No. 4

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Databases at the Parliamentary Services

  • Marju Rist

    Head of the Parliamentary Information Centre of the Estonian National Library

This article is an overview of the activities of the Estonian National Library as a parliamentary library culling and creating databases.

The basic criteria for selection of databases: topics in the field of social sciences are preferable, but linguistic and geographical entries are also considered. An important criterion is the needs and preferences of the users. The library has received feedback from surveys ordered by the Riigikogu Chancellery in 1995, 1998, and 2001. From among larger on-line databases, the article introduces database collections offering articles from foreign periodicals: OCLC First Search, EBSCO, ProQuest Academic Research Library, and Integrum World Wide. The 1990s marked a fast growth of spread of electronic media. The library as an important information user faces new challenges: keeping abreast of the offerings in the information market; the ability to find relevant information in accordance with demand. The greatest obstacle to acquisition of electronic information remains the libraries’ limited financial resources. The problem will need to be solved on the state level.

Full article in Estonian

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