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Online 2003
This year's exhibition seemed even smaller than last year's and the focus appeared to be very much on management tools, rather than on subject content. There were fewer EU information providers too. Butterworths was not present this year, but two stalwarts remained. The European Union stands provided information on their databases, Europa and CORDIS, and ran a programme of presentations on what they offer and new developments in the pipeline. The huge Thomson group, incorporating Sweet & Maxwell, Westlaw, Lawtel EU and Ellis Publications, was also represented. A number of developments are under discussion there and will be covered in due course when their final structure is clarified and they come to fruition later in the year.
EUR-Lex for people with visual impairment
The WAI compliant version of EUR-Lex designed in particular for use by people with visual impairment was launched at the beginning of December. It can be reached from the home page of EUR-Lex at http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/index.html by clicking on the link on the top right of the screen above the menu bar, which says in very small print “Accessible version”. This is not perhaps the best description as it seems to imply that the rest of EUR-Lex is not accessible - but then again there are no doubt those who would agree with that. The new version offers users with text readers the opportunity to skip the unnecessary repetition of logo or header information, for example, and to use shortcut keys to navigate the site.
EU Bookshop
A demonstration version of a new service managed by the Publications Office is available to test at http://bookshop.eu.int/GetRecords?Template=Test_EUB/en_index. The aim of the EU Bookshop is more than just to act as a catalogue of all EU titles published by the institutions, agencies and other bodies. The plan is that it should include a complete set of all the EU titles which have been published from the 1950s, whether they are in paper or electronic format, so it will act as an archive as well as giving access to details of the latest publications. It will be possible to download free publications as PDF files or order paper copies. Items for sale can be ordered online. However delivery will not be handled directly by the Publications Office, but will be done through the sales agencies network. One reason for this is the difficulty of different VAT rates on publications in the various member states. It seems that the Publications Office is unable to manage this, so for UK users TSO will continue to be the supplier of priced publications.
The EU Bookshop will offer both a Search or Browse route into the publications. The basic search allows users to enter keywords and limit the results by language (including the current official and new acceding countries' languages). You can also click on the checkboxes to search only for free publications, key publications or serials. The search will be carried out in titles, abstracts and tables of contents. Another option is to search by “Identifiers”: this means catalogue number, ISBN or ISSN. The advanced search screen enables users to enter search terms and specify where the search should be conducted - in the title, table of contents, abstract or author fields. Additionally one or more subject theme can be selected, and the search can be restricted by language, format (CD-ROM. Printed, PDF, HTML), and year (currently the default is 1999 to 2003). The “Select target audience” feature is not yet live, but searches can be limited to serials only, archive or free publications. The Browse route offers a choice of just published, key publications, by theme or by author.
Although it is possible to use the site without registration, additional features are available to those who complete their details online and use their password. You will be able for example to save searches and create profiles to set up an alert service. You will then be notified of relevant new publications when they become available.
Although there is still further development work to be done, the new site looks promising. The long term plan to have a complete collection of EU titles dating back to the 1950s is ambitious but very welcome and users will no doubt await the full functionality of the site with keen interest. It is hoped that the site will be ready to go live in the first quarter of 2004, but perhaps more realistically we can expect to see it in the first half of 2004.
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