Domsa Károlyné, Fekete Gézáné, Kovács Mária (szerk.): Gondolatok a könyvtárban / Thoughts in the Library (A MTAK közleményei 30. Budapest, 1992)
An academic library as an integrated information centre: the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Gy. Rózsa So far as acquisition is concerned, exchange of publications is still the most important channel; 70% of periodicals and about 50% of books arrive by this means. The LHAS as a universal research library collects, as high priority, the literature of antiquity, linguistics and the science of literature, orientaba, literature on science policy, publications of scientific institutions abroad ("académica"), and basic publications of research in science and social science. It also collects encyclopedic and other comprehensive publications, bibliographies, methodological and interdisciplinary works and publications on the history of science. As a result of developments in the past ten years, magnetic tapes and media using laser optics (CD-ROMs) have been added to the collection of microfilms, audio materials and photographic archives. The LHAS is open to non-members, who must be research workers, teachers of higher education or students of natural and social sciences. Its stock is available for interlibrary lending. Basic services of the library are free of charge, but some services have to be paid for, notably computer-based information services. As a research workshop, the LHAS publishes series and journals; these are sold mostly through the commercial book trade. 9 In view of the eleven characteristics outlined above, the LHAS's functions can be summarized under seven heads: — as a traditional, academic-type library that has grown up over the years, carrying out collection, preservation and service functions with special regard to the literature of basic research; — as a deposit library, collecting and conserving official papers of the academy, thus functioning as the academy's archive; — as the scientific information centre of the academy, offering information on science policy, providing computer services and conducting scientometric research; — as the centre of international exchange of publications; — as a research workshop, complementing all its own services; — as the coordinating and organizational centre of the academic institutes' library network; — as the academy's representative on national and international bodies and programmes of scientific information. The eleven characteristics and seven functions mentioned above indicate the nature of the LHAS as an integrated system of information provision. To make this still clearer, an account of the computer activities of the LHAS is necessary. 34 „ Thoughts in the library"
