Babeș-BolyaiUniversityofCluj-Napoca [609471]

"Babeș-Bolyai"UniversityofCluj-Napoca
FacultyofHistoryandPhilosophy
MasterofInformationSciencesandDocumentation
ThescientistandthelibraryoftheXXIcentury
MAyearI Coordinator,
CătălinBîrlogeanu Dr.ArlettePiguet
2016-2017

2Beforewetalkaboutscientistandscientificlibrary,Ithinkit'simportanttoclarify
somebasicconcepts.
Firstofall,it'simportanttosearchforadefinitionofscience.
"Scienceis,inonesense,ourknowledgeofallthat—allthestuffthatisinthe
universe:fromthetiniestsubatomicparticlesinasingleatomofthemetalinyour
computer'scircuits,tothenuclearreactionsthatformedtheimmenseballofgasthatisour
sun,tothecomplexchemicalinteractionsandelectricalfluctuationswithinyourownbody
thatallowyoutoreadandunderstandthesewords.Butjustasimportantly,scienceisalsoa
reliableprocessbywhichwelearnaboutallthatstuffintheuniverse.However,scienceis
differentfrommanyotherwaysoflearningbecauseofthewayitisdone.Sciencerelieson
testingideaswithevidencegatheredfromthenaturalworld"1.
Anotherdefinitioncanbe:"Theintellectualandpracticalactivityencompassingthe
systematicstudyofthestructureandbehaviourofthephysicalandnaturalworldthrough
observationandexperiment:‘theworldofscienceandtechnology’"2
Secondofall,wemustfindadefinitionofscientist.AfterasearchonInternet,Ifind
someinterestindefinitions:
Scientists(inAustriaandSwitzerland,alsoscientists)arepeoplewhoaremainly
engagedinscienceandtheirfurtherdevelopment.Theprofessionalaspect,however,isnot
arequirement-seeprivatelecturer,privatelecturerorresearchinareassuchasamateur
astronomyorspeleology.Asarule,scientistshaveacompleteduniversityeducationand
areactiveasresearchers,oftenalsoasuniversitylecturers3.
"Scientistsarepeoplewhouseresearchandexperimentstolearnmoreaboutthe
naturalworld.Scientistsusescientificmethodstoderiveknowledgesystematically,
performingrepeatableexperimentstoensurethattheirconclusionsarevalidandaccurate.
Scientistsmustnotonlybehighlyeducatedwithregardtomathandscience,buttheyalso
mustpossessimpeccableresearchskills.Additionally,scientistsmustbeeffective
communicatorsandcreativeproblemsolvers"4.
Thirdofall,it'simportanttodefinewhatisanscientificlibrary.
Ingermanacceptance:"Scientificlibrariesarecommonlyreferredtoasthegroupof
libraries,whichfocusonscientificstudiesandresearch.Inadditiontotheprovisionof
publications,especiallyscientificpublications,fordirectuse,scientificlibrariesthemselves
1http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/%200_0_0/intro_01-access5.02.2007
2https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/science-access5.02.2007
3https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wissenschaftler-access5.02.2017
4https://www.reference.com/business-finance/scientist-35628ddf4cdf744d-access5.02.2017

