Activity report 2002 · ISSN 1681-0678 European Commission Directorate-General for Education and...
Transcript of Activity report 2002 · ISSN 1681-0678 European Commission Directorate-General for Education and...
CENTRAL LIBRARYAct iv i ty report
EN
NC-AB-03-001-EN
-C
ISSN 1681-0678
European CommissionDirectorate-General for Education and Culture
Education and Culture
2002
Publications Office
Publications.eu.int
Central library18, rue Van MaerlantB-1049 Brussels
Tel: (32-2) 299 90 64 and (32-2) 296 06 57
Opening hours:from Mondays to Thursdays: 10 am to 5 pmAnnual closure in August
A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet.
It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int).
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2003
ISBN: 92-894-4888-1
© European Commission, 2003
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Printed in Belgium
PRINTED ON WHITE CHLORINE-FREE PAPER
A c t i v i t y r e p o r t | C e n t r a l l i b r a r y 3
Foreword 5
1. Highlights of 2002 6
2. Main achievements of the European Commission central library in 2002 7
• Library activities 7
• Services to readers 9
• Information technology 13
3. Projects for 2003 14
Annexes 15
Mission statement of the central library in 2002 15
Staff of the central library in 2002 15
Human resources, premises and collections of the central library 16
Internet sites 16
Central library budget resources, 1996–2003 17
ECLAS — Online catalogue of the central library: Search statistics 2002 18
It is not very often that a scientific library moves house!
This is what happened, however, in mid-2002 to the European Commission’s central library. The size of the
collections to be moved and the needs in terms of storage space and consultation areas generally constitute a
serious obstacle to this type of operation. Nevertheless, after 50 years in the building known as ‘Joyeuse
Entrée’, all its collections, its reading rooms and its staff now occupy the building located at 18, rue Van
Maerlant in Brussels, with the reading rooms installed on the upper levels of the former convent's church.
This original and attractive building is also ideally situated at the crossroads of the European institutions:
Parliament, Council, Commission, Committee of the Regions and, in the near future, European Economic and
Social Committee.
The transfer of the library required a considerable effort from a large number of administrative services, but
it was primarily a success solely because of the commitment and devotion of its staff, for whom the purpose
of the operation was clear: to move to a place conducive to wider consultation of the collections.
Whilst highlighting this major event of 2002, I would like to take the opportunity afforded by this foreword
to the library’s activity report to thank the women and men who worked unstintingly for several months to
achieve this success, which is already reflected in the greater numbers of users.
The library is looking for new ways and means — interinstitutional, perhaps — in its new building; it is ready to
take the plunge into the future.
I wish it every success and encourage you to make use of its services.
Nikolaus G. van der Pas
Director-General
Foreword
A c t i v i t y r e p o r t | C e n t r a l l i b r a r y 5
6 A c t i v i t y r e p o r t | C e n t r a l l i b r a r y
1
Highlights of 2002
The major highlight of 2002 was indisputably the
Brussels central library’s move to a new Commission
building. This complex and tricky operation took place
in several distinct stages: installation of the compact
shelving in the basements; removal of the collections;
installation of the new reading rooms and the staff
move. The whole operation took about six months,
comprising three months when the library’s activities
were reduced and a further three months when it was
shut down completely. The library reopened on 16
September 2002 and its new premises were officially
inaugurated by Mrs Viviane Reding, Member of the
Commission with responsibility for education and
culture, on 15 October 2002 in the presence of Mr N.
van der Pas, Director-General, and Mr J. Vale de
Almeida, Director.
In terms of management, the central library operates
the principles of the decentralisation of financial
circuits, in accordance with the wishes of the
Commission, for all its services.
At the instigation of the secretaries-general of the
institutions, the Commission, along with the European
Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and
Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions,
selected, in 2002, a consultant to carry out a feasibi-
lity study for an interinstitutional library. This study is
now under way and its findings are expected by spring
2003.
Lastly, the library’s staff devoted a lot of its time in
2002 to preparing a call for tenders aimed at choosing
a new library management software. This is an impor-
tant matter because this choice will condition the
quality of the work of managing the library and the
network of libraries of the directorates-general with
regard to its collections (acquisitions, budget, loans,
binding, etc.) and the effectiveness of readers’
searches in the computerised catalogue.
