Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre : final report.
Date: 2015-11-18
Institutions: Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture
Subjects: access to EU information, access to information, documentary tool, documentation centre, information science, information user, library, provision of documents, sample survey

Interim evaluation of the      

EC Library and e-Resources 
Centre 

Final report 

Written by Panteia 
September 2015 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Directorate-General for Education and Culture 
DG EAC – D3 — Library and e-Resources Centre  
Contact: Jean Herdies 

E-mail:  EAC-UNITE-D3@ec.europa.eu 

RESEARCH TEAM 
Natasha Stroeker, project manager (Panteia) 
Gert-Jan Lindeboom, evaluator (Panteia) 
Bert-Jan Buiskool, evaluator (Ockham IPS) 

CONTRACTOR 

Bredewater 26 
2715 CA Zoetermeer 
The Netherlands 

Tel. +31 (0) 79 322 20 00 
Fax. +31 (0) 79 322 21 01 
www.panteia.eu  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Interim evaluation of the      

EC Library and e-Resources 
Centre 

Final report 

Directorate-General for Education and Culture  
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

Table of Contents 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................................. 3 

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 8 

1. 

BACKGROUND, OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY .................................................... 10 

Introduction ............................................................................................... 10 
1.1 
Background to the Commission Library .......................................................... 10 
1.2 
1.3 
Aims and goals of the evaluation ................................................................... 13 
1.4  Methodology ............................................................................................... 15 

2. 

CONTINUED RELEVANCE OF THE COMMISSION LIBRARY ........................................... 18 

2.1  Relevance of Commission Library in wider context ........................................... 19 
2.2  Relevance of Commission Library to needs of its stakeholders ........................... 27 
Added value of the Library to internal / external sources .................................. 33 
2.3 
2.4  Conclusions ................................................................................................ 38 

3. 

IMPLEMENTATION AND UTILITY OF LIBRARY ACTIVITIES .......................................... 40 

3.1  General use of Commission Library ................................................................ 40 
3.2 
Assessment of the utility of collections ........................................................... 43 
3.3  Utility of Commission Library services ............................................................ 51 
3.4  Cooperation with stakeholders ...................................................................... 58 
3.5  Communication and promotion...................................................................... 61 
3.6  Conclusions ................................................................................................ 66 

4. 

EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY OF THE LIBRARY ACTIVITIES ................................. 68 

4.1  Have the objectives been achieved? .............................................................. 68 
4.2 
Proportionality of achieved results ................................................................. 73 
4.3  Conclusions ................................................................................................ 81 

5. 

CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................... 82 

5.1 
5.2 
5.3 
5.4 

Findings on Relevance.................................................................................. 82 
Findings on utility ........................................................................................ 84 
Findings on Effectiveness ............................................................................. 85 
Findings on Efficiency................................................................................... 86 

6. 

RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................ 88 

6.1 
6.2 

Key policy recommendations ........................................................................ 89 
Future scenarios .......................................................................................... 98 

BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................... 104 

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Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

Table of figures 

Overview data collection tools ...................................................................... 14 
Figure 1.1 
Figure 2.1  
Importance of policy objectives .................................................................... 23 
Figure 2.2   Use of library encouraged by hierarchy ......................................................... 25 
Figure 2.3   Reasons for use of library services................................................................ 27 
Figure 2.4  
Types of information needed (library users versus non-users) .......................... 29 
Figure 2.5   Use of different types of information sources ................................................. 30 
Figure 2.6   Added value of Library services .................................................................... 33 
Figure 2.7  
Type of user, external users. ....................................................................... 35 
Figure 2.8   Member state of residency, external users. .................................................... 36 
Figure 3.1  
Profiling (non)users (showing significant differences) ...................................... 40 
Figure 3.2   Development in acquisition of library resources .............................................. 43 
Figure 3.3   Development in the use of Library resources ................................................. 45 
Figure 3.4   Number of loans per title (2014) .................................................................. 45 
Figure 3.5   Use of Collection – Commission staff ............................................................ 47 
Satisfaction with contents of collection – Commission users ............................. 48 
Figure 3.6 
Satisfaction with availability of collection ....................................................... 48 
Figure 3.7 
Figure 3.8 
Overall satisfaction of internal users ............................................................. 50 
OLS regression model on evaluation of CL services. ........................................ 51 
Figure 3.9 
Figure 3.10  Ease of using ECLAS and finding information ................................................. 52 
Figure 3.11  Evaluation of reading rooms / opening hours ................................................. 54 
Figure 3.12  Contact with Library staff ............................................................................ 54 
Figure 3.13  Evaluation of Library staff  ........................................................................... 55 
Figure 3.14  Evaluation of external / intranet website – by use .......................................... 61 
Figure 3.15  Familiarity with Commission Library services ................................................. 62 
Figure 3.16  Participation and evaluation of training sessions ............................................. 64 
Performance Commission Library ................................................................. 69 
Figure 4.1 
Performance Commission Library (2) ............................................................ 70 
Figure 4.2 
Impacts – measured by survey .................................................................... 72 
Figure 4.3 
Development acquisition budget ................................................................... 73 
Figure 4.4 

Table 1.1  
Table 4.1  
Table 4.2  
Table 4.3  
Table 6.1  
Table 6.2  

Evaluation criteria / questions ...................................................................... 13 
Overview of personnel costs Commission Library ............................................ 76 
Estimation of contribution function categories to global institutional objectives .. 77 
Costs for storage of physical resources ......................................................... 79 
Suggestions received for improvements (open answers) ................................. 88 
Summary of four scenarios .......................................................................... 98 

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Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

This  Report  presents  the  results  of  the  ‘Interim-Evaluation  of  the  Library  and  e-
Resources Centre of the European Commission’. The evaluation was requested by the 
European  Commission  and  was  undertaken  by  Panteia  in  early  2015.  The  project 
provides an assessment of the extent to which the relevance, utility, effectiveness and 
efficiency of the European Commission Library and e-Resources Centre (hereafter the 
‘Commission Library’ or ‘CL’) has improved, as a result of the response to the external 
evaluation carried out in 2009.  