3canconductresearchandarchivingtasks.Alsopublishingservicessuchasdocument
serversoftenbelongtothetaskspectrum.[1]Apartfromthelargeuniversallibraries,most
scientificlibrariesspecializeinoneorseveralscientificfields,suchasaspecializedlibrary
ortosupporttheresearchandteachingofarelatedorhigher-rankinginstitution.[2]5"
ScientificlibrariesinFranceareassociatedwithuniversity(academic)libraries,
sofrenchsaysthat:
"Auniversitylibraryisalibraryattachedtoauniversity.Thedocumentsandservicesin
theuniversitylibrarycanthusservethedualmissionofuniversities,teachingandresearch.
However,auniversitymayhave,inadditiontoauniversitylibrary,otherlibrariesattached
toafaculty,alaboratory,aresearchcenteroraninstitute.Ontheotherhand,alibrarycan
haveadualfunction,nationalanduniversity,orpublicanduniversity(LausanneCantonal
andUniversityLibrary,Clermont-FerrandCommunityandInter-UniversityLibrary).
Alibraryusedbyseveraluniversitiescanbedescribedasaninteruniversitylibrary."
Today's.weliveinaworldwhereeverythingischangingsofastsoaccesstoupto
dateandrelevantinformationsisveryimportant.Withinformationsweobtainanswers,
solutionsandrelease."Thetopicalinterestoftheinformationandcommunication
phenomenonisexplainedbytheincreasinglyrelevantroleandimportanceofpublic
informationinthecitizens’dailylife"6
Fromthelastdefinitionofascientist,itseemstobethemostcomplete,wecan
concludethatlikeanyman,inhisresearchandexperiments,ascientistneedinformations.
But,moreimportant,Ithink,itishowtoobtaininformations."…accesstoinformation
maybeconsideredasafundamentalright."7.Butwherewecanfindinformations?Wecan
surelysaythatascientistisaresearchersoforobtaininformationshecanaccessuniversity
libraries,scientificlibrariesandresearchlibrarywhoisa"trulymultidisciplinary
resourcefeaturingadiversifiedmixofscholarlyjournals,tradepublications,magazines,
andothertimelysourcesacrossthetop150subjectareas.Bycoveringmoresubjectareas
thanotherresources,itisidealforservingdiverseneeds,fromtheone-timeusertothe
interdisciplinaryneedsofseriousresearchers.ResearchLibraryprovidesaccesstoawide
rangeofthecoreacademictitles,frombusinessandthesciencestoliteratureandpolitics."8
Buttheaccesofinformationisnottheonlyneedofascientist.Alsoacommunication
systemcapabletohelpthemtopublish,toreuseandtoevaluatetherelevanceandquality
5https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wissenschaftliche_Bibliothek-access5.02.2017
6http://www.rg.bioflux.com.ro/docs/3013.33-38.pdf,1.Preliminaryconsiderations-access5.02.2017
7idem
8http://www.proquest.com/products-services/ProQuest-Research-Library.html-access5.02.2007

4ofinformationinanefficientwayit'sveryimportantforascientist.Theseobjectivescan
bebestachievedthroughaninteroperablesystemwhichintegratesreviewedpublication,
openaccesstoscientificinformation,long-termdigitalarchivingandothercomponentsof
theresearchprocess.Basically,traditionalfunddigitizationoflibraryandmakingthem
availablethroughtheinternetisoneofthemostimportanttasksofscientificlibraries.
Apartofscientificliteratureintermsarticlespublishediseasytofindandopento
publicaccessforfree.However,alargepartofthepublishedliteratureremainshidden
frommuchofthetargetreaders.TheOpenAccess(OA)systemisoneofthemost
importantserviceslibrariescanoffer.9
TherealOApublicationstendtobethesolutionoftheseissues.
TheUSAssociationofResearchLibraries,ARL10interpretsOAinvariousaspects:-
OAisacosteffectivewayofdisseminationanduseofinformation;-OAfunctionswithin
thecurrentcopyrightlegislativeframework;-OAisfreeforreaders,butnotforproducers.
Costsforproducingpublicationsindigitalopenaccesssystemareconsideredmuchlower
thantheproductioncostsofprintedliterature;-OAfocusesonacademicresearchandit
impliespeerreview.Openaccessjournalsaredefinedasjournalsthatuseafundingmodel
thatdoesnotchargereadersortheirinstitutionsforaccesstoarticles1110
Likeaconclusion,amodernscientificlibrarymustofferaneasyaccesstotheirfund
ofbooks,scientificpublication…,especiallyindigitalform.Anotherimportantfunctionis
tomakeaneffortforofferingaccessatpublishliteraturewhichisnotOA.
Inaphrase:
Anscientific/academic/researchlibrarymusthaveasobjectivetoofferamoreeasier
accessatscientificalinformationsforascientist/researcher.
ThemainproblemforachievingthisobjectiveisMONEY.Librarymanagementmust
findwaystoattractfunds.Throughsponsorships,donations,variousservicesofferedfora
fee,etc…..Interlibraryexchangeanddonationsofbookscanbesolutionsforaccessto
informations.
AnotherproblemofmodernscientificlibraryisSPACE.Incaseofdonations,library
mustbeverycarefullyinreceivingbooksbecauseiftheyarenotinterestingforthespecific
oflibrarythancancausespaceproblems.Forexample:it'snotoktoacceptfictionbooks
asdonationinaexactscience(informatics,computerscience,mathematics,phisics,
chemistry)library.Youonlyoccupyaspacethatwouldbeusefulforotherbooks.These
9http://www.rg.bioflux.com.ro/docs/3013.33-38.pdf,2.Tasksandchallengesamodernscientificlibraryisfacedto-access
5.02.2017
10idem,3.TheOpenAccess:Oneviablesolution-access5.02.2017

