Details about ADR Database

The ADR Database originated from integration of two equivalent databases of the National Library departments: Centre for Librarianship and Union Catalogues Department. The Departments are still participating in the database building, each of them guarantees for its part. Processing of the ADR Database and access to it are handled by the ALEPH system.

The ADR Database contains information about more than 8, 000 libraries and information centres of the Czech Republic. About two thirds of them are operational and active. Libraries of all kinds are involved: libraries charged with special functions as well as non-professional ones. There are primarily all central libraries including those of the 14 newly formed regions, the whole gamut of public libraries, i.e. municipal, town and communal libraries, the bulk of university libraries and libraries of research institutes of the Academy of Sciences of the CR, libraries of hospitals, medical research institutes and other medical and health care organizations, libraries of state administration, schools, educational, cultural and church organizations, libraries of firms, joint-stock companies, factories and plants, project organizations and their information centres.

Each record in the database contains a Location Code, name and title of the organization, registered address of the organization and its branches, including contact information: current postal address, phone numbers, e-mail and www-pages as well as phone number and e-mail of the person responsible. Recently also the evidence numbers of libraries registered in the Ministry of Culture according to the Law No. 257/2001 Coll. (on Libraries and Terms of Operating Public Library and Information Services) were included. Further the substitute library is mentioned for libraries not providing interlibrary loan services.

In addition to the basic information the ADR Database contains two kinds of other useful information:

a) retrospective data keeping the continuity and allowing to detect previous owners of book holding as e.g. former location codes or other previously used identification characters, incl. abbreviations and acronyms, or former titles or addresses of institutions, and other historical changes recorded;

b) contemporary data about libraries, such us their type, special functions and tasks, collection profile, librarian system, facilities available and space capacity; likewise statistics covering collection size, numbers of registered users and staff, and last but not least information about activities such as publishing, own databases generating, etc.

However the whole range of these contemporary data is not available for every institution involved in the ADR Database. The integrity and amount of information about individual libraries always depends on the particular library, it is a result of its own concern and goodwill to cooperate and update the data. Fortunately, in the last years the cooperation keeps getting better, especially thanks to improvements of technical equipment of libraries.

All participating institutions are asked to kindly report any change or correction of records and possible suggestions or comments to: