The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) has long promoted international bibliographic standards through its UBCIM Programme and the programs and activities of IFLA Division of Bibliographic Control and its three standing committees. IFLA's many achievements over the years have resulted in several serious re-examinations of cataloguing theories and practices.

The study we are discussing this morning is part of a proud tradition going back to 1961 and now leads us through the early twenty-first century. As many of you may remember, the first major IFLA initiative in international bibliographic control took place in 1961 at an international conference in Paris during which a set of cataloguing principles were approved--now known as the Paris Principles. In 1969 another important IFLA-sponsored conference was held in Copenhagen, whose purpose was to consider a resolution to establish international standards for the form and content of bibliographic descriptions. The results of this far-reaching resolution have been the International Standard Bibliographic Description for Monographic Publications, first published in 1971, and its successor standards for all formats. In 1977 the International Congress on National Bibliographies was held in Paris, which called for standards for the printed national bibliography. The congress participants also recommended that greater efforts at national international levels should be made to ensure compatibility between the bibliographic exchange formats of the library and information communities, and the establishment of ISDS centres. Another event of consequence took place in 1997 when the Standing Committee of the IFLA Section on Cataloguing approved the final report of a study on the functional requirements for bibliographic records. The report contained a series of recommendations that could have far reaching consequences for international bibliographic control standards.