ELDORADO – national system of library services under construction
Dancs Szabolcs
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Országos Széchényi Könyvtár
According to the requirements of the tender* won by the National Széchényi Library (NLS) a complex system of library services (called ELDORADO) is needed to be set up by the end of October 2014. The system is expected to have a huge impact on the whole library system in Hungary. It has as its aim to provide access to digitized objects respecting copyrights, also, to „revitalize” out-of-commerce documents laying on the shelves of libraries by putting them back to the market.
The main objective of ELDORADO is to function as a one-stop-shop copy-on-demand service which provides users with digitized copies of documents independently of their legal status. Therefore the service is going to focus on out-of-commerce publications.
Lack of comprehensive catalogues is an essential obstacle of e-library services. As for ELDORADO, the service is going to be based upon the most comprehensive library catalogue in Hungary (Magyar Országos Közös Katalógus (MOKKA) = The Hungarian National Shared Catalogue).
ELDORADO is expected to be the common service of the whole Hungarian library system.
One of its great advantages could be to provide infrastructure to partner libraries by supporting and standardizing the workflow of digitisations including copyright clearance.
ELDORADO has as its eminent purpose not to intervene in the book market, or to try to intervene in it in an economically beneficial way.
ELDORADO provides access to digital contents respecting copyrights as far as it’s possible. So the right holders may define under which licence and for what price they would like to provide their e-documents, if they want to provide them at all.
Registries being updated regularly and interoperable are crucial if one is going to set up a service which is expected to conduct copyright clearance in an automatic way. In order to urge building such databases we cooperate with rights organizations and authorities responsible for intellectual property issues.
ELDORADO is characterized by a complexity stemming from the diversity of legal and digitization status of the documents provided. System design is based on a business model that mirrors this complexity, revealing the relations and connections between right holders, legislative opportunities and obstacles, price components, relations of system components.
ELDORADO is going to be a national service providing infrastructure to all digitization projects run by libraries in Hungary. It’ll be implemented through close cooperation with the stakeholders, with features suited to users’ requirements as far as it’s possible. ELDORADO is expected to function as a proper tool to optimize the use of resources in library area and enable long-term preservation of the national cultural heritage.
* TÁMOP-3.2.4.B-11/1 – “Tudásdepó-Expressz” – Országos könyvtári szolgáltatások bővítése, fejlesztése az oktatás és képzés támogatásának érdekében