INTRODUCTION

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It is for me a great honour to open the works of the FRBR Workshop, jointly promoted by the Italian Library Association Group on Cataloguing and The Tuscan Section of the Italian Library Association, under the aegis of Regione Toscana, the Scuola Speciale per Archivisti e Bibliotecari at the University of Rome La Sapienza, the National Library of Florence and the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico e per le Informazioni Bibliografiche. My heartful thanks to each of them, as well as to Ellediemme, our sponsor who contributed for the printing of the leaflet.

The Seminar is open the 27^th of January, a day that in others countries is holiday, because is the Day of the Memory, the day when Allied liberated Auschwitz, 55 years ago.

Italian librarians, both from the professional and the academic world, are willing to join on equal terms with their European and North-American colleagues the present discussions on library matters and hope to fill in the gap with regards to international experience. They are willing to do so as part of their profession rather than on an individual basis as experts. No librarian has ever taken part in the past or is actually involved in the process of creating the ISBD standards (with the exception of ISBD(A)). Few institutions or experts are engaged on a permanent basis in the preparation of IFLA recommendations. The Italian library world wishes therefore to strengthen its commitment and to play a major role on the scene, thus contributing to the growth of the library profession in the country and abroad.

The Italian Library Association has been moving in this direction for some time now: the Session on Cataloguing at the latest National Conference (May 1999) and the FRBR Workshop today can be considered among the most significant achievements. European librarians should speak the same language as their colleagues from the States and the other leading countries. As a matter of fact, there is only one stage and it is up to each of us to carry out a decent performance. In the world of library science, isolation due to ignorance or to arrogance is as bad as it would be in any other field.

It is not without a reason that this workshop takes place in Florence. Tuscany is among the Italian regions one with the strongest commitment to libraries; the National Library acts as a focal point for cataloguing through the publication of the Italian National Bibliography thus offering a major service to the country; and quite a number of librarians working either in Florence or in this area are considered to be on the forefront of the profession, as well as masters for many fellow librarians.

I wish to welcome our guests: Paula Goossens, President of ELAG, Patrick le Boeuf, from the National Library of France, Eeva Murtomaa, from Helsinki University Library. I equally take this opportunity for thanking Ms. Marie-France Plassard, responsible for IFLA UBCIM Programme, Ms. Barbara Tillett, The Library of Congress, Ms. Françoise Bourdon, President of FRANAR, who sent us a greeting card.

I am extremely proud to welcome John D. Byrum Jr. and Olivia Madison, for the first time in Italy.