LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION CENTRES IN AUSTRIA

States the need for up-to-date information inthe context of information explosion and the creationof effective information system to meet the evergrowing needs of developing societies. Points out theneed for international cooperation and the efforts ofgovernmental and non-governmental organisations inthis direction. Narrates briefly UNISIST/FID/IFLAInternational School & Workslwp held from May 7 toJune 1, 1979 at Graz and Lindabrunn (Austria) spon-sored by the Federal Government of Austria to trainteachers and workers in the information field drawnfrom developing countries. Lists the objectives andareas of study of the School. Presents a pen-pictureof the libraries and information centres in Austria,which the author visited as one of the participantsof the above School. Concludes that the InternationalSchool enabled the, participants to see for themselvesrapid strides made by Austria in the development oflibrary and information services and the working ofinformation centres of International oraanisationsin Vienna.' ~

1 INFORMATION EXPLOSIONAccording to de Solla Price, the American

science historian, the number of scientists is doub-ling every 15 years and 87% of all scientists whohave ever existed are our contemporaries. The numberof scientific publications equally double every 15years and according to estimation of other authorsevery 10 years. The weltare and development ofnations to-day essentially depend on the successof such research and scholarship. These, however,are determined by the respective levels of knowledgeand learning. Thus, comprehensive information onworld~wide status of learning is the fundamentalrequirement for the success of scientific endeavour.

1.1 Need for up-to-date InformationFor nations and societies, specially for

developing societies, it is not only of academicsignificance whether they are able to keep pace withthe development of learning but its government andits economy, industry, the body politique and societyis constantly in need of up-to-date information.Information may be looked upon as 'one of the basicphenomena of life'. The famed German scientist C FVon Weizsacker has expressed this idea thus 'modernphysics makes it possible to distinguish between

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A.A.N. RAJUDepartment of Library & Information ScienceOsmania University, Hyderabad - 500007

thr~e basic fields viz. matter, energy and infor-mat ion", The significance of scientific informationcan even be expressed in figures by estimating the'damage' resulting from the lack of information. Ithas been estimated that in the US alone 3 billiondollars are thought to be wasted annually becaUSeinformation which has already become available is notbeing properly utilized. This proves the fact thatthe efforts of traditional librarianship and documen-tation cannot prevent documents which are part ofmankind's store of knowledge and which are basis forfurther development, from being dorment. An econo-mically highly important resource i.e. information,is thus being insufficientlY exploited.1.2 Need for the creation of effective information

systemIn view of the significance of up-to-date

information, the creation of effective informationsystem is an important element of the responsibilityof all governments, institutions and societies. Thewide area of information and documentation is anintegral part of science, learning and scholarship,an essential part of social and economic processand therefore international co-operation is an indis-pensable pre-requisite for the solution of theproblem of adequate information. At the internationallevel, governmental and non-governmental organisationssuch as the United Nations; ~~SCO, within the frame-work of its General Information Programme; the FID;IFLA; the ICSU - endeavour to promote and coordinateefforts in this field. Being fully conscious of theproblems of international cooperation, the FederalGovernment of Austria is aiming at the reorganisationand improvement of the infrastructure of Austrianscience information. An essential aspect of theseefforts is the systematic promotion and intensifica-tion of the b1lsic and higher training of expertsin the fields of documentation and information scien-ce, particul1lrly of the training of teachers inthese fields. Austria is also conscious of her obli-gations to the developing countries in these fields.

UNISIST/FID/IFLA I~~RNATIONAL SCHOOL AND\\ORKSIIOP

1he UNISfST/FID/IFLA International School andWorkshop for Teachers and Workers in the InformationField held from Mav 7 to .Iune I, 1979 at Graz andLindabrunn (Austria) "as the result of the combinedefforts of international organisations like UNESCO"sIlivision for General Information Progranme , FID and

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LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION CENI'RES IN AUSTRIA

IFlA on the one hand and of the Austrian FederalGovernment on the other. The very successfulUNISIST/FID/IFlA International Summer School forTeachers and Workers in Information Field held atSheffield in 1975 served as a model for the AustrianInternational School and Workshop.2.1 Objectives and areas of study

The objectives of the International School wasto introduce experienced and qualified participantsto new developments and advanced modern practice inLibrary and Information Sciences. It was intendedprimarily for the rising generation of teachers andpotential teachers of Library and Information Studiesparticularly those from developing countries. TheSchool covered the following areas of study: 1. Com-puting. and Telecommunications in Information Handling,2. Information Retrieval, 3. Library and InformationSystems Management, 4. Micro teaching and 5. Elec-tronic Data Processing (EDP).2.2 Participants

