Replacement of the Aleph 500 National Library Network software
The replacement of the library management software used in the Austrian National Library Network (Aleph 500) and the change to a library and information management system, which will satisfy the requirements of digital libraries is a pressing issue.
The university libraries are participating actively in the award procedure, which is being carried out by the Austrian National Library Network.
Amendments to the Copyright Act 2014
The ubifo is participating in the process of amending the Copyright Act, which became necessary by virtue of the implementation of two EU directives. The key points are: an amendment to the right of quotation, the implementation of the directive on “orphan works”, copyright and catalogue enrichment, secondary publication rights.
Representatives of the Austrian University Libraries have conducted discussions on this with several interest groups (with representatives from the copyright collectives, the Science spokespersons of various political parties, the Cabinet of the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Chair of the Federation of Austrian Booksellers and the President of the Austrian Federation of Journals and Specialist Media).
Open Access Appraisal Work Group
The Open Access Appraisal at the Austrian Universities Work Group was established by ubifo in November 2011 to survey the open access current status quo at the 21 public universities and thereby to form the basis, in particular, of joint projects and initiatives for the future.
A report was produced in April 2013, based on a survey conducted during February and March 2012 of the university libraries and incorporating editorial comments on the most recent developments.
Book Project: University Libraries in Focus
As the initiator and driving force for this project, the ubifo has set itself the target of providing a compact overview of the core responsibilities and the future roles of university libraries and of the joint projects of the latter with major partner institutions.
In November 2013, the result is the collected volume, “University Libraries in Focus: the responsibilities and perspectives of university libraries at public universities in Austria”, which is published as Volume 13 of the Association of Austrian Librarians publications. It contains 23 specialist articles, as well as short portraits of all 20 university libraries at the public universities in Austria.
The entire book is available as Open Access publication via Downloads.
National Survey Work Group
In 2010, a national survey, organised by the ubifo and compiled by some of its members, dealt with the issue as to whether and in what form a survey on future requirements can be created at the university libraries in Austria. Because many of the issues, which concern the libraries represented in the Austrian National Library Network, need to be clarified, it is currently being tested whether the topic can be transferred in a suitable form at this level.