Exercise 2: Great Library Reference Services
October 27, 2008
Biblioth¸que nationale de France (ŅBnFÓ) is
the national repository for all works, printed or electronic, for France. The
original collection came from the Royal Library and was established in 1368
making it the oldest national library in Europe. In 1522, Fran¨ois I decreed that all printers and
booksellers were obligated by the "Depot Lˇgal" (legal or copyright deposit) to send copies of
any printed books to the library and created the foundations of BnF. In 1793
under the French National Convention, the Library became the first free public
library in the world. On July 14, 1988, then President Fran¨ois Mitterrand announced the
construction and the expansion of BnF into one of the largest libraries in the
world with state-of-the-art technology available to all (BnF website: History,
2007). After moving major collections from the rue de Richelieu, BnF opened the Fran¨ois-Mitterrand site in the Tolbiac
section of Paris on December 20, 1996. The building is part of MitterrandÕs
legacy of ultra modernistic buildings in Paris. It resembles and upside down
glass table. Each ŅlegÓ has seven ŅLÓ shaped stories designed to resemble an
open book of the four disciplines of learning: Laws, Letters, Numbers, and Time.
BnFÕs mission is to establish collections, especially the copies of works
published in France, to conserve them and make them available to the public, to
produce a reference catalog, to cooperate with other libraries and
organizations at the national and international level, and to participate in
research programs (BnF Web site: Missions, 2007).
According to BnFÕs 2007
Annual Report:
į
More than 2M square feet of usable surface on five
sites.
į
1,358,814 documents communicated to the readers.
į
10,535,142 bibliographic records in the catalog
BN-Opale PLUS.
į
2,662 staff.
į
Total budget of $330M
į
More than 13M books and printed papers form (including
two copies of the Gutenberg Bible).
į
150,000 volumes of manuscripts (including Dead Sea
Scrolls)
į
350,000 collections of periodicals
į
Approximately 12M posters
į
More than 800,000 maps and plans
į
2M pieces of music
į
1M sound documents
į
Several tens of thousands of videos and documents of
prints, photographs and multimedia
į
600,000 currencies and medals
į
12M engravings, largest in the world,
į
200,000 volumes of Rare Books
BnFÕs fourteen
departments are located in five branches and two conservation facilities. Each
BnF branch is dedicated to specific collections. The rue de Richelieu –
Louvois branchÕs Oval Room offers general research material such as encyclopedic
collections (digitized books, reviews, microfilms, documents, etc.) on the Performing
Arts, Engravings, Maps, Prints and Photography, Eastern manuscripts, Western
manuscripts, Coins and Medals, and Antiquities.
Currently Richelieu is under renovation and most of the twenty-four
miles of collections are being shipped to Fran¨ois-Mitterrand or
lÕOpˇra while the 240 employees are re-assigned to other branches. The
goal is to update services, include meeting rooms, install classroom facilities
and a cafeteria by the end of 2014 (BnF Web site: Xray the Richelieu project,
2007). Biblioth¸que de l'ArsenalÕs (Library of the Arsenal) focus is French Literature from the 16th century to
the 19th century, publications connected with the archives and manuscript
collections already held, the history of the book and bookbinding, and the
history of the Arsenal itself. Biblioth¸que-Musˇe de lÕOpˇra national de Paris is the library and
museum of the National Opera Company and the Comic Opera Theater. Its focus is
on Music, the History of Theater and the Arts. The Reading Room is in the
rotunda of what would have been the Napoleon IIIÕs living room. The Jean Vilar House
in Avignon is part of the Department of Performing Arts and its collections
focus on the Performing Arts, the National theatre and the Avignon Arts
Festival. The library is free to the public. Fran¨ois-Mitterrand branchÕs
collections include Printed Papers, Press Room, Reference Materials,
Philosophy, History and Social Sciences, Audiovisual, Rare Books, Manuscripts, Right
Department, Science and Technology, and Literature and Art (BnF Web site: Sites,
2007).
