Retrospective Conversion of Card catalogue at the University of Lesotho Library

Abstract

The National University of Lesotho Library has fully computerised all its housekeeping routines and one of the major achievements with this regard is the automation of its card catalogue. Currently, about 90% of the library's card catalogue has been converted to machine-readable format. This article reports how the retrospective conversion project was carried out at the National University of Lesotho Library from July 1996 until December 2000. Also, the article describes the conversion methods employed, procedures followed, and pre-conversion preparations made by the library to automate its card catalogue and to assign barcode labels to the collection. Finally it concludes by highlighting problems encountered throughout the project and by giving statistical figures relating to success rates of the project.


(African Journal of Library, Archives and Information Science: 2002 11 (2): 149-157)