A c t i v i t y r e p o r t | C e n t r a l l i b r a r y 7
2
Main achievements of the European Commission
central library in 2002
Library activities
The budget allocated to the activities of the library
has not changed for several years. However, we have
to point out that publishing costs, in general, are
increasing on average by 10 % a year.
Acquisitions: In 2002, the central library in Brussels
made 6 145 orders, covering monographs and
subscriptions to directories and series not only for the
library but also for the directorates-general and the
cabinets. Although this figure is similar to that for the
previous years (2001: 5 952; 2000: 6 232), it
nevertheless reflects an upward trend.
It should be noted that the library in Brussels benefits
from donations of publications, particularly from
national institutes, organisations and universities.
In 2002, the central library in Luxembourg made 650
acquisitions (monographs and standing orders for
directories). Here again, the steady decrease in the
volume of purchases is due to the stagnation of the
budget and the regular increase in prices.
Subscriptions: In 2002, the central library in Brussels
had 1 207 subscriptions representing 114 daily news-
paper titles (compared with 1 203 subscriptions and
119 titles in 2001) and 2 687 subscriptions represen-
ting 1 790 specialised periodical titles.
In 2002, 213 periodical titles (compared with 82 titles
in 2001) were available online in full-text electronic
format to European Commission staff in Brussels and
Luxembourg.
In 2002, the central library in Luxembourg had 77 subscrip-
tions representing 45 daily newspaper titles and 280
subscriptions representing 266 specialised periodical titles.
The newspapers are for use by all the Commission
departments.
With regard to the periodicals held in Luxembourg, we
should point out that the library receives more than
2 000 titles free of charge, mostly obtained in
exchange for Community publications.
Cataloguing: In 2002, 120 338 new notices were
created using the MultiLIS library management system.
This abnormally high figure (the average input is 15 000
notices a year) is due to the incorporation into the system
of all the references for articles in periodicals from the
old SCAD base and the collections of the Commission’s
self-tuition centre.
At 31 December 2002, there were 327 517 notices
in the system.
At 31 December 2002, the system had 462 210 documents
attached to the notices.
Acquisitions 2002 Newspapers Periodicals
Brussels 6 145 1 207 subscriptions 2 687 subscriptions
114 titles 1 790 titles
Luxembourg 650 77 subscriptions 280 subscriptions
45 titles 266 titles
8 A c t i v i t y r e p o r t | C e n t r a l l i b r a r y
Loans: In 2002, the central library and all the member
libraries of Reseaubib (in the directorates-general) made
7 300 loans and 1 611 loan renewals; 7156 borrowed
works were returned. The central library in Brussels (CLB)
made 3 081 loans and 1 019 loan renewals; 3 260
borrowed works were returned.
These figures were achieved despite the fact that,
when it moved, the library closed down for several
months (three months’ total shutdown and three
months’ reduced activity).
The central library in Luxembourg (CLL) made 562
loans and 104 loan renewals; 495 borrowed works
were returned.
Reseaubib: The general assembly of the network of
libraries of the Commission DGs and departments was
held on 29 November 2002. Two main topics were dis-
cussed: firstly, the use of the budgets for acquisitions
and subscriptions; secondly, access to electronic
publications from the centralised catalogue.
Training: As in every year, the central library organised
training courses on the use of its MultiLIS management
software. All the modules of the software were covered:
acquisitions, serial publications, cataloguing (basic and
advanced levels), indexing, loans and transfers, and local
lists and management of authorities. Courses on the use of
the ECLAS catalogue were also given. In 2002, 75 members
of the Commission’s staff followed these modules.
Eurolib: The institutional and associated member libraries
of Eurolib held their 18th general assembly at the
Institute of Public Administration in Maastricht on 22
and 23 April 2002 and an interim working meeting on 7
and 8 October 2002 at the Office for Harmonisation in
the Internal Market in Alicante. The main topics discussed
were: the interinstitutional library project, the develop-
ment of the Eurolib.net site, the project for electronic
publishing and dissemination of Publications Office
publications, transparency and public access to docu-
ments.
External relations: In 2002, the central library took part
in the following international meetings:
• 1 March 2002: 15th Annual Conference of
DRA-MultiLIS users, St Louis, USA;
• 18 March 2002: the International Internet Conference
and Exhibition for Librarians and Information
Managers, London;
• 9 April 2002: Annual meeting of EC Information
Multipliers, Cuenca;
• 6 May 2002: DLM Forum, Barcelona;
• 3 July 2002: LIBER Annual Conference, Graz;
• 9 October 2002: Book Fair, Frankfurt.
