Computer and Network Relational Study for Building the National Bibliographic Information Network (NBINet) in Taiwan

The National Bibliographic Information Network (NBINet) is a bibliographic database established on October 30, 1991 and maintained by Taiwan's National Library (National Central Library). Initially, the database included 18 member libraries (16 from national universities and 2 from the public libraries). In 1998, there are 26 member libraries and 70 non-member libraries joined the NBINet. This NBINet has been considered a comprehensive and important database for Chinese studies worldwide and offered more than 1.6 million entries of bibliography records on June 1997. This paper consists three perspectives of NBINet : (1) NBINet's problems and solutions in relation to computerization and the Internet, (2) its connection with Taiwan Academic Network (TANet) and Internet, (3) and users' expectation toward NBINet. Hopefully, this kind of the experience for establishing a bibliographic database can be used as a reference for others who may want 10 build up a similier database.