VALA2004 Session 7 Jilovsky

Persistent URL: http://www.vala.org.au/vala2004-proceedings/vala2004-session-7-jilovsky

Unicode: a tool for system interoperability and human communication

VALA 2004 CONCURRENT SESSION 7: Software Issues
Wednesday 4 February 2004, 15:10 – 15:40

Cathie Jilovsky

Information Services Manager, CAVAL Collaborative Solutions
http://www.caval.edu.au

VALA2004
VALA Peer Reviewed Paper

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VALA2004 Session 7 Jilovsky Paper 30.54 KB

Abstract

This paper describes the development of the Unicode standard, how it is being used by computer systems generally and by the library community in particular. The complexities of implementing a system which supports a multi-language environment are explored, using the implementation of the Ex Libris Aleph 500 library system at CAVAL Collaborative Solutions as a case study. CAVAL provides cataloguing services to customers in over fifty languages, so that the ability to handle Unicode was a key criterion in the selection of the system. Unicode is complex to implement but is becoming an essential component for library systems.