MultiLIS statistics at 31 December 2002
Total number of notices 327 517
Total number of new notices 120 338
Total number of documents attached to notices 462 210
Total loans 7 300
CLB 3 081
CLL 562
Total number of loan renewals 1 611
CLB 1 019
CLL 104
Total number of returned loans 7 156
CLB 3 260
CLL 495
2Main achievements of the European Commissioncentral library in 2002
A c t i v i t y r e p o r t | C e n t r a l l i b r a r y 9
Trainees: The central library in Brussels had Mr Fabrizio
Palombi as a trainee from March to July 2002. During this
period, he set up an alert system warning the reader, by
e-mail, of the arrival in the library’s catalogue of an elec-
tronically accessible issue of a periodical (TOC Alerts).
Services to readers
The readers of the central library in Brussels and
Luxembourg mainly comprise members of staff of the
European institutions and bodies, together with a specia-
lised public seeking information about the Community
(students, teachers, lawyers, consultants). The former are
called ‘internal readers’, the latter ‘external readers’.
Internal readers have access to the library’s services either
electronically (consultation of the catalogue and requests
for loans are online) or by physically going there.
While they have electronic access to the catalogue, exter-
nal readers cannot make requests for loans online. They
can have access to the library by appointment in both
Brussels and Luxembourg and consult their collections on
the spot.
On account of the move, the library in Brussels stopped
providing its services on a regular basis between April and
16 September 2002.
All readers together (internal and external):
2002 —— January to March: Normal operation
2002 —— April: Normal operation except for consultation of
periodicals, which are only available for the current year
(2002)
2002 —— May to June: Opening of the library two days a
week, only for staff of the institutions. The loan service is
no longer in operation; only the works in the rooms are
accessible
2Main achievements of the European Commissioncentral library in 2002
2002 Reading room Catalogue room
Visitors received 5 910 1 200
Bibliographical information 3 600 2 400
Telephone enquiries 4 200 3 200
Fax enquiries 225 50
E-mail enquiries 2 880 1 200
Works taken out of storage 6 374
2002 Reading room Catalogue room
Visitors received 1 281 400
Bibliographical information 1 200 800
Telephone enquiries 1 400 1 380
Fax enquiries 75 15
E-mail enquiries 1 200 400
Works taken out of storage 2 099
2002 Reading room Catalogue room
Visitors received 500 180
Bibliographical information 240 160
Telephone enquiries 480 140
Fax enquiries 70 30
E-mail enquiries 1 000 60
1 0 A c t i v i t y r e p o r t | C e n t r a l l i b r a r y
2Main achievements of the European Commissioncentral library in 2002
2002 —— 1 July to 15 September: Complete shutdown of
the library for the move
2002 —— 16 September to 31 December: Reopening of the
library
Cumulative table ——2002
A total of 229 352 photocopies were made for the staff
of the institutions in 2002.
External readers: In 2002, the reader’s card office of
the Brussels library issued 388 access authorisations
for several days to outside readers: 245 were given to
students, of which 194 were for post-graduate level
students from 48 universities and grandes écoles in
the European Union or non-member countries, and
143 were for representatives of the liberal professions,
professors, national civil servants, etc. A total of 1 648
authorisations for one-day visits were issued, and 27
group visits were organised in 2002. Once the new
library had been inaugurated, applications for one-
day and group visits doubled compared with the
previous year.
2002 Reading room Catalogue room
+ 3 + 4
Visitors received 583 333
Bibliographical information 996 648
Telephone enquiries 1 200 800
Fax enquiries 100 150
E-mail enquiries 1 800 1 200
Works taken out of storage 1 890
2002 Reading room Catalogue room
Visitors received 8 274 2 113
Bibliographical information 6 036 4 008
Telephone enquiries 7 280 5 520
Fax enquiries 470 245
E-mail enquiries 6 880 2 800
Works taken out of storage 10 359
External readers at the central libraryin Brussels in 2002
Students 245
Various professions 143
Total number of access authorisations 388
One-day visits 1 648
Group visits 27
A c t i v i t y r e p o r t | C e n t r a l l i b r a r y 1 1
2Main achievements of the European Commissioncentral library in 2002
The central library in Luxembourg received about 8 800
visitors in the reading and catalogue rooms in 2002.