The  evaluation  approach  is  based  on  a  thorough  review  of  existing  documents,  data, 
an  online  survey  to  Commission  staff  and  external  users,  targeted  interviews  with 
Library correspondents  in DGs, various visits to the Library and a focus group, which 
consisted  of  17  Commission  staff  members  who  work  on  a  regular  basis  with  the 
Commission  Library.  The  design  of  the  evaluation  is  based  on  the  principle  of 
methodological  triangulation.  To  verify  the  validity  of  the  findings,  all  data  from  the 
various methods have been validated against each other.  

Background 
The  Commission  Library  has  the  mission  to  conserve  and  develop  collections  and 
documentation  on  European  integration  and  to  make  them  available  to  staff  of  the 
European Commission, other EU institutions and to citizens. The Commission Library is 
housed on two sites - one in Brussels, which hosts the central services, and the other 
in Luxembourg. Its general collections are combined with the specialised collections of 
the Commission's Directorates-General (DGs) in a single automated catalogue. 

In 2009, the Library requested an independent external evaluation in order to assess 
the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of its services. Based on these findings, the 
Commission Library formulated its Strategy 2010-2012 to ensure continued relevance 
and  utility  of  its  services.  Since  this  evaluation,  considerable  changes  have  been 
taking place in the system of Commission libraries. In 2011, the European Commission 
closed  local  libraries  for  the  DGs  AGRI,  DEVCO,  REGIO,  ECFIN,  CONNECT,  EMPL, 
MOVE/ENER  for  efficiency  reasons,  and  since  then  more  local  libraries  have  been 
closed (such as in DG ENTR, ENV/CLIMA and HOME/JUST in 2013). In this context, the 
Commission  Library  requested  an  assessment  of 
the  continued  relevance, 
effectiveness  and  efficiency  of  the  Commission  Library’s  activities  and  organisation, 
covering, in particular, the period since the last evaluation: i.e. 2009-2014. 

The continued relevance of the Commission Library 
The  evaluation  shows  that  the  services  and  collections  of  the  Commission  Library 
continue  to  be  relevant  for  Commission  staff.  The  Library  provides  printed  resources 
and a large number of e-resources, which assist Commission staff in their daily work. 
Particularly the increasing attention for e-resources, as confirmed in the recent name 
change of the Library, is crucial to ensure the continued relevance of the Commission 
Library. A decreasing number of printed resources are being requested by users, and 
printed resources are often only loaned once in their lifetime. The trends in the wider 
world of information suggest that this usage will only continue to decline. At the same 
time however, the increased use of e-resources and changing user’s search strategies 
create challenges to visibility, as staff no longer need to contact the Library directly to 
access its resources.  In addition, the ongoing closure  of local libraries in various DGs 
further  raises  the  distance  between  users  and  the  Commission  Library.  As  a  result, 
staff members do not always know where to find specialised collections. 

The vague institutional objectives of the Library challenge its continued relevance, and 
do not explicitly refer to knowledge management within the wider EC. As a result, the 
evaluation  finds  little  ownership  of  CL  objectives  exists  among  the  Commission 
hierarchy. This is problematic for the development of internal knowledge management 

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Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

in  the  Commission,  but  also  risks  reducing  the  relevance  of  the  work  of  the 
Commission Library in the near future.  

Overall,  the  services  and  collections  provided  by  the  CL  offer  an  added  value 
compared  with  external  information  providers  and  electronic  resources  restricted  to 
certain Commission departments. The evaluation shows that users continue to see an 
added  value  and  relevance  for  the  collection  and  services  offered  by  the  Commission 
Library.  The  ongoing  cataloguing  efforts  by  Commission  Library  staff  are  becoming 
increasingly  redundant  in  view  of  meta-data  available  for  use  in  the  wider  world  of 
information.  However,  the  acquisition  of  a  new  Library  Management  System  in  the 
near  future  is  most  likely  to  reduce  such  redundancies.  Finally,  the  evaluation  shows 
that  the  added  value  of  the  Commission  Library  for  external  users  is  unclear  in 
comparison  to  the  large  number  of  European  Documentation  Centres  (around  400 
across  the  EU),  which  are  present  in  all  Member  States  and  also  provide  citizens 
access to collections in the field of European integration. 

Utility of the Library services and collections  
Only half of all surveyed Commission staff indicate that they use  the services offered 
by the Library; those that do however are very satisfied with the achieved results and 
the  services  provided.  Online  resources  are  increasingly  referred  to  by  Library  users, 
which  is  matched  by  an  increasing  focus  in  the  Library’s  acquisition  policies  on  e-
resources. The Commission Library adopted a ‘digital first’ acquisition policy, in which 
it only acquires printed resources if there is no digital alternative. Despite the adoption 
of  this  policy,  in  practice  the  Library  has  only  slowly  scaled  back  the  acquisition  of 
printed  material.  It  spends  for  instance  a  substantial  share  of  its  budget  on  paper 
newspapers.  In  order  to  remain  useful  for  its  users,  the  acquisition  practices  can  be 
further adjusted towards e-resources. This also has the potential to increase the utility 
of  Library  services  and  collections  for  Commission  staff  located  outside  Brussels  and 
Luxembourg.  

