Serials Annual reports Books Newspapers Journals Non-print materials days 24 hours 24 hours 24 hours 24 hours 30 days for books and audiovisual materials 24 hours for newspapers and serials Table 1. A comparison of the three laws on legal deposit. Archives Office, British Museum and a public library Archives Dept, British Museum Library of Congress Bibliothèque Nationale of France (for books only) Prescribed fines MUR 50 MUR 50 National Library MUR 1,000 In the field of bibliographic control, the National Union Catalogue of Mauritiana monographs and the Union List of Periodicals have also been compiled and made accessible via the National Library s website at index.html. THE NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY: TWO DISTINCT APPROACHES Even a cursory look at the Bibliography of Mauritius ( ) and a recent edition of the National Bibliography of Mauritius reveals some marked differences. The single most important one is that the former was compiled by archivists whereas the latter is the product of a team of library and information professionals. Thus, the approaches are bound to be different. The entries in the Bibliography of Mauritius were arranged under six groups by document type and then sub-arranged in chronological order (see Table 2), whereas in the one produced by the National Library, the records are organized in classified or systematic subject order. The former has a comprehensive combined alphabetical author/title index, whereas the latter has separate author and title indexes. The time period covered by the archivists spans over four centuries compared to five and three years respectively in the case of the National Bibliography of Mauritius. Moreover, the first bibliography included a lot of early imprints pertaining to Mauritius which are housed in foreign repositories such as the British Museum, the Archives de Paris, the J. Carter Brown Library (USA) and the Public Records Office in London, in English, French, Dutch and other languages. However, this is not the case for the newer editions compiled and published by the National Library, which cover mostly documents printed and published in Mauritius. Nevertheless, the fact that the latter s compilation is based on the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, the Library of Congress Subject Headings and the Dewey Decimal Classification scheme makes it deserving to be considered as the truly standard national bibliography of Mauritius (Danskin 2008). CHALLENGES FACING BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL IN MAURITIUS Lack of Cooperation From Printers The relevant legislation pertaining to legal deposit explaining the role of the National Library as the national bibliographic centre has already been sent to more than 350 officially registered commercial printers, of whom only some 15 percent can be really considered as printers of books. A working session was also organized with them. Most printers of newspapers fully comply with this regulation. However, only 35 percent of printers of monographs and producers of audiovisual materials regularly deposit copies with the National Library. There is a growing tendency among printers not to insert their names in new publications perhaps an easy ploy to avoid complying with the provisions of the legal deposit regulation, which explicitly mentions the printer as the one responsible for depositing copies. Others simply do not deposit the 298 Information Development (ISSN ) Copyright 2009 SAGE Publications. Vol. 25, No. 4, DOI: /

4 Groups Document types Time period A Early imprints and private publications B Periodicals, newspapers and serials C Government and semi-official publications D Publications issued abroad E Manuscripts and archivalia F Plans, maps, and charts Table 2. Arrangement of entries into categories in the first national bibliography published by the Archives Department in required number of copies or fail to deposit documents within the prescribed time period, i.e. 24 hours for serials and 30 days for monographs, despite the fact that a fine of MUR 1000 (equivalent to USD 30.00) is prescribed for infringing this regulation. In addition, there is no mechanism to guarantee whether printers are really depositing copies of all their newly published titles. The information recorded in the printer s register, which he is supposed to keep for inspection by designated staff of the National Library, is not always comprehensive and compatible with that stipulated in Section 3 of the National Library Regulations of Another loophole in the same legislation is that nowhere it has been made mandatory for a printer to clearly specify his name and address in each of his publications. This renders chasing newly published library materials very difficult. The relatively small number of copies of every new title usually printed for sale results in a higher cost per unit. Coupled with the relatively higher number of copies (six) required to be deposited, this seems to act as a real deterrent for printers to willingly cooperate. The consequence is that several books escape the bibliographical net, thus making the national bibliography even less comprehensive. The unofficial estimated percentage of missing titles is around 30 percent of the total annual publishing output of the country. Limited Press Reviews Although chasing of library materials is done systematically by staff of the National Library, there is an over-reliance on press reviews. The latter unfortunately cover only a small percentage, of their own choice, of the total annual imprint. Reviewers are far more interested in the subject matter