A Study on the Maintenance of the Library of Unified Germany and Its Information Service System

통일독일의 도서관 및 정보서비스체계 정비에 관한 연구

The purpose of this paper is to review concerns and activities related to the library of Germany as well as to look over recent trends referred to the maintenance of the library and its information service system since the unification of Germany in 1990. In fact, since the unification, many libraries in old East Germany have been closed with some precious books being lost. Also since most of libraries are short of funds and proper materials, it is real situation that they can not actively respond to the demand of information by library users who want to adapt themselves to changes, while only urgently requesting some support from old West Germany. In the meantime, the new government and libraries of Germany are giving a great effort to building an efficient document delivery system through financial support for the expansion of books and the purchase of urgently necessary library equipments in the poor libraries of old East Germany and support for the course to re-educate the in-service or unemployeed librarians, and also systematic organization between similar libraries, integration of national bibliographies, and maintenance of the interlibrary loan system. The nationwide interlibrary loan system, an expanded form of the system of old West Germany, allows the delivery of document to be easily performed, centered on both central cataloues for East Germany and West. However, in order to build an efficient information service system which covers whole Germany, it seems there needs more time required.