The University Library of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel Patrick Vanouplines Head Librarian Updated 04 March 2013 Early history of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel French-speaking Université Libre de Bruxelles founded in 1834 Founder Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen wanted to establish a university that would be independent from the state and the church and where academic freedom would reign Some courses already being taught in Dutch in 1935 From 1963 almost all the faculties offered courses in Dutch The Dutch-speaking university was finally split off from its Frenchspeaking counterpart on 1 October 1969 With the act of 28 May 1970, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Université Libre de Bruxelles officially became two separate legal, administrative and scientific entities The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is the only Flemish university that has incorporated the principle of free inquiry in its statutes Overview University Library slide 2 1
Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen 1796-1862 Born in Brussels on 5 September 1796 Belonged to high bourgeoisie and aristocracy in the first half of the 19th century Worked as a lawyer in Brussels, also active member of: the freemasons the liberal party the Belgian parliament Conceived the idea of a university: completely independent from the church and the state devoted to the principle of free inquiry The dream came true with the establishment of the ULB in 1834 Every year on 20 November, the students and the academic authorities commemorate the founder of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the ULB, Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen In popular parlance, the day is better known as 'St-Vé' Overview University Library slide 3 The principle of free inquiry The principle of free inquiry is based on a text by the French mathematician and natural philosopher Henri Poincaré (1854-1912), in which he says that: Thinking must never submit itself, neither to a dogma, nor to a party, nor to a passion, nor to an interest, nor to a preconceived idea, nor to anything whatsoever, except to the facts themselves, because for it to submit to anything else would be the end of its existence. Overview University Library slide 4 2
Seal of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel Legend scientia vincere tenebras = science will triumph over darkness The beggar's wallet and the joined hands on the orange-white-blue escutcheon (or shield) in the emblem (the colours of the Prince of Orange) refer to the struggle of the Protestant Gueux and the Prince of Orange against the Spanish rule and the Inquisition in the 16th Century The combination of the legend, wallet and joined hands symbolises the free and unfettered spirit of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel Overview University Library slide 5 The new house style of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel Starting from 2004 the Vrije Universiteit Brussel uses a new house style In official documents, we do not use the abbreviation VUB We also avoid to use the translation Free University Brussels The company logo and the (now simplified) seal are: Overview University Library slide 6 3
De Vrije Universiteit Brussel today Located with two campuses: both near the centre of Brussels in the centre of Belgium / Europe in a green environment on an area of 22 hectares (Campus Etterbeek) and 37 hectares (Campus Jette, including the hospital) Students & Personnel (31 December 2011): 11,712 students (17,000 VUB + Erasmushogeschool Brussel) 3,002 personnel 1,959 academic personnel (almost 700 professors) 1043 administrative and technical personnel and 3,345 personnel in the academic hospital Overview University Library slide 7 Vrije Universiteit Brussel locations VUB Jette Campus Jette UZ Brussel VUB Oefenplein Academic Hospital ULB Campus Etterbeek Overview University Library slide 8 4
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is proud We are not a big university in Belgium: we are medium sized Our university is pioneer in educational programmes, such as: Communication Sciences Biomedical Sciences Photonics Computer Sciences Gerontology and last but not least STIMULATE We conduct top research in domains as: Diabetes, biotechnology, reproductive sciences, cancer, cardiology Robotics, photonics, electrochemistry, food technology Multimedia, computer sciences, system design Social sciences, history, multilingualism International relations (Europe/Asia) Overview University Library slide 9 The Brussels University Association In 2003, the UAB, Universitaire Associatie Brussel, joins the Erasmushogeschool Brussel (EhB) and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel: intensive and structural collaboration in the fields of education and research More than 17,000 students in total The EhB is already fusion of 13 schools for higher education (at non-university level) in the Brussels region EhB-department Applied Linguistics, including its library, moves in 2008 to Campus Etterbeek In October 2013 all academic programmes of the EhB will be integrated in the Vrije Universiteit Brussel Overview University Library slide 10 5
Important dates for the University Library 1970-1974 = ULB-period (Solbosch) Start of limited library services (acquisitions, distributed reading rooms and collections) 1975 moving to Campus Oefenplein Library for sciences and applied sciences starts in building F 1976 Opening library for humanities Library administration moves to building B 1977 Opening of Medical Library on Campus Jette 1987 fusion of libraries of humanities, and sciences and applied sciences to Central Library University Library = Central Library (and administration) + Medical Library After 1987 we see an increase of stacks 1996 access to first electronic journal After 1996 there is a tremendous increase of available journals through electronic access 2009: first ideas about a new Library & Learning Centre Overview University Library slide 11 Anecdote about the birth of new university libraries in Belgium The two bilingual universities in Belgium split in the period 1971-1979: KUL (Louvain) UCL (Louvain-la-Neuve) ULB (Brussels) Vrije Universiteit Brussel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel prefers to start its library from scratch and to develop a new collection The collection of the KULeuven is split in two equal parts: The books with an even shelve number went to the UCL The books with an uneven shelve number remained property of the KULeuven Journals and serial and multi-volume works carried a single shelve number and remained together Overview University Library slide 12 6