Twenty seven participants drawn from twentyfive countries of Asia, Africa, Europe, Carribbeanand Latin America participated in the above Inter-national School. The author of this article was theonly one from India to have the honour to be selectedfor participation in the above Summer School.2.3 Visits to Libraries and Information Centres

Besides normal programme of lectures, seminars,practical work, etc., the organisers of the Schoolhad attpched considerable importance to visits ofobservations as constituting a very effective methodof reinforcing and bringing out, in practical situa-tions, the theoretical points discussed in the cl~?room. A number of such visits to important librariesand information centres in Austria, both national andinternational, had been arranged for the participants.In the following paras an attempt has been made topresent a pen picture of the libraries and informa-tion centres the author had the opportunity to visitalongwith other participants of the InternationalSchool.3 THE AUSTRIAN NATIONAL LIBRARY

The Austrian National Library in Vienna, theFederal capital of Austria, with its rich collection,at present exceeding 6 million items, including 3millions of printed books, ranks among the greatnational libraries of the world. It owes its genesisto the bibliophilism of the lIabsburg rulers of theEuropean Middle ages. The Habsburg collections inVie~ have first been stored in different depo5i-taries since the 15th century. After the end of theSpanish war and the Turkish wars, Emperor Charles n(1711-1740) ordered the constnlction of separatelibrary building in 1722. The library was constructedby the famous architects of the time to achieve n,oaims, viz., according to baroque v iews - to form asplendid frame for the book treasures and to "glorifythe emperor". The construction was completed in 17:6.

The library building represents the perfecttype of a 'baroque library' as to the design of therooms. Two-storied book shelves encircle the libra-ry's main hall all round. Book case doors lead toformer study closets with further stacks for hooks,

Vol. 26 Nos 1-4 (Mar - Dee) 1979

with a total capacity of about 200 000 volumes.Originally, the baroque hall, i.e. 'the main hall wasintended to serve not only as a depository for thecomplete stock.of the Imperial Court Library, butalso as a worklng room for librarians and as a publicreading room since the l~brary was thrown open forpublic use by the Emperor Charles VI as early as1726. In the course of continuous expansion of theCourt Library as a scientific institute, the mainhall alone could not hold all the items of the co-llection. Therefore, the library had to increaseits extent into the surrounding buildings - i.e.the Augustinian ~lonastery and later on the "NeueBurg".

At present the Austrian National Library con-sists of several collections and special departmentswhich are as follows:3.1 Manuscript and Incunabula Department

This department holds 34,000 manuscripts,19,000 autographs and almost 8,000 incunabula (printedbooks upto 1500) of world wide fame, for example: the'Viennese Genesis', the 'Viennese Dioscurides', acopy of the '42-1ine Gutenburg Bible' or the 'TabulaPeutingeriana', etc.3.2 Map collections

The library has 21,000 maps and atlases,190,000 geographic topographical views and 'one ofthe largest globe collections of the whole world'.3.j Music collections

This consists of 41,000 music manuscripts,9l.nOQ volumes of printed music scores, 60,000photographs of music manuscripts, records and tapes.3.4 Papyrus collections

This includes nearly 100,000 papyri, ostraca,old parchments, etc.3.5 Printed books

The library possesses printed books startingwi th the year 1501 up to the present day. Among thet reasurcs , ment ion may be made of Emperor Maximilian's"Theue rdank'". This collection also includes selectionsO1snentific literature of the world. Other collec-tion items are about 15,(1()(1 periodicals, 90,000 broad-shcrt s and pas tcrs .

:.;.( l'r int s and Photograph Divis ionlhis Oivision stores almost 600,000 photo-

nepa t ivcs, 760,00() graph ics and photos as we lI asportraits ar.d houses the former lIabsburg FideikommissLibrary .3.7 lhe Theatre Collection

nlis counts more than: million autographs,plates, documents about film history, play bills,stage models, etc. The Austrian Theatre ~~seum isaffiliated to it.3.8 Other Departments

The International Esperanto ~~seum, the Insti-tute of Restoration (book and manuscript) and techni-

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ca1 library departments also belong to the AustrianNational Library. In accordance with its centralduties within the Austrian Library and Informationfields, there are also to be found other centres such

,as: the Planning Centre of Austrian Libraries, theCentral Catalogue for Foreign Books in Austria, theLibrarian Training 'Centre, the-AUstrian Bibliography,

,the Department for Inter-library loans, the Book-Exchange office, etc. under the roof of AustrianNational Library.4 UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, GRAZ

This was established in 1573 as a library ofJessuit College and presently the largest universitylibrary in Styria, a federal province of Austria.4.1 Stock and nature of collection