5booksdonotbringyouanybenefitbecausetheyarenotinterestingtopotentialreadersof
thelibrary.Theycanbeacceptedonlyinextremecases:itisthebookofarenowned
authorwhoisverypopularoroneofthemajordonorslibrary.Becauseoflackofspace
librariesmustmakeaverycarefullyselectionofbooksthatwillbepurchased.
Inourcountry,today,inscientificlibraryarealotofgoalstoachievebutmoneyand
spaceproblemsthatstilloccurarerelatedtothelackofprofessionalmanagementinmost
libraries.
Therearerarelibrarieswherethereisaspecializeddepartmentintheselectionand
orderingofbooks.It'sabigproblemthatisnotputgreateremphasisondigitallibraries
thatwouldsolvetheproblemsofmoneyandspace.
Lackofpropercollaborateinthetriangleofauthors,publishersandlibrariesleadto
difficultaccesstoinformationandvaluethatauthorscouldwriteimportantpaperschoose
nottodopreciselythislackofmoneyandsupportelements.
Personally,Ithinkthatthatwouldbeveryimportanttounderstandisthat,inturn,the
libraryisabusinessandshouldbetreatedassuch.
Ofcoursetheremustbeasocialelement,butprimarilybusinesscomesfirst.Alibrary
needstoknowtoearntheirmoneyneeds,andthiscanonlybedonebyamanagement
professionalbusinessorientedwin-win.
So,inmyopinion,amodernandcompetitivescientificlibrarymustofferfolowing
servicesandproducts:
Using,orderingresources-aplacewhocanbetheplatformforsearchingandusingtheresourcesof
thelibrary.Youcanfindhereprintedorelectronicbooks,journals,technicalarticles,images,maps
andmuchmore.Theseresourcesyoucaneitheruseororderelectronically;11
Trainingcourses,guidedtours-trainingcoursesandtutorialsonthetopicsinformationresearch,
Workshopsaroundtopicsthatarerelevantforresearch,suchasdatamanagement,openaccessor
methodsandtoolsforscientificworking;12
Publishing,registering,managing-aplacewherescientistcanpublishingtheirstudies,doctoral
thesisinOAsystem;13
Preserving,archivind,digitizing-librarymustbealsoacentreofexpertiseonthesubjectsof
preservation,archivingandstockmaintenance.14
11http://www.library.ethz.ch/en/Services/Using-ordering-resources-access5.02.2017
12http://www.library.ethz.ch/en%20/Services/Training-courses-guided-tours-access5.02.2017
13http://www.library.ethz.ch/en/Services/Publishing-registering-managing-access5.02.2017
14http://www.library.ethz.ch/en/Services/Preserving-archiving-digitizing-access5.02.2017

6Studyspaces,infrastructure-modernstudyspacesforyourworkandstudy(publicworkstations,
studyspacesforconcentratedreadingandstudying,technicalequipmentforthestudyspaces,
machinesforcopying,digitizationanddataprocessing,lockers,rechargeyourmobiledevices)15
Specialserviceslike:accesspapersfrommanyjournalsande-books,infulltext;reading
professionaljournalsonline;accessbooksummariesonline;borrowinge-books;obtainfreecopies
ofarticlesaswellasdocumentsfromlibrariesaroundtheworld16
15http://www.library.ethz.ch/en%20/Services/Study-spaces-infrastructure-access5.02.2017
16http://www.library.ethz.ch/en/Services/Services-for-ETH-Alumni-access5.02.2017

7BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/%200_0_0/intro_01-access5.02.2007
2.https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/science-access5.02.2007
3.https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wissenschaftler-access5.02.2017
4.https://www.reference.com/business-finance/scientist-35628ddf4cdf744d-access
5.02.2017
5.https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wissenschaftliche_Bibliothek-access5.02.2017
6.http://www.rg.bioflux.com.ro/docs/3013.33-38.pdf,1.Preliminaryconsiderations-
access5.02.2017
7.http://www.proquest.com/products-services/ProQuest-Research-Library.html-access
5.02.2007
8.http://www.rg.bioflux.com.ro/docs/3013.33-38.pdf,2.Tasksandchallengesamodern
scientificlibraryisfacedto-access5.02.2017
9.http://www.library.ethz.ch/en/Services/Using-ordering-resources-access5.02.2017
10.http://www.library.ethz.ch/en%20/Services/Training-courses-guided-tours-access
5.02.2017
11.http://www.library.ethz.ch/en/Services/Publishing-registering-managing-access
5.02.2017
12.http://www.library.ethz.ch/en/Services/Preserving-archiving-digitizing-access
5.02.2017
13.http://www.library.ethz.ch/en%20/Services/Study-spaces-infrastructure-access
5.02.2017
14.http://www.library.ethz.ch/en/Services/Services-for-ETH-Alumni-access5.02.2017