The  evaluation  shows  a  demand  for  providing  assistance  to  Commission  staff  to  find 
the  resources  they  need,  particularly  where  a  local  library  has  recently  closed.  Over 
the  last  years,  ‘correspondents’  have  been  appointed  in  DGs  without  libraries,  often 
from among the former staff of the local library. In many cases however, these have 
contributed  insufficiently  to  awareness  of  the  library  in  their  DGs  and  many  did  not 
consider  their  role  of  correspondent  as  their  core  activity.  As  a  result,  the  activities 
carried  out  in  individual  DGs  depended  largely  on  the  personal  dedication  of  these 
correspondents,  who  were  not  backed  up  by  a  more  structured  strategy,  such  as 
support by the hierarchy and clearly identifiable targets and objectives.  

The  ongoing  communication  activities  are  insufficient.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  merely 
have a website or working social media accounts. Particularly in view of the contextual 
and  institutional  challenges  that  the  Commission  Library  faces,  a  proactive  attitude 
towards  (potential)  users  is  crucial.  The  limited  utility  of  communication  activities 
conducted  since  the  last  evaluation  did  not  improve  the  visibility  of  the  Commission 
Library,  which  as  a  consequence  impacted  not  only  the  utility  of  the  Commission 
Library, but equally its relevance, effectiveness and efficiency. 

Effectiveness in reaching objectives 
The Commission Library has been effective in meeting its institutional objectives. First 
of  all,  it  makes  available  relevant  collections,  both  to  Commission  staff  and  external 
users.  Secondly,  users  indicate  that  the  Commission  Library  helps  them  to  achieve 
better  results  in  their  work  and  improves  the  evidence  base  for  European  policies. 
Thirdly, the  Library also actively cooperates  with partner libraries and institutions, as 
required  by  its  objectives.  However,  its  activities  are  not  sufficiently  visible,  which 
limits  a  possible  role  of  the  Library  as  active  partner  in  facilitating  knowledge 
management within the European Commission.  

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Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

The  Commission  Library’s  effectiveness  in  improving  interactive  services  to  users 
without  having  to  rely  upon  Library  staff  assistance  has  reduced  the  visibility  of  the 
library to core users. If a Commission official needed a particular resource in the past, 
the  library  was  a  natural  partner  to  provide  him  /  her  with  this  resource.  Currently, 
many resources are available on EC workstations, without having to call upon external 
assistance. This underlines the effectiveness of the Library, but reduces visibility.  

Efficiency of resources deployed 
There are no indications that the costs of the Library are spent inefficiently, but some 
expenses have been highlighted where efficiency may be improved in the near future. 
The  increased  use  of  e-resources  will  substantially  change  the  role  and  tasks  of  the 
Library.  From  that  perspective,  spending  a  third  of  the  annual  budget  on  the 
acquisition  of  printed  newspapers  becomes  increasingly  disproportionate.  Other  costs 
also  need  to  be  adjusted  to  this.  The  substantial  burden  on  the  budget  of  storage 
costs  of  printed  resources  (which  on  an  annual  basis  are  higher  than  the  costs  for 
acquisition / renewal of online resources) become increasingly disproportionate in view 
of  the  decreasing  importance  of  printed  resources  for  users.  These  resources  are 
appreciated by external users, but offer little added value to existing provisions, such 
as the EU-financed European Documentation Centres.  

The  organisational  setup  and  internal  procedures  fit  the  current  objectives  and 
activities  of  the  Library.  However,  reshaping  the  CL  into  a  more  client-oriented 
organisation can be accompanied by further improvements in efficiency. An important 
step in this direction has already been taken by the Commission Library, by deploying 
the  existing  team  of  librarians  to  the  reference  service.  Using  existing  human 
resources  for newly arising tasks and library activities contributes to the efficiency of 
operations.  The  availability  of  existing  meta-data  for  large  amounts  of  online 
resources,  combined  with  the  acquisition  of  a  new  Library  Management  System, 
provides  the  opportunity  to  free  up  the  time  spent  by  librarians  on  ‘20th  century’ 
cataloguing work, and focus more directly on client needs. The reduced use of printed 
resources  will  further  impact  the  organisational  setup,  and  will  substantially  change 
the work of the circulation and acquisition teams. Therefore, the organisational set up 
and  internal  procedures  need  to  be  critically  aligned  to  the  challenges  of  the  next 
decade.  

Recommendations 

Key recommendations have been formulated based on the conclusions, which seek to 
provide guidance in the transformation needed for the Commission Library to respond 
to current and future challenges. These can be grouped around three broad headings: 
 
  Take up an active role for the Library in knowledge management within the EC 
  Adjust Library service provision to future information needs 

Improve visibility of the Library among Commission staff  

Improve awareness and visibility of Library among Commission staff by: 
  Drawing  up  a  strategic  long-term  communication  plan,  which  formulates  its 

objectives, the targeted population and the activities to implement; 

  Proactively  setting  up  targeted  activities  to  reach  specific  groups  of  users  in 

various DGs, such as tailored trainings, seminars and conferences; 

  Organising  specific  trainings  for  more  experienced  Administrators,  while 
continuing with the introduction courses for newly recruited Administrators. 

