the ABCD is the acronym for a software suite for the automation of libraries and documentation centres. In Spanish this is, in full 'Automatisación de Bibliotécas y Centros de Documentación', which keeps the same acronym valid also for French or Portugese Even in other non-latin languages, with some slight but quite acceptable variations, -e.g. Dutch : 'Automatisering van Bibliotheken en Centra
... [Show full abstract] voor Documentatie' -the acronym can still be maintained.
The name itself already expresses the ambition of the software suite : not only providing automation functions for the 'classic' libraries but also other information providers such as documentation centres. Flexibility and versatility are at the forefront of the criteria on which the software is developed. Thista flexibility e.g. is illustrated by the fact that in principle, but also practically, any bibliographic structure can be managed by the software, or even created by itself. Even non-bibliographic structures can be created, as long as the information is mainly 'textual' information, as this is the limitation put by the underlying database technology, which is the (CDS/)ISIS textual database. Good understanding of some basic ISIS-related concepts and techniques,