The Library stocks about 924,560 volumes ofwhich 80,000 volumes are in open access. The Librarysubscribes to 3566 current journals including 2346foreign journals. The collection consists of refe-rence books, bibliographies, original works and textbooks. It also maintains a special collection knownas Styriaca consisting of manuscripts, old and rarebooks and also current publications on every aspectof Styria. The text book collection of the libraryconsists of 16,665 volumes and the semester collec-tion i.e. books recommended by the faculty membersconsists of 3027 volumes.4.2 Manuscript Department

This Department consists of 1,482 manuscriptsand incunabula of pre- 1600 and 515 were added after

Lthat period. The manuscripts are in Latin, Greek,Hebrew, Georgian, Ethiopian, Turkish, Armenian andIndian scripts. This department also possesses2,585 microfilms of the manuscripts collection ofmonastery libraries in Styria. The manuscripts,incunabula and microfilms are preserved in two air-conditioned bunkers with treasure vaults to preservethe precious stocks of the library with great care.

4.3 User ServicesThe library so far brought out 12 hand-books

for providing personal guidance in the use of libraryresources. The faculty service introduced in 1971,looks after seminar libraries of the UniversityLibrary with a stock of 75,232 volumes. This serviceon the one hand provides for economic and professionaladministration of the decentralized library stock andon the other promotes contact between teaching, re-search staff and the library as a central informationcentre at the university.4.4 Information Retrieval

With the help of one of the 'Bilfschirm-Termi-na1s' of the University library, catalogues for booksand indexes for periodical articles are heing compiledfor aImost all subject fields of the university. lneterminal is connected by the telephone lines to hih-liographic data bases in Palo Alto (USA) and London.The library has also undertaken EDV project for exe-cution, and also has planned Austrian library nehvorKand acquired the necessary equipment in this regard.The EDV project will be carried out in 3 phases: 1.lending register, 2. cataloguing, 3. ordering ofbooks.

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5 LIBRARY OF TIlE MINING AND METALLURGY UNIVERSI-SITY, LEOBEN

This university library is as old as theuniversity itself that was founded at Vorderriberg in1840 and later on transferred to Leoben in 1850 whenit was given the status qf Mining Academy.5.1 Collection

At present the Library possesses about 100,000volumes as well as the university records upto 1945.A valuable collection of technical drawings andmining maps was added in 1973 consisting of 350 .iterns.A collection of engravings, lithographies and paint-ings representing mining and smelting plants as wellas manufacturing processes of past and present number-ing about 500 pieces has also been added. Since 1952,Dr. Peter Sika, the present director of the Library,has collected a small number of art objects of mininginterest from allover Europe to decorate the roomsand to point out the great importance of mining tra-dition. Among these things are numerous valuableunique objects as well as those that can be savedfrom ruin by restoration only. In addition to thecollection of books and periodicals, it also startedcollecting other items such as archives, pictures,maps, art objects, stamps, etc. on mining subjects.The library has established a research centre ofmining history for the region of Inner Osterreich. ,5.2 Documentation Services

The documentation for articles in periodicalsand for photographs started in the sixties and todayit already comprises about 30,000 titles and about3,000 are annually added. The documentation forphotographs sho\\'sall mining ant! metallurgical illus-trations in books and aims at ohtaining the wholephotographic materials be Ionc ing to this field inoriginals and reproduct ions that are located in ar-chieves, museums and private collections. The libraryalso runs a big and highly efficient central depart-ment for photocopying, dup1ic~ting, microfilming,Xeroxi~g - all'together it has 6 Xerox automats, acentral blue printing unit, the telex service and alending pool for microfilm readers and smaller dupli-cating apparatuses. Since 1972, this Library is'acting as a centre for furnishing information ontechnical equipment for libraries and for carryingout test programmes for mechanisation in librariesand suggesting engine improvements in the interest ofAustrian libraries. The library offers a nice, well-lit and coloured room to meet the demands for thehumanisation of working conditions.6 nrfER"<ATION.AJ..A1UUC ENERGY AGENCY (IAFA)

LIBRARY

Th is Library was established in 1958 to meetthe informational needs of the member states and thesecretariat of lAEA. The Library is responsible formaintaining a comprehensive collection of literatureon peaceful U5es of nuclear energy and its relatedfields, as well as on other areas of interest to thework of the agency to provide Itbrary-based informa-tion services hithin these fields.