Take up an active role in knowledge management within the European 
Commission by:  
 

Institutionally  relocating  the  Commission  Library  from  DG  EAC  as  a  service 
reporting to the Secretariat-General, to emphasise its Commission-wide focus; 
  Affirming  the  relevant  role  of  the  Commission  Library  to  support  knowledge 

management in the European Commission into its mission statement; 

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Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

 

Introducing  embedded  librarians  through  assigning  librarians  to  a  DG  and 
physically moving his/her office to ensure a feedback link with individual DGs; 

  Training embedded librarians regularly at the Library; 
  Further  developing  the  ‘ask  a  librarian’  service,  for  instance  by  setting  up  a 
client management system which allows tracking of the various requests from 
Commission staff and monitoring the quality of responses; 
  Developing  a  broader  quality  assurance  approach  to 

library 
procedures,  by  defining  a  number  of  key  performance  indicators  (KPI),  based 
on ISO library standards but tailored to the needs of the Library; 

internal 

  Further  centralising  control  over  acquisition  processes  of  technical  databases 

and specialised resources, which are currently done by individual DGs.   

Adjust Library service provision to future information needs, by:  
  Continuing  the  development  of  e-resources  acquisition  and  match  this 

ambition in the requirements for a future Library Management System; 

  Replacing the acquisition of printed newspaper copies with electronic access, if 

possible to the entire Commission staff; 

  Continuing weeding the centrally located printed resource collection; 
  Combining  the  teams  responsible  for  circulation,  acquisitions  and  renewals  of 

printed resources, and where possible downsizing these;  

  More actively recruiting academic experts in computer and library sciences 
  Discontinuing the cataloguing efforts of the pre-1978 collections; 
  Digitising Commission Library unique collection pieces for online publication;  
  Reconsidering the provision of services to external users in the reading rooms, 

and redefining these spaces into modern training centres.  

Based  on  these  recommendations,  a  number  of  possible  scenarios  are  defined, 
offering possible policy directions for different ambition levels.  

  High ambition: as ‘Information Centre for Digital Resources’, the CL becomes 
the  central  information  partner  in  EC  knowledge  management,  offering 
relevant collections, tailored services, specific training and highly skilled staff.   
  Medium  ambition:  would  introduce  the  innovative  elements  of  the  high 

ambition scenario, but is more limited due to budget restraints.  

  Low  ambition:  under  continuation  of  the  status  quo,  visibility  in  the  EC 
would  remain  minimal,  and  its  services  are  not  connected  to  EC  knowledge 
management. Its collections would become more and more irrelevant. 

  No  ambition:  close  down  the  CL  and  its  services.  This  would  effectively 

decentralise any information management and lead to inefficiencies.   

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Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

INTRODUCTION 

Panteia is pleased to present the final report for the ‘interim-evaluation of the Library 
and e-Resources Centre of the European Commission’. This report has been prepared 
by evaluators Natasha Stroeker (Panteia), Gert-Jan Lindeboom (Panteia), and Bert-Jan 
Buiskool (Ockham-IPS), supported by the specific expertise of library experts Elizabeth 
Chapman  (LSE  Library),  Lukas  Koster  (University  of  Amsterdam  Library)  and  Frank 
Huysmans.  

The  objective of this evaluation is to provide a synthetic description of developments 
since  2009,  and  an  assessment  of  the  extent  to  which  the  (continued)  relevance, 
utility  effectiveness  and  efficiency  of  the  Commission  Library  (CL)  has  improved,  in 
particular  during  the  period  since  the  last  evaluation  in  2009.  Therefore,  the 
evaluation  investigated  the  activities  undertaken  by  the  Commission  Library, 
particularly with respect to its collections, services, cooperation with stakeholders and 
communication in the period 2009-2014.  

The  evaluation  addresses  this  for  each  of  the  evaluation  criteria,  based  on  a 
triangulation  of  empirical  data  collected  for  the  purpose  of  this  evaluation.  Crucial 
contextual  variables  that  are  specifically  included  in  this  interim  evaluation  are  the 
institutional  developments  within  the  European  Commission,  and  rapid  innovations in 
the  wider  world  of  information  and  libraries.  These  have  profound  impacts  on  the 
continued  relevance  and  utility  of  library  services  and  therefore  deserve  our  full 
attention. Based on the evaluation findings, the evaluation includes recommendations 
on  how  to  ensure  and  improve  the  continued  relevance,  utility,  effectiveness  and 
efficiency  of  the  activities  and  organisation  of  the  Commission  Library.  These  are 
subsequently developed into a number of more practical yet hypothetical scenarios.  

This  report  starts  with  an  introductory  chapter,  which  briefly  introduces  the 
background  to  the  project,  its  approach  and  the  methodology  applied.  The  main 
findings  are  presented  in  chapters  2-4,  structured  by  the  evaluation  criteria  and 
related evaluation questions. The conclusions are based on the analytical findings and 
can be found in chapter 5, and are supplemented by specific policy recommendations 
in chapter 6.  

Natasha Stroeker 
Gert-Jan Lindeboom 
Bert-Jan Buiskool 

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Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

1. 

BACKGROUND, OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY 

Key messages 

  The  main  objective  of  the  evaluation  is  to  appraise  the  continued 
relevance  and  utility,  effectiveness  and  efficiency  of  the  Library’s 
activities and organisation, covering, in particular, the period since the 
last evaluation in 2009. 

  To meet this main objective, data was collected through desk research, 
an online survey, qualitative interviews, expert assessment and a focus 
group meeting, the results of which are analysed in triangulation.  

  The report follows the structure of the evaluation questions, around the 

criteria relevance, utility, effectiveness and efficiency.  

