Domsa Károlyné, Fekete Gézáné, Kovács Mária (szerk.): Gondolatok a könyvtárban / Thoughts in the Library (A MTAK közleményei 30. Budapest, 1992)

KÖNYVTÁR ÉS KORSZERŰSÉG – LIBRARY AND MODERNITY

E. Hákli and the Government Printing Centre. The Finnish National Bibliography was the first major product and printing was tested in 1978-79. Since then monthly issues and an annual volume of the Bibliography have been printed regularly by this procedure. The situation today After a new investigation, carried out together with the Ministry of Fináncé, a report was published in 1984 suggesting that local integrated library systems be installed at all university libraries. The local systems were then to be connected to each other by using the Finnish university and research network FUNET. On the basis of requirements developed in the report, vendors of ready made computerized systems were invited to make a tender. Several tenders were offered and the process of selection took two years. A system called VTLS or the Virginia Tech Library Systems, Inc. (Blacksburg, Va., USA) was chosen. The software was already in use in several libraries in the United States and in one library in Europe. The structure of the system was totally integrated. The hardware required by the software (Hewlett-Packard) was already represented in Finland providing a guarantee for an appropriate service. The VTLS Inc. in its turn agreed on setting up an office in Finland. The Ministry of Education made a plan, according to which 50 millión Finnish marks were to be invested in purchasing the hardware and the software for about 20 universities and university colleges during a period of five years (1989-1993). In addition, the joint system mentioned above will alsó be developed and the hardware purchased. The Ministry has been successful in pushing this investment plan through Parliament and everything seems to proceed accordingly. The VTLS software had to be adapted for Finnish use, which has taken a lot of time and effort. The work has been done centrally for all participating libraries by "the Research Libraries' Automation Unit. For the time being the search and cataloguing modules are in use, the acquisitions modulé is being tested and the periodicals control modulé is ready for testing. A couple of libraries have already installed the circulation modulé. The Finnish National Bibliography went online on the 2nd of May 1990 and the local library catalogue of the University of Helsinki HELKA in May 1991. The totál amount of records in these two databases is more than 600,000 and will increase with about 100,000 records a year. The databases are accessible all over the university campus through the internál university network using fiber optics 144 Thoughts in the library"