of a new book, the author s credentials, the publisher and sometimes the price. The printer s name is almost never mentioned, as is often the case elsewhere. This selective approach implies that a sizeable number of new titles do not get press coverage or publicity at all, unless official book launching ceremonies are organized. This poses a problem for chasing new titles, which often go unnoticed and remain outside the bibliographical net. Such omissions render the national bibliography incomplete and less effective as a research and collection development tool. Inadequate Funds to Acquire Foreign Mauritiana Although legal deposit remains by far the most important source of acquisition and the cornerstone for the creation of a national bibliography (Parent 2007), it is the official policy of the National Library to purchase one or two copies of every Mauritian publication printed or published in foreign countries with which Mauritius has economic and cultural ties and where most of the overseas Mauritiana (see definition below) are published or printed. However, due to budgetary constraints, not many of these materials, which are growing in number, are purchased each year. The vast majority of such new titles thus automatically do not appear in the national bibliography. Exclusion of Audiovisual and Electronic Resources Non-print materials produced in Mauritius, such as audiovisuals, are regularly deposited with the National Library, as per section 6 (a) of the National Library Regulations GN. 170 of Nevertheless, they are not mentioned in the National Bibliography of Mauritius, leaving the impression that there is no audiovisual production at all in the country. Moreover, in this era of technological revolution, coupled with the proliferation and diversity of Web resources, it is surprising that the National Library Act No. 32 of 1996 did not mention such documents. e-books, e-newsletters, e-reports and websites have become an integral part of library collections and are all potential candidates for inclusion in the national bibliography (Haddad and Gatenby 2002). The National Library cannot afford to lag behind in this area. It has a role to play in reflecting the current democratization of publishing production made possible by the Web. Information Development (ISSN ) Copyright 2009 SAGE Publications. Vol. 25, No. 4, DOI: /

5 Time Lag between Compilation and Publication After publishing two commendable retrospective editions of the national bibliography, it was envisaged to print current editions on a regular basis. Due to shortage of funds, there is a time lag between the compilation of bibliographical records and their publication in print form. For instance, new editions covering the period have not yet been published. In addition to being a mirror reflecting the country s culture via its publishing industry (Hansen 2008), the other major functions of a current national bibliography, namely, to act as a tool for: selection and acquisition in libraries, i.e. collection development; costeffective cataloguing; verification of authorship and publication history; and information searching and retrieval for document supply (Zumer 2008), thus remain only partially achieved. Broad Definition of Mauritiana The definition of Mauritiana in section 2 of the National Library Act No. 32 of 1996 encompasses a very broad spectrum of library materials relating to Mauritius and produced overseas, and those relating to any subject and produced in Mauritius whether print or non-print. Thus, books bearing subject content totally alien to Mauritius and focusing on countries like Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe are also considered as Mauritiana simply by virtue of the fact that they have been printed in Mauritius. It is noteworthy that the local publishing industry is booming, as illustrated by the number of new titles currently appearing, i.e. around 400 annually compared to only some 50 in 1968, when the country became independent. The current trend indicates that although most of the new publications are still in English and French, there is a growing number of imprints in Creole and Asian languages. The bibliographical net needs to be cast wider and this represents a bigger challenge if comprehensiveness is the goal to achieve for the national bibliography as recommended by the International Conference on National Bibliographic Services in Inadequate Training in Bibliographic Control The training imparted in library schools in Mauritius is limited to basic cataloguing and classification skills at diploma level only. The curriculum does not include the theory and practice of bibliographic control (Synman 2000), which is considered essential to be able to produce high quality records in the national bibliography. The preparation of students seems inadequate, bearing in mind new trends that are impacting on bibliographic control worldwide, such as the cataloguing of electronic resources, cataloguing in MARC 21 format, familiarity with the Dublin Core metadata and Z protocol, analytical cataloguing and so on. HOW TO ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES? More Intensive and Systematic Chasing There is a necessity to reorganize the chasing of library materials to ensure comprehensiveness, currency, timeliness and greater authoritativeness (Parent 2007) in the national bibliography. Press reviews of new titles are useful but inadequate. These must be complemented by weekly visits to the major bookshops in all the five towns in order to trace each and every new title which is often published by individual authors, printed and