1.1 

Introduction 

The European Commission Library and e-Resources Centre (hereafter the ‘Commission 
Library’  or  ‘CL’)  has  the  mission  to  conserve  and  develop  collections  and 
documentation  on  European  integration  and  to  make  them  available  to  staff  of  the 
European  Commission,  other  EU  institutions  and  to  citizens.  Its  collections  date  back 
to  the  start  of  European  integration  in  1958  and  were  brought  together  into  the 
‘Commission Central Library’ in 1968. Today the Library is housed at two sites - one in 
Brussels,  which  hosts  the  central  services,  and  the  other  in  Luxembourg.  Its  central 
collections  and  the  collections  held  by  Commission's  Directorates-General  are 
combined  in  a  single  catalogue  and  made  available  to  Commission  staff  and  external 
users.  Over  the  years,  the  Library  has  undergone  substantial  changes.  To  remain 
relevant  and  provide  useful  services  to  its  core  users,  it  is  essential  that  the  Library 
continues  adjusting  itself  to  recent  developments,  both  within  the  European 
Commission and outside in the wider world of information.  

To  this  end,  an  interim  evaluation  was  conducted,  starting  in  October  2014.  This 
chapter  describes  the  background  of  this  evaluation,  providing  a  short  description  of 
the  Commission  Library  and  its  wider  context  of  library  services.  Subsequently,  this 
chapter discusses the aims and objectives of this evaluation (Section 1.3), followed by 
a description of the methodology in Section 1.4.  

1.2 

Background to the Commission Library 

1.2.1 

Institutional set up 

In  its  mission  statement,  the  Commission  Library  aims  to:  ‘[…]  offer  researchers 
quality  library  services  based  on  extensive  collections  and  electronic  management  of 
those collections within the ECLAS catalogue:  

  by making available to the Commission, its staff and others seeking information 
in  the  field  of  European  integration  any  useful  information  published  in  either 
paper or electronic format; 

  by  responding  effectively  to  requests  for  documents  and  offering  interactive 
electronic  library  services  allowing  users  to  access  information  and/or  identify 
information sources without having to call upon external assistance and without 
prior training; 

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Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

  by developing cooperation and partnership between libraries both inside and 
outside the Commission, and in particular with the libraries of the other 
institutions’1. 

industry,  trade,  transport,  public 

To do so, the CL collects publications in all fields covered by the ‘European Project’. In 
the early years of European integration its collection covered mainly economic or legal 
subjects,  but  it  now  includes  publications  on  international  relations,  economic  and 
social  policy,  law  and  administration,  politics,  culture,  society,  education,  training, 
international 
agriculture, 
monetary  relations, 
the 
environment,  science  and  research,  and  information  and  communication2.  It  meets 
requests  for  documents  from  staff  from  the  Commission  and  the  other  European 
institutions.  Since  1973,  the  Library  has  also  been  open  to  external  visitors,  such  as 
experts,  academic  researchers,  diplomats,  civil  servants  from  the  Member  States, 
teachers and students.  

labour,  management,  demography,  biology,  health, 

finances,  banking, 

Residing  under  the  Directorate-General  for  Education  and  Culture  (DG  EAC),  the  CL 
conserves  and  develops  collections,  and  combines  a  number  of  key  functions  within 
the European Commission:  

 

 

 

 

It  functions  as  a  lending  library  (to  Commission  staff,  but  also  to  external 
researchers), and maintains reading rooms in Brussels and Luxembourg; 
It possesses a wealth of resources related to European Integration, as it stores 
all  publications  produced  by  the  Publications  Office  and  makes  these 
electronically available; 
It  serves  as  electronic  information  service,  by  maintaining  and  developing  the 
online catalogue (ECLAS); 
It  functions  as  the  technical  and  skills  hub  at  the  core  of  the  network  of 
Commission  libraries  (RéseauBIB),  and  for  instance  provides  leadership, 
support and advice in areas of library management (including assistance to use 
ALEPH500, the  current  Library Management System),  acquisition, and training 
of staff; 

  Through cataloguing and annexing resources, it builds a catalogue of resources 
that aims to offer an optimal coverage of material relating to the wide range of 
activities  of  the  EC,  including  hard-cover  publications  and  full-text  access  to 
electronic resources. 

For  its  acquisition  activities,  it  has  an  annual  budget  of  approximately  2,5  million 
euros,  which  is  entirely  dedicated  to  maintaining  and  developing  its  collections.  This 
includes  the  collections  of  the  five  DG  libraries  that  are  still  operational  and  the 
provision  of  newspapers  for  the  higher  Commission  hierarchy,  the  Spokesperson 
service and Cabinet Members. Currently, the CL employs 65 persons, 55 of which are 
based in Brussels and  10 in Luxembourg.  Its  staff is not paid by its own budget, but 
through  part  of  the  administrative  budget  of  the  Commission.  Based  on  the  different 
tasks  and  functions  of  the  Library  as  identified  above,  the  following  different  teams 
have been established: 

1 See Central Library (2012), Activity Report 2012, annex I. 

http://ec.europa.eu/libraries/whoarewe/bcrapportact2012finalen.pdf  

2 See Background information about the CL of the European Commission (part of tender dossier) 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

 

 

 

 

the  librarians  and  Assistant-librarians  who  perform  the  main  tasks  of 
cataloguing, indexing and providing assistance in the reading rooms; 
the  'acquisitions'  team  which  is  responsible  for  ordering  and  receiving  works 
and placing standing orders; 
the  'periodical  and  newspaper'  team  which  is  responsible  for  managing 
subscriptions to periodicals and newspapers in paper and/or electronic form.  
the  teams  that  manage  calls  for  tenders,  inter-library  loans,  bookbinding, 
information  technology,  communication,  visitor  access,  reproduction  of 
documents and shops. 

