Abstract
The Union Catalog in Toyama Prefecture has the longest history in the prefectural union catalogs which cover general Japanese books. The following five points are regarded as success factors of the Union Catalog Project in Toyama Prefecture. (1)The Toyama Library Association and Toyama Prefectural Library made policy in line with the development stage, by establishing the interlibrary loan rule, and an efficient materials delivery network at the start of the project. This was aimed towards a smooth carrying out of interlibrary loans. (2)This policy for the project brought about mutual motivation and cooperation among libraries in Toyama prefecture. (3)The card form suited to data accumulation was adopted, rather than the book form, at the start of the project. (4)A suitable narrowing of the scope of the project was performed. (5)A plan to reduce the burden of the participating libraries in the network was designed. The following two long-standing problems must be resolved: (1)It is necessary to make improvements to the computer processing method corresponding to environmental changes or technical innovation, and to form an environment of active participants throughout Toyama prefecture. (2)It is necessary to reform the interlibrary loan rule and some other related rules to suit the actual conditions, and to form a library materials delivery network in line with different kinds of libraries.
