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
The Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences ECSSID VI Conference, to be convened in March 1991 at the University of Kent in Canterbury; the theme of the conference is "Social change and information systems in Europe: innovation, development and integration". The LHAS plays an active role in all these programmes. Information provided online and on CD-ROMs is available free of charge for researchers of the LHAS in the reading room. 1 3 This reading room, which has 140 seats and 4 carrels, contains on open access to a reference collection of about 18,000 volumes and 1,300 issues of current journals. The latest development in the automation programme is the automation of library "housekeeping" operations. This is based on a mainframe IBM 9377 computer, to which IBM/PC machines are linked. At the same time, this is the basis of the scientific information system, and one of the focal points of the planned national information system. In this enterprise the LHAS cooperates with the National Széchényi Library, which is equipped with the same type of mainframe computer. Electronic mail comprises part of this integrated information system. Preparations are under way to introduce DOBIS-LIBIS. 1 4 Automation already functions in some areas, such as interlibrary lending, international exchange of publications and recording of duplicates. The cataloguing system is naturally in the centre of the automation programme. Since 1 January 1986, cataloguing has been carried out according to international standards for machinereadable catalogue records, and automation of the system starts in 1991. The subject catalogue will be automated partly according to UDC, long in use at the LHAS, but with certain modifications and the introduction of subject headings. A special academic database is being continuously developed; this simultaneously fulfils additional national bibliographic functions. This is the catalogue of postgraduate candidate and postgraduate doctoral dissertations. This will be accessible online internationally with English titles and subject headings. The complex library automation programme is planned to be operational by 1992. This will complete the modernization of the LHAS, providing the opportunity for it to join the integrated information system of a Common Europe. Appendix There are at present 40 Academy special research libraries (for linguistics, history of science, chemistry, nuclear physics, geography, etc.), with collections numbering 5,000-100,000 volumes and a variety of information functions. The sum total of their holdings numbers some 1,5 million units. The collections of the LHAS approach 2 million units. There are c. 1 million Gondolatok a könyvtárban " 37