1.2.2  Commission Library between 2009-2012 

In 2009, the Library requested an independent external evaluation in order to assess 
the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of its services. This was done particularly in 
view of substantial changes over the last decades in the way information is accessed, 
how  communication  techniques  have  developed  and  how  search  behaviour  of  users 
has  changed.  The  recommendations  of  this  evaluation  formed  the  basis  for  more 
concrete objectives and activities proposed in a three-year action plan for 2010-20123. 
These  objectives and related activities assign the user a central position, and include 
the establishment of user panels and surveys, a modernisation of the reading rooms, 
and the establishment of a 'reference service', the main purpose of which is to assist 
users  in  their  information  needs.  These  core  activities  are  presented  in  the  table 
below, summarised against the main developments in the context of the Commission 
Library.  

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

2014 

Institutional 
context 

Strategy 

Closure 
number 
local libraries 

of 
of 

More 
libraries closed 

local 

Continued 
pressure  on  CL 
budget 

Interim-
Evaluation 

Implementation 
strategy  2010-
2012 

WG 
evolution 
EC 
services  

on 
of 
library 

ABM 
WG conclusions 

confirms 

Interim 
evaluation  

Systems 

Development 
new websites 

Provision 
SFX 
resolver 

of 
link 

New  acquisition 
/ 
conservation 
policy  

to 
new 

Decision 
launch 
name, 
emphasising  
‘e-resources’ 
jan. 2015  

Update ALEPH 

Preparations 
acquisition ILS 

User services  Launch  user 

surveys 

Annual 
panels  

User 

Reading 
rooms revised 

Establishment 
reference 
service 

3 Ecotec (2009), External Evaluation of the Central Library of the European Commission 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

During  the  implementation  of  the  Action  Plan  2010-2012,  a  number  of  contextual 
developments substantially changed the shape of library services within the European 
Commission.  Most  particularly,  in  2011,  the  European  Commission  closed  local 
libraries  for  the  DGs  AGRI,  DEVCO,  REGIO,  ECFIN,  CONNECT,  EMPL,  MOVE/ENER  for 
efficiency reasons, and since then more local libraries have been closed (such as those 
of  DG  ENTR,  ENV/CLIMA  and  HOME/JUST  in  2013).  Only  a  small  number  of  DGs  still 
have  their  local  libraries  in  place  to  cover  their  specific  information  needs,  and  it  is 
expected  that  the  Commission  will  also  critically  assess  whether  or  not  to  retain  the 
remaining  local  libraries  in  the  near  future4.  These  relevant  contextual  developments 
are  discussed  in  more  detail  when  evaluating  the  (continued)  relevance  of  the 
Commission Library in Chapter 2.  

To develop a long-term strategy for library services within the European Commission, 
DG  EAC  set  up  a  working  group  on  the  evaluation  of  library  services  in  2012.  This 
working group delivered its report in 2013 and concluded that library services can be 
modernised,  made  more  efficient  and  streamlined  while  allowing  the  same  level  and 
quality of service if appropriate innovative solutions are implemented. The conclusions 
of  this  report  have  been  embraced  by  the  high-level  ABM  Steering  Group5.  They 
required that the Commission Library undertakes  subsequent steps towards reskilling 
of  its  staff,  and  adopts  a  preference  towards  acquisition  of  electronic  rather  than 
physical works. Moreover, it tasked the CL to deselect progressively old and redundant 
resources, to achieve substantial savings in IT, human resources and space6.  

In  2013,  the  ABM  Steering  Group  further  underlined  this  approach,  by  encouraging 
further  centralisation  of  the  library  services  in  the  Commission,  and  requesting  to 
modernise  IT,  all  with  the  goal  to  achieve  further  staff  savings  in  the  near  future.  It 
also called for the development of a collection life-cycle policy to significantly increase 
the  use  of  e-resources  and  reduce  the  costs  for  acquisition  and  storage  of  printed 
material.  To  further  emphasise  the  importance  of  e-resources  in  the  overall  service 
provision  of  the  Commission  Library,  in  January  2015  its  name  was  changed  from 
‘Central Library of the European Commission’ to ‘European Commission Library and e-
Resources Centre’.  

1.3 

Aims and goals of the evaluation 

Against these developments within the European Commission, the evaluation assessed 
the  extent  to  which  the  relevance,  utility,  effectiveness  and  efficiency  of  the 
Commission  Library  (CL)  has  improved  as  a  result  of  the  response  to  the  external 
evaluation  carried  out  in  2009.  Based  on  the  findings,  the  evaluation  specifically 
included  recommendations  on  how  to  ensure  the  continued  relevance,  utility, 
effectiveness  and  efficiency  of  the  activities  and  organisation  of  the  Commission 
Library in this changing context of library services within the European Commission.  

4 Based on the conclusions of various ABM meeting minutes, see for instance ‘Minutes of the ABM Steering 

Group 16 July 2013’.  

5 Activity Based Management for Commission corporate tools/processes 
6 European Commission (2013), Final Report of the Working Group on the evolution of library services in the 

Commission. 

13 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

Table 1.1  

Evaluation criteria / questions 

Evaluation item 

Evaluation questions 

Relevance 

EQ1.  To  what  extent  do  CL  services  support  the  staff  of  the 
Commission in  their operational activities (knowledge management) 
and  do  the  services  and  collection  correspond  the  stakeholders’ 
needs and expectations? 

