Experience acquired during the Polonica registration executed by the Department of Early Printed Books of the National Library of Poland in Roman libraries in the years 1974-2016

Abstract

This paper presents a whole range of actions taken by the Department of Early Printed Books of the National Library of Poland related to data registration in Roman libraries. The data of printed Polonica from the 16-18th centuries were registered in the years 1974-2016 in 14 Roman libraries of different types in total. The success of this project could be ascribed to the agreement between three research centers: The National Library, The Pontifical Institute of Ecclesiastic Studies in Rome and The J.S. Umiastowska Roman Foundation. The article discusses following topics: methodology of data registration, organisation of work, enconutered problems and implemented solutions, specificity of work in the Italian libraries (differences in cataloging, inventories of library collections and access to them) and their impact on the quality and performance of the National Library. In addition, the general outcome of this methodology is presented in the context of its importance for updating  Polish national bibliography. The results of the presented efforts are regularly published in the series of Polonica from the 16-18th Centuries in the Roman Libraries.