Warm Wishes for the New Year and Highlights of 2021 from the ISBD Review Group

On this occasion, we are delighted to share with you the highlights of 2021, a very special year for ISBD.

ISBD 50th Anniversary

In 2021, ISBD has turned 50. The first text of the International Standard Bibliographic Description for Monographic Publications ISBD(M), was published in 1971 as a set of recommendations. Over this time, ISBD has constantly evolved to embrace biographic and technological developments and changes in cataloguing requirements; from diverse specialized ISBDs, to consolidated editions, to expansion, to alignment with IFLA’s conceptual models. For the user, the transition to new editions of ISBD has always been smooth, reflecting the optimal original design of the standard.

A Long Awaited New Edition (previously shared news)

As the year was coming to its close, the much awaited, much advertised “Update 2021 of the ISBD 2011 Consolidated Edition” was finally released on December 21, 2021, as a draft, awaiting official publication early 2022. The ISBD 2021 Update has been developed by the Content Update Task Force of the ISBD Review Group with the involvement of experts from specialized communities on manuscripts and cartographic materials, and the full membership of liaisons from IFLA Rare Books and Special Collections Section. The Update extends the coverage of ISBD horizontally to a wider array of resources and vertically to more granular descriptions.

More information about the developments made and access to the ISBD 2021 Update.

ISBD in the New Horizons Webinar

On the “New horizons: emerging metadata standards and practices in the 21st century” webinar, held May 27, 2021, the ISBD Review Group shared visions and views about the ISBD revision works, achieved and underway. This was through a 3-minute lightening talk encapsulated in one slide by Gordon Dunsire around an ISBD that is in transition driven by various factors and directions inside and outside IFLA.

“ISBD in Transition” Session in WLIC 2021

The ISBD Review Group sponsored a session in the virtual IFLA WLIC 2021, for the first time in WLICs. The session titled “ISBD in Transition” featured three presentations by experts and specialists who are leading the revision works describing the complex environment in which the ISBD revisions are taking place: “Update of the ISBD: Fulfilling the Needs of Communities of Users” by Elena Escolano, “ISBD and LRM” by Mikael Wetterstrom, and “ISBD Beyond IFLA” by Gordon Dunsire.

Massimo Gentili-Tedeschi Receives IFLA Scroll of Appreciation

Massimo Gentili-Tedeschi, former chair of the ISBD Review Group (from 2015 to 2019), and now a corresponding member of the RG and a member of its Content Update Task Force, received IFLA Scroll of appreciation for his distinguished longstanding work on IFLA bibliographic standards, including music cataloguing rules, UNIMARC, IFLA conceptual models and the ISBD. This was on the IFLA General Assembly held September 25, 2021, in a virtual honoring ceremony by IFLA President and IFLA Secretary General.

ISBD to LRM-Manifestation

The transformative revision of the ISBD by aligning it to the IFLA LRM has completed major steps in 2021. The Manifestation Task Force of the ISBD Review Group worked intensively on the identification of key issues that cut across the ISBD, including punctuation, sources of information, object of bibliographic description, elements template and the feasibility of restructuring the stipulations of the ISBD. The task force came up with questions that would help determine the direction for the new ISBD: the granularity and the degree of prescriptiveness of the new ISBD. In its midyear meeting meeting o April 9, 2021, the ISBD Review Group endorsed the recommendation that ISBD should remain prescriptive, as this is distinguishing it from other bibliographic standards.

Best wishes and wonderful ending of the year!

To stay updated about ISBD revision works and the ISBD Review Group activities, subscribe to isbd-rg@iflalists.org.