Multiscript Information Processing on Crossroads: Demands for Shifting from Diverse Character Code Sets to the Unicode™ Standard in Library Aplications

An essential component of any library application is an encoding methodology that allows computers to process characters and symbols used to represent language information in written form. For year the encoding mechanism was not developed under a unified umbrella nor did it reach various languages equally. Without a standard unified character code, users have to use different software and terminals to display or enter data in different languages, especially when dealing with more than a few scripts. The development of the Unicode Standard is a milestone in international computing because it supports the creation of global software that can be easily adapted for local needs. However, the implementation of the Unicode Standard has not received full attention or strong support from some library communities which present special and unique issues to multiscript information processing. The article focuses on obstacles to using the Unicode Standard in library applications. While examples and observations are from current CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) information processing, the authors believe that librarians from other regions, especially Third World countries, will find them interesting.