Narrow-Profile Standards: Pros and Cons

Abstract

Currently, in Russia, within the system of standards on information, librarianship and publishing (SIBID) there are developing the documents that reflect specific aspects of technological processes for libraries of separate range. Such trends are observed in the group of national standards for scientific libraries. Along with the positive aspects of establishing narrow-profile standards aimed at methodological support of library-information activities of scientific libraries, there arises the need for similar justification of the specifics of all existing libraries (public, municipal, children’s) and the development of similar documents on standardization. In the practice of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) there is no area for the development of standards for different types of libraries; standardization is focused not only on the unification of terminological directions in the library community as a whole, but also on the interaction with the related branches. In the draft of the developed national standard GOST R “SIBID. Library and information activities. Terms and definitions” there are allocated more than ten types of libraries that have their own specifics, which must be taken into account when organizing the work. Narrow-profile standards were approved and positively evaluated by the target audience — scientific libraries; and the departmental interest of the founders of group of scientific libraries was taken into account. The debatable issue of expediency to develop this direction is the need to elaborate a series of similar standards for different types of libraries. Considering the wide range of cultural and educational activities of different types of libraries, there will be required the substantial revision of classification of services that will actually generate a new document. The author notes the limited nature of action of the draft standard GOST R 7.0... — “SIBID. State registration number of legal deposit copy of printed publication. Structure, execution and use” developed in accordance with the Program of national standardization for 2019. The draft document presents the developed technological process of one organization and does not provide recommendations on the procedure for assigning and using the state registration numbers of legal deposit copies of printed publications for all recipient organizations established by legislation. This draft can be considered as a standard of the organization. The emerging trend of creating narrow-profile standards, on the one hand, contributes to the development of thorough documents, on the other hand is aimed at supporting the activities of specific area. The efficiency of such approach to standardization requires discussion in the library community and, in case of further development, actions to strengthen methodological support for the maintenance and implementation of narrow-profile standards.