sold in small quantities due to the restricted size of the market and often without mentioning the printer s name. In addition, there must be rigorous follow-up with all the printers after the monthly visits by library staff. Regular Working Sessions with Stakeholders Sensitizing printers, producers, booksellers, authors, and publishers must become a regular feature rather than a sporadic initiative. A strong partnership must be forged with all these stakeholders by means of awareness sessions followed by guided tours and questionsanswers. They must be made to feel that they are part and parcel of the daunting task of national bibliographic control and that without their support, the compilation and publication of the nation s comprehensive documentary heritage may be jeopardized. Such endeavours may help improve mutual communication and overcome resistance from printers and producers. Inclusion of Mauritiana Published Abroad Shortage of funds for acquiring the growing number of indigenous documents which are printed and published overseas should not be an obstacle for their inclusion in the current editions of the National Bibliography of Mauritius. After obtaining the prior agreement of the 300 Information Development (ISSN ) Copyright 2009 SAGE Publications. Vol. 25, No. 4, DOI: /

6 British Library, the Bibliothèque Nationale of France, the Library of Congress, the National Library of Australia and the National Library of India, it should be possible to obtain bibliographical data in standard format for all new Mauritiana titles to be inserted in the national bibliography, as was the case with the first edition of the Bibliography of Mauritius published by the Archives Department in At a later stage, agreements may be signed with these institutions so as to acquire, on an exchange basis, the maximum number of titles in line with the final recommendations of the International Conference on National Bibliographic Services regarding comprehensiveness of bibliographic records of the national imprint (International Conference on National Bibliographic Services 1998). Updating the Current Legislation Although section 2 (j) of the National Library Regulations 1997 clearly states that a printer who contravenes these regulations shall commit an offence and shall, upon conviction, be liable to a fine, the national bibliographic agency has not, so far, sued any printer for infringement. This leniency is not always justified. Amendments to the relevant legislation must therefore be seriously envisaged in order to substantially increase the nominal fine for non-compliance with the legal deposit regulation from MUR 1000 (USD 30) to MUR 50,000 (USD 1400). This measure if adopted, will send a strong enough warning signal to those printers and producers who deliberately and repeatedly flout the provisions of this law with impunity. In addition, remote electronic information resources must be included under the definition of the country s indigenous production since they are now considered as an integral part of every nation s documentary heritage (Haddad and Gatenby 2002)). Selection criteria for electronic materials to be included may also be broadly defined to enable the National Library to harvest materials made public on the national Internet domain name space. Radio and television programmes produced by the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation and by private radios stations also eventually need to be included (Synman 2000). After a decade of existence, it is highly desirable for the national bibliographic centre to enhance both the quality and quantity of the content of the national bibliography rather than limiting itself to the collection and recording of monographs and serials in print form only. A no less important amendment to the legal deposit regulation would be to compel printers of books and producers of audiovisual materials to insert their names on all new imprints. Electronic Version of Current Editions After publishing two retrospective print editions of the National Bibliography of Mauritius, the national bibliographic agency must seriously envisage the adoption of the latest technologies to provide quicker and better access to the bibliographic descriptions of the nation s imprint. Undue delay in the publication of the latest editions for the period undermines its timeliness. This might be solved if alternative options such as an annual CD-ROM version or an online edition with direct link on the National Library s website and indexed by major search engines such as Google and Yahoo for better promotion and marketing are seriously envisaged, as is the case in Canada, France and Sweden (Clavel-Merrin et al. 2008). This can be made available in a shorter time span, thus ensuring its quicker and more effective distribution as recommended by the IFLA Working Group on Guidelines for National Bibliographies (Zumer 2008). Upgrading Staff Training Being one of the few libraries in Mauritius which has successfully implemented a quality management system and obtained the ISO certification, the National Library should be able to pursue the journey to excellence by aiming at a higher standard in the compilation of the National Bibliography of Mauritius (Danskin 2008). This can be achieved by enhancing the competency of the two technical personnel working in its bibliographical section by means of intensive inservice refresher courses in advanced cataloguing and classification, training in MARC 21, and the application of new metadata information schemes such as Dublin Core to deal with Web resources. The assistance of foreign resource persons and experts to conduct such training programmes, or work placements in reputable overseas national libraries, might be envisaged for selected personnel pending the revision of the syllabus of librarianship courses by the University of Mauritius. It is imperative for the national bibliographic centre to have a wider pool of highly qualified and specialized staff in bibliographic control to be able to discharge this responsibility with great skill (Fourie and Burger 2007). Information Development (ISSN ) Copyright 2009 SAGE Publications. Vol. 25, No. 4, DOI: /

