Activity report 2002 · ISSN 1681-0678 European Commission Directorate-General for Education and Culture ... Almeida, Director. In terms of management, the central library operates

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

CENTRAL LIBRARYAct iv i ty report


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 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


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.


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


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


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


Visitors received 1 281 400

Bibliographical information 1 200 800


Fax enquiries 75 15

E-mail enquiries 1 200 400



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


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.


+ 3 + 4

Visitors received 583 333

Bibliographical information 996 648

Telephone enquiries 1 200 800





Visitors received 8 274 2 113

Bibliographical information 6 036 4 008





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


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



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


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.



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.


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


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.



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


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.


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

EN

NC-AB-03-001-EN

-C


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

Documents

Activity report 2002 · ISSN 1681-0678 European Commission Directorate-General for Education and Culture ... Almeida, Director. In terms of management, the central library operates