EQ2. To what extent do the services and collections provided by the 
CL  complement  and/or  duplicate  those  available  from  (1)  external 
private information providers and the world of ‘open access’; and (2) 
electronic 
to  specific 
Commission departments? 

resources  whose  access 

restricted 

is 

Utility 

EQ3. To what extent do the results obtained by the CL correspond to 
the needs of its stakeholders? 

Effectiveness 

EQ4.  To  what  extent  has  the  CL  achieved  the  objectives,  in  its 
mission statement and DG EAC’s Management Plan? 

Efficiency 

EQ5.  To  what  extent  has  the  CL  achieved  outputs  and  results  cost-
effectively in terms of financial and human resources deployed? 

EQ6.  To  what  extent  do  the  CL’s  organisational  set-up  and  internal 
procedures  contribute  to  the  effectiveness  and  efficiency  of 
operations? 

To answer these questions, the evaluation team collected empirical data, informed by 
its evaluation framework (see Annex I). Based on these data, it is evaluated whether 
policy objectives were met, and how this was done. The evaluation also confronts the 
library’s strategies and activities with developments in the wider world  of information 
and  corporate  knowledge  management.  The  data  collection  phase  was  designed  to 
balance  and  triangulate  the  research  findings  from  multiple  sources  and  as  such 
provide  the  means  to  arrive  at  sound  and  reliable  conclusions.  Because  of  this 
triangulated  approach,  findings  are  not  presented  by  data  collection  method,  but 
rather by evaluation question.  

14 

 
 
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

1.4 

Methodology  

This  section  provides  a  brief  overview  of  the  methodology  chosen,  and  the  strengths 
and  weaknesses  of  this  approach.  In  answering  the  evaluation  questions  and  sub 
questions, the evaluation employed a mixed method approach, including the research 
methods as presented in Figure 1.1 below.  

Figure 1.1 

Overview data collection tools  

Source: Panteia (2015) 

The evaluation methodology was designed to balance out the individual weaknesses of 
each  of  the  individual  methods  chosen,  by  means  of  triangulation.  The  broad 
quantitative  findings  of  the  survey  (3760  responses  from  Commission  staff  and  78 
external  users7)  are  further  illustrated  with  insights  obtained  from  the  qualitative 
interviews.  These 
interviews  were  conducted  with  a  selection  of  Library 
correspondents  in  various  Directorates-General.  Care  was  taken  to  select  DGs  with  a 
functioning local library, a closing or recently closed local library and no local library at 
all. This way, various contextual aspects could be further explored qualitatively in the 
interviews.  In  addition  to  10  interviews  with  Library  correspondents  in  DGs,  2 
additional  interviews  were  conducted  with  representatives  of  libraries  in  other 
Institutions  (European  Parliament  and  the  Council).  The  preliminary  findings  of  the 
evaluation  were  presented  to  a  focus  group  of  experts,  which  provided  insightful 
comments and conclusions that contributed to further contextualising the findings.  

7 A risk to the evaluation was the response rate to the survey, which was sent out within the entire 

Commission. This could possibly create a bias in the results. However, a considerably higher number of 
responses (more than 11%) was achieved in comparison with the previous evaluation in 2009. Annex I 
lists an analysis of the representativeness of the respondents, which shows that the survey respondents 
were sufficiently representative of the entire population. A limitation of the survey was the substantial 
number of respondents that indicated not to make use of library services, while they actually do without 
being aware of it. Consider in this regard the use of online resources, which is facilitated by the 
Commission Library by IP-address and therefore, does not require login or access through the library 
website. In addition, users from local libraries may not be aware that they are making use of resources 
acquired under the Commission Library budget. This limitation was taken into account, and self-reported 
non-users were asked a separate set of questions, not only to identify how they differed from library 
users, but also to test whether they indirectly made use of Library services. These are discussed in detail 
in chapter 3. 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

The inherent subjectivity of the survey and interviews were balanced by the document 
study of various policy documents, meeting reports and evaluations, conducted by the 
evaluation  team8.  Through  triangulation,  these  findings  are  reported  for  each  of  the 
evaluation criteria. The assessment of our Library experts helped investigate relevant 
findings in the various site visits to the Library, and further helped to contextualise the 
findings. The experts also shared their assessment of the Library collection, which has 
been  integrated  in  the  report.  An  in-depth  assessment  of  the  collection  against 
available  material  in  the  wider  world  of  information  is  beyond  the  scope  of  this 
evaluation,  as  this  would  constitute  a  (vast)  study  by  itself.  Instead,  the  evaluation 
team assessed the collection on the basis of usage data of the collections in print, as 
received from the Commission Library. This was subsequently contrasted against user 
evaluations  of  the  adequacy  of  the  collection,  and  an  expert  assessment  of  the 
material made available in the reading room.  

Parallel  to  the  ongoing  interim  evaluation,  the  evaluation  team  provided  input  to  the 
Commission Library during the preparation of the tender documents for the acquisition 
of  a  future,  possibly  cloud-hosted,  Library  Management  System.  In  a  separate  site 
visit,  our  library  experts  investigated  the  needs  of  the  Commission  Library  in  more 
detail, and provided detailed comments on the tender documents as prepared by the 
Commission  Library.  Even  though  these  comments  were  delivered  separately,  the 
scope  and  findings  have  implicitly  been  taken  aboard  in  the  overall  approach  of  the 
evaluation  and  the  presentation  of  the  findings.  The  specific  input  delivered  for  this 
separate task is included in the evaluation report as Annex II.  