7 Strict Enforcement of Legal Deposit Regulation Enacting laws and bringing amendments to make them more responsive to changes is only half the battle. Their practical implementation and enforcement are a necessary corollary. Although persuasion remains the method of choice to ensure the compliance of printers and producers with the legal deposit regulation, strict and timely enforcement must never be overlooked. Otherwise, the above-mentioned problems will still persist. CONCLUDING REMARKS After a decade of existence, the national bibliographic centre must re-engineer itself, ensure that it is equipped with the latest tools, a greater number of highly specialized and skilled personnel and adequate financial resources to tackle current and future challenges. Compiling and publishing the national bibliography and other bibliographies remains one of the major functions of the National Library. However, it must be borne in mind that national bibliographic control is not the sole responsibility of this institution only. Printers, producers, bookshops, authors, editors, commercial and institutional publishers, tertiary education institutions, libraries and other stakeholders must be made to feel that they too, have the duty to help collect the widest range of Mauritiana to ensure that the national bibliography is as comprehensive as possible, always up to international standards and trends, up-to-date and as far as possible, accessible. References Archives Ordinance No. 71 (1952). Port Louis: Colonial Printing. Books Preservation and Registration Ordinance No. 11 (1893). Port Louis: Colonial Printing. Clavel-Merrin, G. et al. (2008) Organisation and management of national bibliographies. In Guidelines for National Bibliographies in the Electronic Age. IFLA Working Group on Guidelines for National Bibliographies (Draft). Danskin, A. (2008) Cataloguing. In Guidelines for National Bibliographies in the Electronic Age. IFLA Working Group on Guidelines for National Bibliographies (Draft). Directory of Libraries, Documentation Centres and Bookshops in Mauritius. (2000) Port Louis: The National Library. International Conference on National Bibliographic Services. (1998) Final Recommendations. Available ifla.org/v/press/icnbs.htm (Retrieved on 7 January 2009) Fourie, I and Burger, M. (2007) Bibliographic control in South Africa. Available ifla73/papers/075-fourie_burger-en.pdf (Retrieved on 12 November 2008) Haddad, P. and Gatenby, P. (2002) Providing bibliographic access to archival online resources: The National Library of Australia s approach. Available /IV/ifla68/papers/ e (Retrieved on 15 January 2009) Hansen, R.D. (2008) History and background. In Guidelines for National Bibliographies in the Electronic Age. IFLA Working Group on Guidelines for National Bibliographies (Draft). Lor, P. (1996) Bibliographic standards in context current challenges in bibliographic control. In Coetzee, H.A.S. (ed). Seminar on bibliographic standards for the promotion of cooperation. Pretoria, 1 2 February, Pretoria: University of Pretoria. National Archives Act. No. 22. (1999) Port Louis: Government Printing. National Bibliography of Mauritius (2001) Port Louis: The National Library. National Library Act No. 32. (1996) Port Louis: Government Printing. National Library Regulations. GN No (1997) Port Louis: Government Printing. Parent, I. (2007) Importance of national bibliographies in the digital age. Available papers/089-parent-en.pdf (Retrieved on 7 April 2009) Reitz, J.M. (2004) Online dictionary for library and information science. Available (Retrieved on 1 December 2008) Synman, R. (2000) Bibliographic control: Is the current training still relevant? Available ifla66/papers/ e.htm (Retrieved on 27 September 2008) Toussaint, A. and Adolphe, H. (1956) Bibliography of Mauritius. Port Louis: Archives Department. Zumer, M., ed. (2008) Value of national bibliographies: use and users. In Guidelines for National Bibliographies in the Electronic Age. IFLA Working Group on Guidelines for National Bibliographies (Draft). Abstract After defining the concept of bibliographic control, and briefly explaining its importance, an attempt is made to trace the history and evolution of the legal deposit system in Mauritius. The first national bibliography compiled by the Archives Department, which appeared in 1956, is then compared with the new version published by the National Library since Next, the challenges facing bibliographic 302 Information Development (ISSN ) Copyright 2009 SAGE Publications. Vol. 25, No. 4, DOI: /

8 control in Mauritius are discussed, and finally some tentative recommendations are formulated to ensure a more effective bibliographic control. Keywords: bibliographic control; legal deposit; libraries; national bibliographies; Mauritius. Ibrahim Ramjaun is Librarian, National Library of Mauritius and Part-time Lecturer, University of Mauritius. Postal address: Sans Souci Road, Montagne Blanche, Mauritius. iramjaun@yahoo.com Information Development (ISSN ) Copyright 2009 SAGE Publications. Vol. 25, No. 4, DOI: /