LIBRARIES IN CHINA AND FRANCE DESIGNATED UNITED NATIONS DEPOSITORY LIBRARIES

Press Release
PI/1215

LIBRARIES IN CHINA AND FRANCE DESIGNATED UNITED NATIONS DEPOSITORY LIBRARIES

Five libraries, located in China and France, have been designated United Nations depository libraries, becoming part of an international network of 378 libraries in 142 countries and territories that bring United Nations documents and publications to users around the world. They are the Law Department of Peking University (Beijing, China), the Law School of Wuhan University (Wuhan, China), the International Law Department of the East China University of Politics and Law (Shanghai, China), the Law Department of Zhongshan (Sun Yat-sen) University (Guangzhou, China), and the Nantes University Library (Nantes, France).

Peking University was established in 1902. The Law Library ranks first among all university law libraries in China and has about 3,000 regular users. It maintains a collection of more than 60,000 items, one third of which is in foreign languages, and the collection is expanding by about 5,000 items annually. The Library is equipped with a computer-searching system, microfiche machines and photocopiers. Access by computer to Peking University Library and the National Library of China is available through 35 advanced computers; the first computer system in China to obtain access to the computer legal research systems -- WESTLAW, Lexis-Nexis, UMI and OCLC Firstsearch. It has a staff of eight full-time professional librarians; two librarians will be assigned to maintain the United Nations collection.

Wuhan University was founded in 1917. Its Law School is staffed by a faculty of 156 professors and lecturers, and has an enrolment of over 2,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. There are also about 2,000 correspondence and part-time students studying outside the campus. Approximately 10,000 people on the campus use the Library regularly. The Law Library collection includes 120,000 books, 30,000 of which are in English, French, German, Japanese and Russian, and over 400 Chinese and foreign serials. There are 10 professional librarians on its staff, two of whom will be available to maintain the collection. At present, the Law Library has a reading room of over 200 square metres. However, a new building for the Law School, which includes a new Law Library, is under construction. After its completion in 2001, collection storage space and seating will be double, with a reading room of nearly 500 square metres. Present facilities include photocopying machines, electronic access to external databases, OPAC and CD-ROMs.

The East China University of Politics and Law was established in 1952. The University has a student population of 3,500 and its Law Department has a student population of 700. The Law Library has a collection of over 600,000 volumes and a staff of 40 professional librarians, up to four of whom will be available to assist with the United Nations deposit. The Library has electronic access to external databases, microform and CD-ROM equipment, and provides photocopying services.

- 2 - Press Release PI/1215 5 January 2000

Zhongshan University was founded in 1956. Its Law Department has 60 faculty members and more than 700 undergraduate and 300 graduate students who would use the collection. Moreover, besides the general public, an estimated 10,000 other teachers and students of the University would be interested in using the collection. The Department's Library has over 70,000 volumes, CD-ROM equipment, a photocopier and Internet access. It has a staff of three professional librarians, one of whom will be assigned to maintain the United Nations collection.

Nantes University Library was founded in 1962. It has a collection of 300,000 volumes of which about 15 per cent is in the English language, and it subscribes to about 1,600 serials. The whole collection is computerized and is accessible to readers from 45 workstations. The Library has several reading rooms that can accommodate 1,840 readers and special reading rooms where CD-ROMs and the Internet can be accessed. The Library catalogue is also available for searching on the Internet and a Web page is currently under construction. The Library is open to the public and has 34,000 registered readers. It has about 80 full-time and 20 part-time staff. The collection will be under the direct supervision of the Legal Librarian.

Since 1946, the Dag Hammarskjöld Library at United Nations Headquarters in New York, which is part of the Department of Public Information (DPI), has arranged for the distribution of United Nations documents and publications to users around the world through its depository library system. At present, there are 378 United Nations depository libraries: 55 are located in Africa, 104 in Asia and the Pacific, 32 in Eastern Europe, 84 in Western Europe, 49 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 54 in North America. These libraries receive United Nations materials, with the understanding that their collections will be maintained in good working order and be available to the public free of charge.

United Nations Member States, as well as non-members, are entitled to one "free depository", usually the national library in the capital city. In addition, the national parliamentary library, if open to the public, is also entitled to receive material free of charge. Other depository libraries pay a token annual contribution to receive United Nations documentation. Developing countries pay a significantly smaller amount than developed countries.

The designation of depositories is carried out by the United Nations Publications Board. The degree of development of the requesting libraries and the overall geographic distribution of depository libraries in the countries concerned are among the criteria used.

United Nations professional librarians and information officers make periodic visits to the depository libraries to provide assistance and training in the management of the United Nations collection. In addition, special training seminars for depository librarians are periodically organized by the Dag Hammarskjöld Library in New York and by the Library of the United Nations Office at Geneva.

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