Geobibline and how it compares with other geographic databases

Abstract

The development of the Geobibline database is described. Historically, traditional databases were created using bibliographic methods usually carried out by a single institution, but in recent decades multiple libraries have often cooperated to create joint catalogues. This is the case presented in this article which describes the collaboration of 20 Czech special libraries resulting in the creation of a database that contains 162,000 bibliographic records on geographical topics related to the Czech Republic. The project, completed in just four years, initially covered only 20th century materials, however, collaboration with the Temap project has expanded coverage back to early printed books (1450 A.D.). The typology of the documents referenced is broad and includes gray literature. Records are linked to objects (maps, articles, front pages of newspapers) and there are full text links to Google Books. The database has been compared with counterparts in Germany, Poland, and the United States using internationally comparable specific subject headings. The sustainability of Geobibline is ensured by the automatic import of data and their connection with Temap.