Uses and usefulness of national bibliographies : which perspectives?

After an overview of the development over the last 30 years of national bibliographies in the context of universal bibliographic control, the author considers the evolution of their different components (the materials, the library itself, the automation environment, etc.) and traces the natural evolution toward an online, current national bibliography for traditional materials, even though the very concept of a national bibliographic survey for online items requires complete redefinition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]