Information retrieval systems in the Vilnius University Library: past and present

ENThe principal function of the Library is to accumulate, process and enshrine books, manuscripts and periodicals as well as to present comprehensive information to the reader about intellectual wealth held in the Library. Therefore the work of the library can not be envisaged without a perfectly organized information search system. The report will deal with traditional and electronic catalogues of the Vilnius University Library. I would like to make a brief survey of the Vilnius University Library catalogues development and organization history, basing on the Vilnius University scientists' and library personnel research works. The VU Library catalogues are important for regional studies, Lithuanian culture and science. They have been compiled and published since the middle of the 16th century and represented literature of universal content and diverse languages. From the readers' services point of view the library catalogues are significant for highlighting publications necessary for maintaining research and study processes, systematical information and disclosure of various aspects of new materials. [p. 79].