The increase in this figure compared with 2001 (8 000) is
due to an increase in the number of visitors to the libra-
ry during the lunch break from the many conferences
held in the BECH building.
The number of searches carried out in 2002 was around
4 500. A total of 63 408 free photocopies were produced
for readers.
Interlibrary loans (ILLs): 449 requests were made to out-
side libraries for loans (outgoing ILLs) by the central libra-
ry in Brussels and 320 by the libraries of the Commission
DGs and departments. Of the 449 requests by the central
library in Brussels, 345 were made via contract suppliers;
428 requests were fulfilled. Also during this year, the cen-
tral library in Brussels received 134 requests for loans
(incoming ILLs) from other libraries and was able to meet
106 of them.
Outgoing interlibrary loans from the CLB in 2002
Total Contract
suppliers (*)
449 345
Fulfilled 428
Not fulfilled 21
(*) Impala, BLDSC, Subito, DBI-Link.
Outgoing interlibrary loans from DGs (*) in 2002
Total 320
Fulfilled 174
Not fulfilled 146
(*) By Impala only for the following DGs: Enterprise, Environment, Economic and
Financial Affairs, Agriculture and the Legal Service.
Incoming interlibrary loans to the CLB in 2002
Total 134
Fulfilled 106
Not fulfilled 28
Activities of the central libraryin Luxembourg in 2002
Visitors 8 800
Bibliographical searches 4 500
Free photocopies 63 408
1 2 A c t i v i t y r e p o r t | C e n t r a l l i b r a r y
2Main achievements of the European Commissioncentral library in 2002
The figures for interlibrary loans show that there has
been an increase in their use. This is a result of the
continuing need for the service from external readers
resident in other countries, who can only borrow
publications via an interlibrary loan.
The central library in Luxembourg handled about 585
interlibrary loans in 2002, both incoming and out-
going (Reseaubib and international loans).
Publications: The central library in Brussels publishes
the Biblio Information series. In the Biblio-Europe,
Biblio-International and Biblio-Est/East series, 2 600
copies each of editions 1 to 4 were published in 2002.
The library offers an electronic version of the
complete Biblio series (including Biblio-Flash) on the
European Commission’s Intranet, that is, only available
for use by its staff. This form of selective dissemina-
tion of information gives, when available, a link to the
index or the full text of the periodical articles selec-
ted. The Biblio-Flash series also offers a condensed
selection of texts summarising the documentation
available on a certain subject.
In this category, one title is to be noted in 2002:
Euro - the single European currency.
Number of incoming interlibrary loan requestsper country for 2002
Austria 1
Belgium 20
Canada 1
Denmark 20
Finland 3
France 12
Germany 5
Greece 6
Hungary 3
Ireland 13
Italy 11
Netherlands 3
Norway 3
Poland 2
Portugal 1
Spain 23
United Kingdom 1
United States 6
Total 134
Interlibrary loans for the CLL in 2002
585
A c t i v i t y r e p o r t | C e n t r a l l i b r a r y 1 3
Information technology
The main IT event of 2002 was indisputably the
change of library management software.
Following a study of the needs, the specifications
and the market, completed in March 2002, the
library services got down to the task of drafting
specifications for the issuing of a call for tenders,
which should be ready at the beginning of 2003.
In 2002 too, the library switched to a new version
of its current management software (DRA-MultiLIS,
version 11.2.1).
Since the beginning of 2002, the library has had a
post for an administrator of its management sys-
tem, which is filled by Ms Loureiro da Costa.
During summer 2002, the notices of periodical
articles from the old SCAD base were added to the
library’s catalogue. Since then, all the information
contained in the periodicals to which the library
has taken out subscriptions can be consulted in the
computerised catalogue.
In 2002, the library continued with its policy of
developing electronic access to periodicals: a sys-
tem automatically warning the reader of anything
new appearing in a periodical was installed for
Commission staff.
2Main achievements of the European Commissioncentral library in 2002
1 4 A c t i v i t y r e p o r t | C e n t r a l l i b r a r y
3
Projects for 2003
In 2003, the library in Brussels will have to consolida-
te its services in its new working environment (rules
of procedure for the reading rooms, new financial
circuits, reorganisation of the subscriptions sector,
adaptation of certain services, etc.).
The major objective for this year is still, however, to
choose a new library management software and, if
possible, to introduce it.
