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Details of over 10 million books, journals, reports, conferences and music scores covering every aspect of human thought since 1450 will be
available to anyone with a PC via the new British Library Public Catalogue.
The collection of one of the world’s greatest research libraries will be online to help track down that elusive book or journal anytime of the day or night - and it won’t cost a penny to use.
Launched on 29th January, The British Library Public Catalogue is the most recent product of the Library’s drive to make its collections more
accessible. Academics, business people, researchers, or anyone of a curious disposition can find detailed bibliographic records on any subject. Simply search the site, located at blpc.bl.uk, and order articles and
conference papers direct from the Document Supply Centre, or contact The British Library for details of how to access the renowned reading rooms at St Pancras, London.
Previewed to great acclaim at the Online Information Exhibition at Olympia in London last December, The British Library Public Catalogue (BLPC)
builds on the huge success of the Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC 97) service which attracted more than 2 million hits each month last year. It will be available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a
week, and will include an additional music catalogue which heralds the first of many British Library files not previously available online.
The British Library Public Catalogue boasts features that ease and enhance searching, including facilities to search across the whole catalogue,
through individual or any combination of files. It also offers advanced search functions along with improved display of non-Roman character sets, for example, Cyrillic.
Guidance through the site appears automatically, courtesy of on-screen context-sensitive help.
“The British Library Public Catalogue is another demonstration of our commitment to making our unrivalled collections more accessible” said Lynne
Brindley, Chief Executive of the British Library.
“It is a major advance on earlier systems and is simpler to use. I am confident that not only will it meet the demands of business and academia, but also opens the doors of the Library to a global community of users via the power of the World Wide Web”.
The British Library is the UK’s national library and the world’s leading resource for scholarship, research and innovation. Its collection
covers every age of written civilisation, every written language and every aspect of human thought. Material held by the Library ranges from ancient Chinese oracle bones to technical reports about the latest
scientific discoveries.
Users ranging from industrial companies to academic scholars have access to the Library’s collection in its reading rooms. There is also a wide range of services tailored for those who cannot visit the Library in person, including current awareness services and the supply of documents upon request.
BLPC contains information on c10 million books and other material in the Library’s collection. The system includes details of the Library’s
reference holdings in the humanities, social sciences, science, technology and business dating from the beginning of printing to the present day plus printed music scores.
Users can also search for books and reports from 1980, journals and serials from 1700, and conferences from 1800 held at the Library' s Document Supply Centre in Yorkshire. This material, once located, can be ordered online.
The system features a new interface, which can be accessed via the Internet with Web browser.
Users can do a basic search by author, title, subject keywords, publisher, or date. A new, advanced Boolean function has now been introduced for more sophisticated searches. Searches can be across the entire catalogue or limited to specific files. Information in records displayed includes author(s), title, publisher, place and date of publication, ISBN and the British Library shelf location mark.
The document ordering facility on BLPC allows registered users of the Library’s Document Supply Centre (DSC) to place orders for loans or
photocopies of material held at the Centre.
Non-registered users can also order photocopies of journal articles or conference papers. A new template order function enables users to request an item they think might be in the Document Supply collection but is not accessible via the online catalogue, e.g. a book published before 1980. To become a user of the DSC, contact Customer Services, British Library Document Supply Centre, Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7BQ, telephone 01937 546060, fax 01937 546333, email
Further information on BLPC and related services is available from John Lowery, The British Library, Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7BQ,
telephone 01937 546551, email john.lowery@bl.uk
Comprehensive information on the Library’s collection and services is available on the British Library web page at www.bl.uk
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