Mission and vision of the University Library The University Library is responsible for customer-oriented access to scientific information sources for study, teaching and research. It achieves this by acquiring information, by facilitating access to information sources and by providing an efficient study environment. It pays continuous attention to quality, innovation and collaboration with partners within and outside the university. Overview University Library slide 13 Vision of the University Library The University Library helps her organizing government (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) to strengthen its competitive position as university in the Flemish and international landscape by 2016 and aims to achieve this by: flexibly responding to the needs of education and research, further developing the reading rooms to an attractive study and work environment, interacting with the university community, co-operating with other libraries providing its employees a pleasant work environment and by offering appropriate challenges and continuing education designing together with the ULB a new Library and Learning Centre To this end the University Library wants to optimally use its assigned resources (both financial and human) Overview University Library slide 14 7
Organisation chart of the University Rector General Council Services of the Rector Ceremonies Department Cultural Department Internal & External Communication International Relations and Mobility University Archive University Library Central Administrative Services Facility Management Organization and Finance Personnel Policy and Administration Technical Department The University Library is a scientific service under direct responsibility of the Rector Services of Vice-Rectors Education Research (R&D) Student Policy Faculties Arts and Philosophy Law and Criminology Economics, Social and Political Sciences and the Solvay Business School Psychology and Educational Sciences Science and Bioengineering Sciences Medicine and Pharmacy Engineering Sciences Physical Education and physiotherapy Department of Teacher Training Overview University Library slide 15 Structure of the University Library Centralized approach: University Library = Central Library + Medical Library Administrative and technical services are located on the Campus Oefenplein The Medical Library shares as much as possible of these services on the main campus but there is, e.g. a local ILL service Head of the Medical Library is the scientific collaborator for the medical sciences Overview University Library slide 16 8
Organisation chart of the Library within the University Rector Secretariat and Administration (2) Head Librarian (1) Library Advisory Commission Scientific Librarians President (from faculty) + 8 faculty delegates + chief librarian + 2 library personnel + 8 deans (3.5) Public Services Central Library (6,8) Library Technical Services Information and Library Technology (7,8) (5) Medical Library (Jette) (3.1) Numbers between brackets give number of FTE in each division (sum = 29,20) Overview University Library slide 17 Numbers and facts about personnel University Library (1/3) Education level of library personnel Lower secondary 9% Higher secondary 28% Tertiary education 63% Overview University Library slide 18 9
Numbers and facts about personnel University Library (2/3) LIS diploma or certificate University level 12% Non-university level 13% No LIS disploma or certificate 75% Overview University Library slide 19 Numbers and facts about personnel University Library (3/3) Age categories <25 0% 25-44 41% >44 59% Overview University Library slide 20 10
Users facilities of the University Library in numbers and facts More than 500,000 volumes: 340,000 monographs access to > 22,000 journals (most of them in electronic format) 353,000 volumes in open stack Total surface 6350 m 2, including stack rooms (about 4.500m 2 reading rooms) 800 seats Almost 100 workstations, connected to internet Wireless internet connection available in all reading rooms Overview University Library slide 21 Budget of the University Library Budget line 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Journals 1,480,294 1,632,879 1,423,916 1,543,374 1,672,324 1,848,024 2,101,795 Books 117,266 431,195 467,268 199,556 201,801 204,072 206,367 Personnel 1,621,000 1,686,000 1,750,000 1,590,134 1,617,398 1,880,792 1,929,190 Budgets expressed in euro Overview University Library slide 22 11
Central Library in Etterbeek Serves 7,350 students Serves 1,580 scientific university personnel 24.9 FTE library personnel 320,000 volumes monographs in open stack 1,474 p-journals, 146,000 volumes in open stack 157,000 volumes in closed stack (4 stack-rooms) 20,173 e-journals Surface 5,050 m 2 Overview University Library slide 23 Medical Library in Jette Serves 1,750 students Serves 380 scientific university personnel 3.1 FTE library personnel 13,000 volumes monographs in open stack 226 p-journals, 30,000 volumes in open stack 4,000 volumes in closed stack 20,173 e-journals Surface 1,300 m 2 Overview University Library slide 24 12
The integrated library system VubisSmart Web based client for VubisSm@rt Commercialisation: INFOR ERMS-system: electronic resources management system Simultaneous search in several databases Statistical reporting tool Link generator Overview University Library slide 25 Organisation of inter-library lending in Belgium A shuttle-service is being maintained since the oil crisis in 1973 Shuttle busses from 7 Belgian universities bring twice a week books, copies of articles etc A shuttle bus goes from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel to 7 institutes and organisations in Brussels Overview University Library slide 26 13