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The subject of this article is to analyze the national bibliography as a means for promoting the documentary heritage and providing access to it. It discusses various forms of the national bibliography as well as their potential for preserving the memory and ensuring access to documentary resources and their promotion. The article serves the purpose, by drawing on the analysis of foreign publications, of substantiating the idea that the national bibliography as a structured registry of the national publishing output may serve as a reliable means for promot­ing the documentary heritage. The article elaborates on the evolution of the notion and coverage of the national bibliography as well as its presentation to the public. The national bibliography was defined in the 60ies of the 20th century by joint efforts of UNESCO and IFLA. This definition underlined that the national bibliography must cover the nation’s entire published output. The notion of the national bibli­ography underwent some evolution, and in the 21st century the focus shifted towards registering electronic publishing resources alongside with solving the issues of presenting the national bibliography to the public. Previously, the presence of a bibliographic record in the national bibliography signified that the resource was available within the legal de­posit collection of the library, whereas at present the issue of having to register national information resources which do not belong to this collection is gaining persistence. Another significant issue in making the national bibliography a comprehensive reg­istry of the nation’s publishing output is the relation between the national bibliography and legal deposit. Successful and sustainable development of the national bibliography requires cooperative effort in creating and updating publication and factual data and ef­ficient communication with publishers and other suppliers of public information within the chain of legal deposit. This interaction substantiates the existence of the national bibliography as the all-reflecting mirror creating opportunities to cognize the national documentary cultural heritage and ensuring its promotion and access, The register of bibliographic and authority data of published documents helps preserve the cultural and his­torical memory; ensures dissemination of knowledge about historical and cultural events and their interpretation; and gives a panorama of the cultural history, the heritage of the traditional culture, prominent fellow-countrymen and national uniqueness. The analysis of websites of national libraries of various countries which are legal deposit receivers shows that some of them remind the publishers of their obligation to submit legal deposit copies in a laconic manner and some of them provide more information, e.g. types and quantity of legal deposit copies and terms of submission as well as give references to appropri­ate legal acts. Some of these institutions highlight the significance of legal deposit as a means of preserving cultural heritage and ensuring access to it for the general public and researchers. However, there is no clear message addressed to the integral and primary chain of the legal deposit system, the publishers, about their responsibility about the comprehensiveness of legal deposit and the publishers’ benefits from contributing to the preservation and access of the national cultural heritage. The article analyzes the transformation of the national bibliography from a printed list to a presentation of linked data. Digital and information technologies applied in publication pro­cesses and creation of new forms of disseminating data of national bibliographies contribute to promoting the national history and cultural memory. Broad access to national bibliographic data allows the general public creating new services and products. The precise definition of purposes of the national bibliography and its users could facilitate the shaping of the appropriate model of the national bibliography.

Terminai „knygų kolekcija“, „knygų rinkinys“, „fondas“ knygotyroje ir bibliotekininkystėje dažnai vartojami sinonimiškai, bet tam tikrais atvejais jų prasmės skiriasi. Knygų kolekcija in corpore įprasta vadinti istoriškai susiformavusį, nedalomą, istorinės, mokslinės ir kultūrinės vertės knygų rinkinį. Straipsnyje analizuojami knygų kolekcijos termino vartojimo teoriniai aspektai, Lietuvos ir užsienio bibliotekose susiklosčiusi knygų kolekcijų gyvavimo praktika. Tyrimo objektas – Lietuvos nacionalinėje, valstybinės reikšmės ir apskričių bibliotekose sukauptos knygų kolekcijos. Ištyrus jų pateiktį bibliotekų interneto svetainėse paaiškėjo, kad jose knygų kolekcijos in corpore specialiau neatspindimos, tad vartotojui rasti informacijos apie jas gana keblu. Iš viso šiose bibliotekose sukaupta 144 knygų kolekcijos in corpore. Vyraujanti jų grupė – asmeninės bibliotekos (137), institucinių bibliotekų yra septynios. Šiuo metu kolekcijų in corpore komplektavimas sumažėjęs, tai atliepia šiandienos bibliotekininkystės situaciją. Knygų kolekcijos in corpore dėl savo išskirtinumo tampa knygų paminklais, taigi toks jų statusas įpareigoja saugotojus elgtis su jomis kaip su ypatingos vertės dokumentų kompleksais – knygos paminklais. A book collection in corpore is usually used to describe a historically formed, indivisible collection of books having a historic, scientific and cultural value. Specialized research on this topic in Lithuania has been scanty, if any, with the exception of research conducted on acquiring and storing book collections in libraries as well as similar topics. The article aims at investigating the theoretical aspects of using the term book collection and providing the analysis of existing practices and trends with regard to book collections both in Lithuanian and foreign libraries. To achieve this objective, the following methods of literary analysis and empirical research have been used: analysis of library websites, expert survey, interviews with the library staff taking care of book collections at their disposal. The objects of research are the book collections in corpore, acquired and stored in the National Library of Lithuania, libraries of state-level and county libraries. The libraries which decide to store and preserve book collections in corpore, undertake a museum function, that is, the inherent function pertinent to a memory institution. This function is not characteristic of public libraries. However, it is among the core functions of the libraries having the national and state status. Based on the criterion of the former owner, collections in corpore can be grouped as follows: personal libraries (the libraries of outstanding statesmen, public figures, science and culture makers) and book heritage of various institutions (institutional libraries). It turned out that currently 144 collections in corpore are being stored in the National Library of Lithuania, state-level and county libraries, with personal libraries identified as the prevailing group among them (137). The seven remaining collections in corpore are institutional libraries. The analysis of the information available in library websites on the collections in corpore revealed that the material presented is rather scarce and the websites do not contain comprehensive information about the scope of the respective collections. Thus, the user’s access to information is rather restricted. Today, the acquisition of collections in corpore has been reduced in scope, reflecting the current situation in librarianship. The status of some of the libraries which have acquired a great many book collections in corpore (for example, Vilnius University Library) have to be reviewed. Having established whether we are dealing with a collection in corpore or whether it is merely a donated collection of books, we can integrate the books in question into the library holdings, marking book provenance indicators in a bibliographic description in the online catalogue. Due to their exclusivity, book collections in corpore are becoming book monuments. Such a status puts their custodians under an obligation to treat them as the sets of documents having special value, that is, as book monuments.