CORDIS Archive

Extracts from Country Studies: Spain

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The study on Libraries in the information society has so far resulted inter alia in 5 case studies and 9 country and regional studies. The following extract reflects the highlights only - the full text will be available upon publication of the final report.

Table of content

Introduction
Notable changes to traditional public library services
New services in Public Libraries
Inspiring examples of Public Libraries
Main barriers to development
Professional development of public librarians
Regional co-operation
The telematics market place

This country report for Spain has been compiled by:

Introduction :

No homogeneous and updated data on the use of IT in Spanish public libraries is available. Data on the 51 State Public Libraries can not be taken as representative for the general situation, because they are much more advanced in the field of telematic applications than the (approximately 3,300) Spanish public libraries.

Political and Organisational Framework for the Introduction of Information Technology in Public Libraries:

The 51 State Libraries depend on the Ministry of Culture and Education via the Directorate General of Books, Archives and Libraries. Co-ordination and automation are state controlled, management, budget and staff are the responsibility of the municipal authority. Each municipal authority has its own library legislation.

No framework programme in the context of national policy exists in Spain to encourage the use of IT in public libraries to support the development of the Information Society. The 51 State Public Libraries have an automated system due to project PROINRED (initiated by the Ministry of Education and Culture) aiming at creating a telematic network. Municipal Authorities have contributed to this automation process with LAN infrastructure, telecommunications and complimentary equipment.

The authorities of Castilla y Leon, Castilla-La Mancha, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra, Pais Vasco and Valencia confer yearly grants for automation of public libraries in their territory.

Project TECA (1994-1995, financed by EU and provincial funds) involved giving 3 PCs, a database management system, a CD-ROM player and communication facilities (including access to Videotex) to 55 municipal public libraries, enabling them to get connected to the Spanish videotex network and Internet.

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Notable changes to traditional public library services:

Changes are at an early stage. Between 25% and 20% of the 3,300 Spanish public libraries have automated library management systems. Generally, cataloguing and circulation are automated, followed by acquisitions. More than 65 public libraries make use of the bibliographic records in the REBECA database and about 100 public libraries subscribe to the Spanish National Bibliography on CD-ROM.

Only a few public libraries have e-mail and not many participate in IweTel , the Spanish discussion list on librarianship.

The introduction of OPACs is one of the most important changes, but only to be found in libraries already automated. Information provision from CD-ROMs is beginning to happen, remote access to information is still a rare occurrence.

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New services in Public Libraries :

21 (of the 51) State Public Libraries are accessible via the www server of the Ministry of Education and Culture , the Biblioteca de Castilla y Leon (Valladolid) provides Biblioteca de Castilla y Leon through telnet (telnet://rabel.bcl.uva.es/). The 113 libraries integrated in the public library network in the province of Barcelone offer their union catalogue via telnet (telnet://biblio.diba.es).

The number of CD-ROMs in the State Public Libraries rose from 174 in 1994 to 703 in 1995. Five of these libraries have a CD-ROM network. These are common trends signifying a strong development in Spanish public libraries.

Some 30 State Public Libraries can connect via the network Iberpac or RDSI (digital network of integrated services) to the databases of the Ministry of Education and Culture ( Puntos de Información Cultural ). Only few libraries have access to the Internet.

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Inspiring examples of Public Libraries:

• Biblioteca de Castilla y Leon (Valladolid) (ftp://rabel.bcl.uva.es/, telnet://rabel.bcl.uva.es/) - the catalogue is available through telnet, there will shortly be free Internet access to users, its collection of more than 250 CD-ROM has been borrowed more than 3,400 times since January 1996.
• Biblioteca Public del Estado en Tarragona, equipped with a CD-ROM network, including a central server, a tower with a capacity of 21 CDs and 5 multimedia PCs.
• Biblioteca Koldo Mitxelana (San Sebastian) provides (fee-based) Internet access since July 1995 via 3 PCs, helped by two trained librarians, including bookmarks with interesting links. The menu offers also access to the central CD-ROM server.
• Biblioteca publica municipal de Penaranda de Bracamonte (Salamanca) with Microteca , an electronic information service originally for grown-ups and now extended to children, offers general software, CD-ROM editions and remote access to on-line information (videotex). This municipal library is managed by a private foundation and serves a village of 6,500 inhabitants !

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Main barriers to development:

These are cited to be:

• economic barriers , affecting hardware equipment, CD-ROM acquisition and telecommunication costs. Telecommunications are a monopoly service and expensive. The state company Telefonica promotes the network Infovia, which offers unique prices for accessing commercial Internet providers and electronic services, regardless of distance.
• technical barriers , inter alia insufficient use of existing technical standards (concerning Search and Retrieve facilities, digitisation viz. storage, compression etc.)
• professional barriers , arising from inadequate awareness and training of public librarians
• social barriers : public libraries in Spain have a poor social image. A modern concept amongst decision makers of the potential of public libraries is necessary.

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Professional development of public librarians:

University degrees of Librarianship and Information Science include the study of aspects concerned with Information Technology, but these are not necessarily compulsory nor integrated. The main subject of training courses by the Spanish professional associations (survey result of 1993 / 1994) was the use of Information Technology in libraries.

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Regional co-operation:

• Rebeca on-line project: a shared cataloguing experience involves 11 State Public Libraries in inter-regional co-operation, consisting of a daily connection to the (Ministry of Education and Culture) REBECCA database to up- and down-load bibliographic records (via TCP/IP).
• Asturias Public Library Network aims to improve bibliographic information and interlending and has resulted in a union catalogue of Asturian public libraries (2 State and 114 municipal libraries), a special union catalogue of local publications and the delivery of bibliographic records from the Biblioteca de Asturias to 12 automated municipal libraries in the region.
• Digitisation of local and regional periodicals in País Vasco : two public libraries and other regional institutions started in 1992 to microfilm regional journals, changing to digitisation in 1995.

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The telematics market place:

There are at present some 100 commercial Internet providers in Spain. by the difficulties caused by library buildings which are not hospitable

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