In response to
GoogleÕs 2004 announcement to digitize books and documents, France passed an
addendum to "Depot Lˇgal" in 2006 that any Internet site whose
authors lives in France or whose contents are produced in France as part of
their copyright registration is to be cataloged in an effort to capture French
culture (Albanel, 2007). Gallica 2 is
BnFÕs encyclopedic digital library constructed from existing library
collections of printed materials, graphic materials, and sound. Its main
purpose is to offer French bibliographic materials out-of-print since the 16th
century online. In October 2007, Gallica 2 was created to replace Gallica as an open source digital library. It offers metadata and full-text
search through public domain collections, copyrighted documents as well as
BnFÕs digital collections. It went live July 2008 and should be fully
functional by the end of 2008. With donations from the National Center of the
Book, museums, libraries, and organizations nearly 350,000 documents are freely
accessible on the Internet. At the same time, BnF devoted 2007 to redesigning
their Web site Since then, the number of visitors rose 5% to 14,288,711
visitors searching approximately 250 million pages. The number of visits to Gallica 2 was 2,130,204 (Annual Report: Internet sites,
2007). Gallica 2 is also the
platform for the prototype, Europeana, the European digital library that began its one year testing period
March 2008 (Spongenberg, 2007). In order to
protect its digital information, BnF launched the SPAR (Distributed Archiving
and Preservation System) project to install a digital storage system to back up
BnFÕs current catalogs.
Gallica 2 is supported by BnFÕs three online catalogs:
BN-Opale PLUS, Mandragore, and CCFr. BN-Opale-PLUS is the main catalog
available free to the public. The final conversion of maps and plans into the
database made 2007 the first year all departments, except manuscripts and
performing arts, were in one catalog. Mandragore (for Medieval illuminated
manuscripts), or Mandrake, is solely dedicated to manuscripts and performing arts
and specifically designed for research. This online catalog provides free
access to approximately 15,000 documents such as encyclopedias, dictionaries,
catalogs of the collections of the manuscript in French or foreign libraries,
and classifies according to language or cultural group (BnF Web site:
Mandragore, 2007). Lastly, the Union Catalog
of France (Catalogue Collectif de France/CCFr) provides a single
search interface to FranceÕs three main French catalogs:
į
The Catalog of Digitized Municipal Library Collections
(Catalogue des Fonds des Biblioth¸ques Municipales Rˇtroconvertis/BMR);
į
BN-Opale PLUS; and,
į
The University Documentation Catalog (Catalogue du
Syst¸me Universitaire de Documentation/Sudoc).
CCFr is a joint project of
the Ministry of Culture and Communication, Ministry of National Education and
BnF to make more than 15 million documents available throughout the French
library system through interlibrary loan.
BnF is a research
library and the amount of information can become overwhelming. To help the
searcher, BnF Web site has links from the Home page to a self-navigation
Research Guide flow chart, online ready reference resources and the French
National Bibliography (Annual Report: The French National Bibliography, 2007). If
the searcher is still unable to locate information, BnF offers SINDBAD (Service d'INformation Des Bibliothˇcaires A Distance), BnFÕs free Ask A Librarian reference
service. SINDBAD answers bibliographical or factual questions within three days
on average with a maximum search time of one to two hours per answer. Questions
can be submitted by filling a form from the web site, by mail or telephone. Mail
and telephone response time is a maximum of fifteen days and complex questions
take twenty days. SINDBAD is open Monday through Friday, 10:00a.m. until 5:00
p.m. During 2007, SINDBAD received 10,712 questions which is slightly 3% less
than in 2006: 5,710 via Internet (53% of the total) and 4,907 via telephone
(46% of the total). Of the total Internet questions, 17% related to history,
16% to literature, 13% law and 11% to manuscripts (Annual Report: Answers to
the questions in line or by telephone, 2007). Lastly, a researcher can make a
reservation for a consultation with a Customer Service Librarian for help using
the library, discussing search strategies, and where to locate the documents. Students,
researchers, professionals, retired staff, universities, schools, cultural
centers, associations and the public have open access to the library. BNF provides
access to its catalogs to all on-line users. Each branch provides access to
their Reference collections similar to the process required by the Fran¨ois-MitterrandÕs Reference
LibraryÕs (Library of Study) reading rooms. The Fran¨ois-Mitterrand building encircles a two and one half acre
garden with the Research Library on the Garden Level and the Reference Library
on the Above-Garden level. The reading rooms are alphabetized to make it easier
to locate the correct reference room, which is typically above the
corresponding storage within the twenty-four linear miles of storage. The
Reference Library is open to patrons 16 years or older. Prior to purchasing an
access card, the researcher verifies there are available seats in the desired
reading room at the walkup computers at either the East or West entrance. Once
the seat is reserved, the searcher may purchase a one-day, a three-day, or an
annual card in person only at the Customer Service desk. There are discounted
rates for students, visitors with disabilities, and many more categories.
