{"id":31,"date":"2023-01-20T14:20:59","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T13:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/e-publish.uliege.be\/beyond-the-library-collections\/?post_type=chapter&p=31"},"modified":"2023-05-15T08:49:12","modified_gmt":"2023-05-15T06:49:12","slug":"international-loans-in-the-main-library-of-agh-ust","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/e-publish.uliege.be\/beyond-the-library-collections\/chapter\/international-loans-in-the-main-library-of-agh-ust\/","title":{"raw":"International loans in the Main Library of AGH UST: The technical library as a witness of change","rendered":"International loans in the Main Library of AGH UST: The technical library as a witness of change"},"content":{"raw":"
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Abstract<\/h2>\r\nWorkflows and methods used in the Main Library of AGH UST changed with the challenging history of Poland and rapid changes in sourcing information for the Library's patrons and STEM professionals. The article describes this journey specifically from the point of view of the Interlibrary Loans Department. Since 1952 it has served hundreds of thousands of users domestically and outside of Poland, maintaining continuing relationships with its partners. The most important milestone in document delivery was in 2001, when the library started using IFLA Vouchers, which made managing loans much easier. Nowadays, in times of digitization and open access ILL is still important \u2013 as its core role is providing access to materials which often can seem unobtainable.\r\n

Keywords<\/h2>\r\nInternational library loans; Interlibrary loan; AGH UST (Krakow); AGH UST Library; Polish libraries; Data analysis\r\n

Article<\/h2>\r\n

History and context of the Main Library of AGH UST<\/h3>\r\nThe Main Library of the Academy of Mining and Metallurgy in Krakow (Akademia G\u00f3rniczo\u2013Hutnicza im. Stanis\u0142awa Staszica w Krakowie<\/em>)[footnote]In abbreviation \"AGH UST\", \"AGH\" stands for \"Akademia G\u00f3rniczo\u2013Hutnicza\" and \"UST\" for \"University of Science and Technology\".[\/footnote] opened in the academic year 1919\u201320, as a vital part of a new university in Krakow. The need for a technical university in the 20th<\/sup> century in southern Poland was urgent. So in 1912, when Krakow was still a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ministry of Public Works in Vienna agreed to the founding of the Mining Academy. After the restoration of Poland's sovereignty in 1918, the University was officially opened, and a library followed, in 1920. The collection was and still is very specialised: the Library holds mainly scientific works about mining, machine building, foundry, technology, and the environment \u2013 historically the most important disciplines for the University. Additionally, there are mathematics, management, and social sciences collections.\r\n\r\nThe library network consists of the Main Library and thirteen faculty libraries, two institute libraries and three libraries of non-faculty units.[footnote]Numbers applicable to May 2022.[\/footnote] The Library collection mirrors the needs of the Academy and has always been based on various sources and regular international exchanges. The library holds books in 50\u00a0languages.\r\n\r\nFrom its very first days the Academy and the Library connected different cultures and languages, as it was founded just after the First World War, when Poland became an independent state again. Its core collection was founded by Polish professors, who were often trained abroad, speaking various languages. Furthermore, Marie Curie-Sk\u0142odowska founded the Library's subscription of French journals, specifically Revue Scientifique<\/em>, Revue Rose<\/em>, and Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des S\u00e9ances de l'Acad\u00e9mie des Sciences<\/em> (Krawczyk, 2009<\/a>).\r\n\r\nUp until 1939, the University and the Library were connected to their Austro-Hungarian roots and Upper Silesia, both receiving and lending materials \u2013 partially in German. After the Second World War Poland and all its administration were heavily influenced by the Soviet Union. As the connections to \"the West\" were limited, University professors had to build contacts within Poland and in the Eastern Bloc (Fig. 1).\r\n\r\nThe most important way of informing others about what the Library was holding was printed catalogues sent out to libraries in the Eastern Bloc or personal connections.\r\n\r\nThe Library was always ready for international connections, but did not always document internal affairs \u2013 so the earliest data about ILL in the Library can be found in 1951, when polyglot Zofia \u017bebrowska was hired to lead the Interlibrary Loans Office (Krawczyk, 2009<\/a>). Internal statistical documents give us some information about the circulation of prints. In 1952, 77\u00a0publications were lent and 12\u00a0borrowed by the Library, in 1953 \u2013 93\u00a0lent, 27\u00a0borrowed.\r\n\r\nCirculation got larger each year, but only to and from Polish institutions. Currently, the Interlibrary Loans Office still works primarily with Polish institutions. Sources requested by our patrons can be accessed only in the scenic Main Reading Room. Services are available to the employees, doctoral students, and full-time and extramural students of AGH UST.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_173\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1173\"]\"Prints<\/a> Figure 1: Prints from AGH Main Library collection in various languages \u200b(German, Ukrainian, Spanish, Polish, Czech, French, English, and Hungarian\u200b)[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe first international loan took place in 1972. A professor requested a conference paper from Bergbau-B\u00fccherei in Bochum, Western Germany, one of the oldest libraries in the Ruhr area. It was managed without payment, as the libraries were operating exclusively on mutual agreements. To this day, German libraries remain our closest partners, both lending and receiving materials.\r\n\r\nIn the 1970s, 56\u00a0international borrowings were documented. The most important partners for the AGH UST Library were European units, mostly from the Eastern Bloc although the University was developing a vast web of connections \u2013 from Japan and India to South America, due to scientific research in mining and metallurgy.\r\n\r\nStatistics in the 1970s showed a proportion of 13:1 (when one book was lent from outside Poland, 133 were lent internally). At the end of 1979 the Library had an agreement on Interlibrary Loans with 24 libraries, some of them in our sister institutions \u2013 Technical University in Ostrava or Freiberg University.\r\n