6.1 CollectionsThe li.hrarv acquires new material within its

defined fields of interest. The book collection of

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LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION CB.1'RES IN AUSTRIA

the library consists of 30,000 volumes. A referencecollection is maintained consisting of hand books,dictionaries, encyclopedias and abstracting andindexing journals. The Library is presently subs-cribing to 1200 journal titles. All the titles areavailable for automatic routing within the secre-tariat. The library also maintains a collection oftechnical reports which it receives through INISsystem on microfiche. It also receives a largenumber of full size reports through exchange agree-ments or-direct purchase. The collection consistsof 249,000 reports on microfiche and in full size.In addition, a collection of standards and activeagency research contracts is maintained. The libraryalso maintains UN and IAEA documents collection whichincludes selected documents and reports issued by theUN and its specialized agencies, a file of agencypublications and agency documents; documents andreports from international, inter-governmental andnational organisations; pamphlets, economic reports,etc. issued by member states. It also includes afile and index on nuclear legislation.

6.2 Film libraryA unique collection of films r7lat~ng to the

peaceful uses of nuclear e~ergy is ma~talned by theAgency. These films contrlbuted by.the Member Statesrange from popular to ~echnical audlence levels.andare available in a varlety of languages. 600 tltlesare available.

6.3 Reference and loan servicesThe Reference Department of the library pro-

vides bibliographical information and supplies printedmaterials as required, answers questions, verifiesbibliographicai citations and provides biographicaland directory type of information. It also providesinstruction in using the library's collections andservices.

6.4 Computer-based reference servicesThe Library's reference service group also

provides computer based bibliographical servicesfrom the INIS (International Nuclear InformationSystem) and AGRIS (International Information Systemfor Agricultural Sciences and Technology) data bases.These include retrospective literature searches andcurrent awareness services (CAS) adopted to indivi-dual needs. The reference group also maintains a'Field of Interest Register' which is used both forthe Selective Dissemination of Information (SDl)services and also for interconnecting the acquisitionof new library material. An IBM Video/370 on-linedata entry system is used to create and maintain theindividual 'Field of Interest' profiles and thelibrary's data bases.

6.5 Photocopying ServiceThe Library also provides photocopying service

for journal articles, sections in reports or books,sections of items that have been obtained on inter-library loan, etc. Full size copies can also bemade for portions of technical reports on microfiche.

Vol. 26 Nos 1-4 (Mar - Dec}1979

6.6 Library Publications

The following are some of the important li-brary publications:1. New Ac uisitions in the IAEA and UNIDO

1 rar1es t 1S a computer pro uced listof new books and journals. It is distributedto all professional staff members of theAgency and to other requestors.

2. IAEA Library Serial Titles. It is an alpha-bet1cal llst of Journals holdings with a KWIC(Key word in context) index to titles.

IAEA Film Catalo~e. An annotated catalogueof f1lm5 avallab\e from the film library.

3.

4. Conference proceedings in the IAEA Librarr.A catalogue of conference proceed1ngs ava1la-ble in the IAF-A Library.

7 INDUSTRIAL INFORMATION SECTION OF UNIDOThe main objectives of the Industrial Infor-

mation Section of UNIOO (United Nations IndustrialDevelopment Organisation) are to: (i) assist develop-ing countries to plan, establish and operate Indus-trial Information Centres and Services, (ii) toassist developing countries to train IndustrialInformation Officers, (iii) to provide documentationand library services, (iv) to supply on requestUNIOO documents or advice on specific technicalsubjects and (v) to disseminate Industrial Informa-tion through periodical and ad-hoc publications.This Section provides the following services.7.1 Management of Information Sources

This activity involves the location and uti-lization of sources of industrial and technicalinformation. These sources include a world-widenetwork of correspondents and a computerised rosterof 1700 engineering consultants, who are contactedfor answers to the technical inquiries from develop-ing countries. This Section also issues the seriesGuide to Information Sources, which are intended toglve develop1ng countr1es d1rect access to sourcesof industrial information. As part of the links-upwi th technological data banks and their internationalnetworks. the Section draws on the organisation'sGeneva-based collection of abstracts, which areretrieved and published in Industrial DevelopmentAbstracts series. Information em "patents 1S soughtfrom the International Patent Documentation Centreof the World Intellectual Property Organisation(WIPO) , which is also based in Vienna.7.2 Management of Information ~mterial

The Section maintains, consolidates and up-dates the UNIDO stock of industrial and technologicalinformation material. ~IOO documents, reports andpublications are briefly described in the IndustrialDevelopment Abstracts and a computer storage systemperm1ts easy retrIeval of information about every-thing printed by t~IDO on any subject or concerningany group of countri es ,7.3 UNIDO Clearing-House

This is a part of the Industrial InformationSection and provides developing countr-ies wi th in-

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formation on a great variety of technical and economicmatters. The main components of the Clearing-Houseare:1. Industrial Inquiry Service: ~is servic~ pr~-vides practIcal assIstance to dev~lo~lng.c?untrlesby answering, without charge, theIr.l~qulrles.regar-ding industrial matters and by provIdIng detalls aboutprocesses, techniques, equipment. and so on.

