AZ ORSZÁGOS SZÉCHÉNYI KÖNYVTÁR ÉVKÖNYVE 1986-1990. Budapest (1994)

I. Az OSZK 1986-1990-ben - Az Országos Széchényi Könyvtár működése 1986-1990-ben - The Activity of the National Széchényi Library in the Years 1986-1990

One of the most useful forms of cooperation among the libraries of Hungary and the world is interlibrary lending which enables all researchers to obtain works not available where they live. The Széchényi Library takes an active part in this. The country received around 200,000 requests a year, of which around 30,000 were addressed to our institution. With the help of the union catalogues of our library information could be given on the foreign works available in Hungary, but if the publication sought did not exist in the Hungarian collections, the request was forwarded to our foreign partners. The department concerned handled approx. 12,000 such requests a year. We succeeded in obtaining 10,000—12,000 documents a year, a growing proportion of them in the form of copies. It was increasingly difficult to provide the funds needed for this. By the end of the period concerned foreign exchange equivalent to 3.5 million HUF had to be devoted to this purpose. The assistance of 20,000 USD received from the Soros Foundation eased the problem somewhat. We received 1,200—1,400 requests a year from abroad which we were able to satisfy from our own holdings (in the form of copies) and more frequently from the collections of other libraries. We received postal coupons from abroad to a value of only the foreign exchange equivalent of 0,2— 0,3 million HUF for our services. It can be seen that our demands were around ten times greater than the requests received from abroad. The function of the union catalogues is to meet the demand for information on location as fully as possible. The union catalogue of books (approx. 4,5 million cards) and the two editorial teams of the union catalogue of foreign serials, that is, of the National Periodicals Database (Database of foreign periodicals in Hungary) and of the retrospective location list which covers material from the 17th century to 1970 (the location of approx. 100,000 foreign periodicals) are able to provide information. Registrations were sent to the union catalogue of books by 220—250 libraries a year. Information on location of a total of close to 30,000 items were requested and we were able to locate almost half of these in Hungarian collections. Two volumes — covering 1985 and 1986 — of the register of social science handbooks were published and the combined volume for 1987—1989 is to be published in 1991. The second volume of retrospective list of foreign periodicals (covering H

—K) was published in 1990. We received 2,500—3,000 queries a year regarding locations earlier than 1970; the number of queries showed a slightly declining trend. For financial reasons work on the NPA (Database of foreign periodicals in Hungary) proceeded with difficulty and it was only from 1988, with the aid of funds obtained in applications from the ÜF (Information Infrastructure Development Program) and support from other sources that we were able to load the database located in the Computer Centre of the Central Statistical Office. After that we were able to prepare the magnetic tape of the NPA for loading into the ISIS database which ensures the on-line access to data of the NPA. In 1990 we were able to supply the version supplemented with the material for 1987—1988 to the ÜF, which can be regarded as an almost unparalleled success. In 1989, with the support of the ministry, we were able to issue a four-volume publication containing the data for 1985—1986, produced in high quality with a laser printer. The editorial team of the National Periodicals Database had direct access from 1987 to the French analog system, the CCN (Catalogue Collectif des Publications en Serie), and it was able to advance in its work with the use of other technical possibilities too. The National Periodicals Database receives 8,000—10,000 requests a year for information on location. 84