During the feasibility study into a National Union catalogue for the UK (UKNUC), a
questionnaire survey was undertaken of the needs of both academic staff in higher education and
library staff. A response rate of 40-50 per cent was achieved, 846 questionnaires being returned
for academics and 724 for librarians. The analysis suggests that a UKNUC would be highly
valued and heavily used by all categories. Academics felt it would have a positive effect on their
information searching, and wished to include the holdings of the British Library, and libraries of
both the major research universities and the ``traditional’’ universities. They wanted it to be
comprehensive and easy to use, to include locations of both books and journals, and to facilitate
subject collection searching. Library staff have similar priorities to academics, although there are
more variations by sector and a recognition of a UKNUC’s value as a potential source of
bibliographic records