Access to Fran¨ois-MitterrandÕs Garden Level,
Richelieu, lÕArsenal and lÕOpˇra research libraries is
limited to 18 years or older, accredited researchers. Accreditation can either
be proof of university, professional or personal research. BnF requires a
pre-admission application for review and approval. The approval to have an
admission interview with a librarian is usually granted in ten days. Once
admission is approved, access cards can only be purchased in person at the
Fran¨ois-Mitterrand or Richelieu libraries. Then, the researcher must make an
online seat reservation either prior to arrival or the same day. Research
materials can be reserved up to one half day in advance. The number of
documents requests allowed per day varies based on collection. Sometimes it is
possible to request up to twenty-five documents.
Annual Access
Cards are the preferred card because they will give the researcher access to
all reading rooms as needed, the art gallery, and the cinema. 62.2% (39,833) of
all cards produced in 2007 were Annual Access cards of which 6,898 were
replacement cards.
(Annual Report: Inscription and accreditation of the readers for the
Library of Research, 2007).
Accredited research
accounted for 60% of the access applications: 32% for professional reasons and
8% for personal research, of which 53% were women (Annual Report, 2007). Doctorates
made up the greatest number of researchers (33% of total), followed by the
university professors (19%) and Graduate Students (13%), In 2007, 1,289,675
documents were retrieved for Fran¨ois-MitterrandÕs
Reference Level reading rooms which was down 4.1% from 2006. The Research
library reading rooms had 1,019,338 documents retrieved amounting to 3,527
documents on average per day or 3.4 documents per patron. The same-day
retrieval times have been improving since 2005 down to an average forty-two
minutes in 2007. 67.10 % of online requests were fulfilled the same day. The
Richelieu, lÕArsenal and lÕOpˇra branches retrieved 270,337
documents averaging to 945 documents per day and 3.6 documents per reader (Annual
Report: Reception, information, and bibliographical orientation, 2007).
BnF understands that in
order to make the collections accessible, the researchers need to be educated
on how to use the library. BnF offers workshops online or onsite for searching
the BN-Opale PLUS catalog, methodology of Internet research, bibliographic
instruction. BnF also hosts school visits, architect tours, tourist group
tours, art exhibitions, virtual exhibitions, online teaching modules for
elementary and college levels, career fairs, and lecture series. In addition, BnF
is moving towards having reference materials available for those with visual
disabilities at all branches with funding The Orange Foundation (Annual Report:
Exposures and teaching files on line, 2007). Biblioteque nationale de France is
part of many cross-cultural libraries, social and cultural initiatives such as
the partnership with the Library of Congress to document France in America.
This bilingual digital library catalogs FranceÕs initial presence in North
America to the end of the 19th century (Library of Congress Web site:
France in America, 2008).
Biblioteque
national de france. (2008). Retrieved September 26, 2008 fromhttp://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?tt=url&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bnf.fr%2F&lp=fr_en&.intl=us&fr=yfp-t-501.
Albanel, C. (2007). A
turning-point in the history of publishing and new digital policy. Press
release. Retrieved September 28, 2008 from http://www.bnf.fr/pages/catalog/pdf/discours_num.pdf.
Mandragore.
Retrieved September 28, 2008 from http://mandragore.bnf.fr/html/accueil.html.
Library
of Congress. (2008). France in america. Retrieved September 29, 2008 from http://international.loc.gov/intldl/fiahtml/fiahome.html.
National
library of france. (2008). To Know BnF. History. Seven Centuries, Retrieved
September 26, 2008 from http://66.196.80.202/babelfish/translate_url_content?.intl=us&lp=fr_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.bnf.fr%2fpages%2fconnaitr%2fsiecle.htm).
Sites.
Retrieved September 26, 2008 from http://66.196.80.202/babelfish/translate_url_content?.intl=us&lp=fr_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fsignets.bnf.fr%2f.
Annual Report 2007. Answers
to the questions in line or by telephone. Retrieved
September 27, 2008 from http://66.196.80.202/babelfish/translate_url_content?.intl=us&lp=fr_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.bnf.fr%2frapport%2fhtml%2fservices_pub%2f2_rep_online.htm.