2. ACE (the Information Service on IndustrialEquipmenr-and Related Technologies). Refers toinquiries about equipment and technology to themost appropriate sources of information; advisesdecision - makers in developing countries of tech-nologies developed or adapted and of equipment ma-nufactured in developing countries; and issuesindustry profiles and manufacturing guides on pro-duction lines and factories.3. Roster of Industrial Consultants: Advisesinquirers In developIng countrIes on availableconsulting skills and services.4. Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI):Provides Informatlon servIces to UNlDO staff athead quarters and in the field.S. Audio-Visual Information Service (AVIS):Provides UNlDO proJects and staff WIth assistancein obtaining industrial films.7.4 Linkages among information users

Developing linkages among users of informa-tion is essential to the entire programme of UNIDO.The intermediaries between UNIDO and parties inneed of information in developing countries are theindustrial information centres, many of which havebeen set up with technical assistance from UNIDOand the industrial information facilities withinother institutions servicing industry, in particulartechnological research and development centres.

7.5 Other activitiesThe Industrial and Technologicai Information

Bank (INTIB) was set up by the Indus~rial InformationSection (lIS) to complement and strengthen theexisting information and adv~sory ~ervice~. ~elIS also cooperates with regIonal IndustrIal In-formation networks and takes part in internationalseminars and conferences concerned with facilitatingthe exchange of industrial and technological infor-mation. A dual language Thesaurus of IndustnalDevelopment Terms has been complIed In EnglIsh andFrench. AS common terminology is necessary for themaintenance of any information network, UNIDO iscollaborating with World Intellectual PropertyOrganisation (WIPO) to establish cross referencesbetween the Thesaurus and the Patent ClassificationSystem in use at the data bank of the InternationalPatent Documentation Centre. (I~~ADOC).8 INTERNATIONAL PATENT OOCUME~'TATJON CE~'TRE

(INPADOC) , VIENNAThis Centre was established by Austrian Govern-

ment in collaboration with World Intellectual Proper-

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ty Organisation OWl PO) in May 1972. It aims tofurnish to national and regional patent offices, andalso make available to industry bibliographic dataconcerning patent documentation in machine-readableform, as well as services identifying patent docu-ments relating to the same invention or to a givenbranch of technology. The.patents acquired by theCentre are classified either by national and/or Inter-national Patent Classification (IPC) which is broadlydivided into eight subject areas: A - Human Neces-sities, B - Performing operation, C - Chemistry andMetallurgy, D - Textiles and Paper, E - Fixed cons-tructions, F - Mechanical Engineering G - Physics.e.g., A23b7/04 preservation of vegetables and fruitsby freezing.8.1 Services

The services of the INPADOC include: 1. INPADOCPatent Gazette OW) which is a summary of patent-s-,--Z. Indexes CQJ VIZ., a ) Patent family service, b)Patent classification service, c) Patent applicantservice, d) Patent inventor service, e) Numericaldata base, 3. Attending to individual requeststhrough telex and on-line services concerning patentfamily, classification, applicant and inventor. Italso renders Watch services and copying services.

9 INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION CENTRE FOR TERMIID-LOGY (INFaTERM), VIENNA

This Centre was established in 1971 withinthe framework of UNISIST with the assistance ofUNESCO and affiliated to Austrian Standards Institute,Vienna. The main objective of this Centre is toenhance and coordinate terminological activitiescarried out throughout the world. Documentation andInformation functions of this Centre include: 1.Collection of terminological publications from allover the world particularly terminological standardsand principles and also specialized dictionaries,2. provision of information on terminological li-braries and their sources, 3. dissemination ofinformation on terminOlogical publications inexistence or in preparation, 4. provision of in-formation on tenninological courses, and 5. investi-gating the possibility of interconnection of ter-minological word banks.10 CONCLUSION

The International School and Workshop providesa rare opportunity for teachers and workers in in-formation field drawn mostly from developing countriesto see for themselves rapid strides made by Austriain the field of library and information services.The fact that sponsoring such an International Schooldemonstrated Austria's interest for the developmentof manpower resources in the developing countries.The participants also had the opportunity of observingworking of Information centres of International orga-nisations which have made Vienna as their permanenthead quarters. Geographically, Austria is a smallcountry but at international level it is activelyparticipating to achieve the objectives of theUNISIST programme.

Ann Lib Sci Doc