A c t i v i t y r e p o r t | C e n t r a l l i b r a r y 1 5
Annexes
Mission statement of the central library in 2002
Through the Commission central library and networking with other partner libraries, to offer researchers quali-
ty library services based on extensive collections and electronic management of those collections within its
ECLAS catalogue:
• making available to the Commission, its staff and others seeking information in the field of Community
integration any useful information published in either paper or electronic format;
• responding cost-effectively to requests for documents and offering interactive electronic library services
allowing users to have access to information and/or to identify information sources without having to call
upon external assistance and without prior training;
• developing cooperation partnership between libraries both inside and outside the Commission, and in par-
ticular with the libraries of the other institutions.
Staff of the central library in 2002
Anna MELICH Head of Unit
Roland LAURENT Deputy Head of Unit
Horst WOHLFEIL Librarian in charge, Luxembourg
1 6 A c t i v i t y r e p o r t | C e n t r a l l i b r a r y
Human resources, premises andcollections of the central library
Human resources of the central library (as at 1 January 2003)
Brussels
A: 2, LA: 1, B: 15, C: 24, D: 5.
Luxembourg
A: 0, B: 2, C: 8 + 1 vacant, D: 2.
Premises/collections of the central library
Brussels (up to June 2002)
• 1 reading room (62 places) displaying around 12 700 reference works and/or periodicals, plus 36 newspapers;
• 1 catalogue room permitting consultation of databases;
• some 500 000 volumes;
• 4 storage areas underground (1625 m2 for 380 000 volumes) and an offsite store (rue Vandenbranden: around
2500 m2 for 120 000 volumes).
Brussels (since July 2002)
• 1 reading room on two levels (63 places) displaying 14 000 reference works, 314 periodical titles, 36 newspaper titles,
364 CD-ROM titles. Databases can also be consulted here;
• some 500 000 volumes;
• 1 storage area underground (1200 m2 for 304 800 volumes) and an offsite store (rue Vandenbranden: around
2500 m2 for 195 200 volumes).
In order to leave enough room in the new storage areas for expanding the collections over the next eight years or so,
it has been necessary to withdraw 18 000 works and remove about 75 200 volumes to the offsite store in rue
Vandenbranden.
Luxembourg
• 1 reading room (28 places) containing 2 500 reference works;
• 1 catalogue room permitting consultation of databases;
• 4 storage areas (860 m2) containing some 90 000 volumes.
Internet sitesECLAS: http://europa.eu.int/eclas/
Central library: http://europa.eu.int/comm/libraries/
Central library budget resources,1996–2003 (‘000 EUR)
1996 (1) 1997 (2) 1998 (3) 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
A-2250 Purchase of books 700 560 557 560 749 (4) 710 710 730
A-2252 Subscriptions to newspapers and periodicals 1 400 1 544 — — —
A-2253 Subscriptions to press agencies 540 — — — —
A-2254 Binding 180 176 139 140 —
A-2255 Subscriptions to and purchases of data (2) 1 345 1 745 3 218 3 300 EAC.D.3 1 540 (5) EAC.D.3 1 410 EAC.D.3 1 410 EAC.D.3 1 450(Admin 1 725) (Admin 1983) (Admin ?) (Admin ?)(+ copyright) 200 (including copyright) (including copyright) (including copyright)
(1) Heading A-2255 was managed jointly with X.B.8.(2) Headings A-2252 and A-2253 have been amended with a view to keeping up with changes in the field of electronic media.(3) Heading A-2255 has included headings A-2252 and A-2253 since 1998.(4) Heading A-2250 has included binding since 2000 (ex-A-2254: library stocks, purchases and preservation).(5) Heading A-2255 is managed jointly with the Personnel and Administration DG.
A c t i v i t y r e p o r t | C e n t r a l l i b r a r y 1 7
1 8 A c t i v i t y r e p o r t | C e n t r a l l i b r a r y
ECLAS Online catalogue of the central library Search statistics 2002
0
500
1 000
1 500
2 000
2 500
Num
ber
of s
earc
hes
per
day
Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
Totals Internal External
European Commission
Central library — Activity report 2002
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2003
2003 — 18 pp. — 21 x 29.7 cm
ISBN 92-894-4888-1
A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet.
It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int).
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2003
ISBN: 92-894-4888-1
© European Commission, 2003
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Printed in Belgium
PRINTED ON WHITE CHLORINE-FREE PAPER