NRMM records available online

More than 579,000 records in the National Register of Microform
Masters (NRMM) are now available online on OCLC and RLIN. The
Association of Research Libraries (ARL), working in partnership with
the Library of Congress, has completed the decade long effort to
create online bibliographic reports for all NRMM reports. The NRMM,
the largest single file and most important source of preservation
microform masters in the United States, consists of reports of
microform masters produced by hundreds of different libraries and
publishers from 1965 through 1983. It was published by the Library
of Congress until 1984.

With support from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH),
the goal of creating machine-readable records for all NRMM reports
that could be converted has been accomplished. NRMM online records
represent:

    *   536,784 monographs in Roman languages
    *   12,953 monographs in non-Roman languages
    *   7,083 musical scores
    *   22,736 serials (Harvard, NYPL, LC holdings only)

For all libraries, the automation of the NRMM files improves access
to preservation microfilm masters, ensures against duplication of
microfilming and reduces bibliographic searching time and costs. It
is no longer necessary to search in the printed, multi-volume NRMM.
The online NRMM makes possible a one- step search, which
dramatically reduces the amount of staff time needed for pre-filming
searches. The danger of missing a record is also minimized since the
machine-readable records are accessible by several access points.

ARL has established a Web site to provide more detailed information
about the content of the online version of the NRMM, including
statistics on the number of records processed, descriptions of
formats, bibliographic standards, and information on obtaining the
films. The URL is: <URL:http://www.arl.org/preserv/nrmm.html>

Jutta Reed-Scott
Consultant for Preservation and
Collections Services
Association of Research Libraries
21 Dupont Circle, N.W.
Washington, D.C   20036
202-296-2296
781-647-5158

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:80
                   Distributed: Friday, April 3, 1998
                       Message Id: cdl-11-80-013
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