The selection process for library management programmes for university and public libraries of Catalonia and the Biblioteca de Catalunya

In the short history of library automation in Catalonia, the 1980s were characterised by «in house» systems and the 1990s, by the arrival and extension of «turnkey» programmes. At the beginning of the current century, the libraries of the Consorci de Biblioteques Universitàries de Catalunya decided to replace the system that some had been using since 1989. In 2004, the two networks of Catalan public libraries joined the process for a change in system. The article explains about the different stages of the selection process, the decisions taken and the reasons for them, the prior technical studies, as well as the method used for selection.