Collections: xray the richelieu project. Retrieved September 27,
2008 from http://66.196.80.202/babelfish/translate_url_content?.intl=us&lp=fr_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.bnf.fr%2frapport%2fhtml%2fcollections%2f2_focus_5.htm#travaux.
Evolution
and the management of employment. Retrieved
September 27, 2008 from http://66.196.80.202/babelfish/translate_url_content?.intl=us&lp=fr_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.bnf.fr%2frapport%2fhtml%2fpersonnels%2f1_gestion_emplois.htm.
Exposures
and teaching files on line. Retrieved
September 27, 2008 from http://66.196.80.202/babelfish/translate_url_content?.intl=us&lp=fr_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.bnf.fr%2frapport%2fhtml%2fservices_pub%2f2_dossiers_peda.htm
Inscription
and accreditation of the readers for the library of research. Retrieved September 28, 2008 from (http://66.196.80.202/babelfish/translate_url_content?.intl=us&lp=fr_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.bnf.fr%2frapport%2fhtml%2fservices_pub%2f2_accreditation.htm#note1.
Internet
site of bnf. Retrieved September 28, 2008
from http://66.196.80.202/babelfish/translate_url_content?.intl=us&lp=fr_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.bnf.fr%2frapport%2fhtml%2fservices_pub%2f2_site_bnf.htm.
The
french national bibliography. Retrieved
September 28, 2008 from http://66.196.80.202/babelfish/translate_url_content?.intl=us&lp=fr_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.bnf.fr%2frapport%2fhtml%2fservices_pub%2f2_bibliographie.htm.
Reception,
information, formation and bibliographical orientation. Retrieved September 29, 2008 from http://66.196.80.202/babelfish/translate_url_content?.intl=us&lp=fr_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.bnf.fr%2frapport%2fhtml%2fservices_pub%2f2_orientation_bilbio.htm.
Spongenberg,
H. (2007). France Launches Digital Library. EUROPE, March 30, 2007. Retrieved September 29, 2008 from http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/mar2007/gb20070330_226098.htm?link_position=link8.
Associations
Association
for digitization French PublisherÕs Association (SNE) http://www.sne.fr/pages/informations/english.html
Conference
of Directors of National Libraries (CDNL) http://www.nla.gov.au/initiatives/meetings/cdnl/
Conference
of European National Librarians (CENL) http://www.kb.nl/gabriel
Consortium
of European Research Libraries (CERL) http://www.cerl.org/web/
EROMM
(digital European register off microform masters and surrogates): EROMM
Espace
Francophone http://espacefrancophone.org/en/france/etudes.htm
Europeana
http://www.europeana.eu/
European
Conference one Research and Advanced Technology for DIGITAL Libraries
(ECDL2007): http://www.ecdl2007.org/index.php
European
Register of Microform Masters http://www.eromm.org/
International
association of the libraries files and musical information centers (AIBM): http://www.iaml.info/
International
Federation of Library Associations and Institutions http://www.ifla.org/
Iran
National Library and Archives (INLA) http://www.nlai.ir/Default.aspx?alias=www.nlai.ir/en
League
of European Research Libraries (Ligue des biblioth¸ques europˇennes de
recherche/LIBER) http://www.kb.dk/liber/
Lebanon
http://www.baakleennationallibrary.com/
Library
of Congress http://www.loc.gov/index.html
National
Centre of the Book http://www.centrenationaldulivre.fr/?Aide-pour-la-diffusion-numerique
National
Library of China http://www.nlc.gov.cn/old/old/english.htm
National
Library of Quebec (Biblioth¸que nationale du Quˇbec http://www.banq.qc.ca/portal/dt/accueil.jsp
Network
EDLnet set of themes: http://www.europeandigitallibrary.eu/edlnet/
Online
Computer Library Center (OCLC): http://www.oclc.org/default.htm
Rˇseau
francophone des biblioth¸ques nationales numˇriques (RFBNN) http://www.rfbnn.org/
Safeguarding
and Conservation (CAP) of the IFLA: http://www.ifla.org/VI/4/pac.htm
Syndicat
National Unitaire des Instiuteurs Professeurs des ecoles et PEGC http://www.snuipp.fr/
TEL/The
European Library: http://www.theeuropeanlibrary.org/portal/index.html
TELPlus
project: http://www.theeuropeanlibrary.org/telplus/index.php
The
EDL Foundation http://www.europeana.eu/edlnet/edl_foundation/purpose.php
Tunisia
http://www.bibliotheque.nat.tn