8 An important limitation in the evaluation was the limited availability of relevant data for efficiency. The 

Commission Library only has direct control over its acquisition budget, however, data on the costs of its 
HR and physical spaces are found on different budgets. Moreover, the costs of library services in specific 
DGs of remaining local libraries could not be assessed, as these costs are borne by the specific DGs. As 
such, this evaluation could only base its judgement on efficiency on the relatively generic data that was 
provided by the Commission Library. In due course of the evaluation, the Library made further estimates 
available on the costs for HR and physical space, which were also included in the assessment of efficiency. 
This provided a limitation to the robustness of the evaluation findings in this respect. To ensure the 
usability of these findings, the evaluation formulated strategic scenarios that do not depend on the specific 
figures related to efficiency, but are instead based on the rough sketches that were available. 

16 

 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

17 

 
 
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

2. 

CONTINUED RELEVANCE OF THE COMMISSION LIBRARY 

Key messages 

  The services and collections of the Commission Library are relevant 
for Commission staff and complement other available information 
sources. Staff indicate that the printed and digital resources are 
useful for their daily work. These resources thereby provide an 
important evidence base that contributes to the quality of European 
policies.  

  The Library’s institutional objectives do not explicitly refer to 

knowledge management in the wider European Commission. This 
can explain the lack of support from the Commission hierarchy to 
Commission staff to make use of Library services, and poses a risk 
to the future relevance of the CL. 

  The combination of an increased use of e-resources and the 

ongoing closure of local libraries have substantially reduced the 
visibility of the Commission Library, which poses challenges for its 
continued relevance. 

  Nevertheless, the increasing attention for e-resources, as 

confirmed in the recent name change of the Library, is crucial to 
ensure the continued relevance of the Commission Library in the 
near future. 

Relevance  evaluates  the  extent  to  which  the  objectives  are  pertinent  to  the 
needs,  problems  and  issues  to  be  addressed9.  In  order  to  answer  this 
relevance  question,  a  good  understanding  is  needed  of  the  objectives  of  the 
Commission  Library  in  relation  to  the  changing  context  and  specific  needs  of 
its users. Therefore, this section analyses the Commission Library’s objectives 
in  view  of  the  challenges  for  corporate  libraries  in  the  wider  world  of 
information, the changing organisational context in the European Commission, 
and the (changing) needs of users.  These analyses are further guided by the 
evaluation questions, which guide the structure of this chapter.  

Evaluation questions on ‘relevance’ 

EQ1.  To  what  extent  do  CL  services  support  the  staff  of  the 
Commission  in  their  operational  activities  (knowledge  management) 
and  do  the  services  and  collection  correspond  to  stakeholders’  needs 
and expectations? 

EQ2.  To  what  extent  do  the  services  and  collections  provided  by  the 
CL  complement  and/or  duplicate  those  available  from  (1)  external 
private information providers  and the  world of ‘open  access’; and (2) 
electronic  resources  the  access  to  which  is  restricted  to  specific 
Commission departments? 

9 European Commission (2015), Better Regulation Guidelines: SWD (2015) 111. 

18 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

The  chapter  starts  exploring  how  the  Commission  Library  services  and 
collections correspond to stakeholder needs, under the influence of changes in 
the  world  of  information,  the  Commission  context,  and  the  specific 
Commission  Library  objectives  (section  2.1).  Section  2.2  more  specifically 
addresses  the  actual  needs  and  expectations  of  library  users  and  the 
relevance of the specific services and collections delivered by the Commission 
Library,  within  the  context  of  the  European  Commission.  Finally,  section  2.3 
explores  the  extent  to  which  services  and  collections  provide  an  added  value 
to resources and services that are available elsewhere. 

2.1 

Relevance of Commission Library in wider context 

The  relevance  of  the  Commission  Library’s  services  for  stakeholders’  needs 
and  expectations  is  profoundly  impacted  by  developments  in  the  wider  world 
of information. These developments affect the role and function of all types of 
libraries,  but  specifically  change  the  function  of  corporate  libraries  in  relation 
to  their  users  as  well.  To  formulate  an  answer  to  the  evaluation  question, 
section  2.1.1  therefore,  starts  with  a  global  overview  of  developments  in  the 
wider world of information. In addition to these global challenges, a number of 
more  specific  developments  within  the  European  Commission  affecting  the 
relevance  of  the  Commission  Library  services  are  assessed  in  detail  in  2.1.2. 
Thirdly,  section  2.1.3  contrasts  the  (continued)  relevance  of  the  mission  and 
objectives set by the Commission Library against these substantial contextual 
developments. 

2.1.1  Emerging challenges for corporate libraries  

The  rapid increase  in  information  available  through  the  internet  over  the  last 
two decades has deeply impacted the work of any library, and will continue to 
do so in the near future.  In particular, the challenges emerging for corporate 
libraries  in  terms  of  their  collections  and  discovery  methods  have  been 
analysed.  These  are  subsequently  discussed  in  the  context  the  Commission 
Library’s response to these global developments.  

First,  the  role  of  a  library  and  its  collection  has  undergone  substantial 
changes. In an interlinked world of information the concept of ‘a collection’ is 
no  longer  limited  to  the  physical  sense  of  the  word,  where  it  refers  to  the 
resources  that  a  library  owns  and  makes  available  in  its  function  as 
‘information  warehouse’.  Despite  variations  across  different  thematic  fields 
and  languages,  an  increasing  number  of  resources,  journals,  books  and 
databases  are  available  online,  and  are  accessible  by  computers,  tablets  and 
cell  phones  from  any  location.  Rapid  developments  in  (wireless)  technologies 
allow  people  to  connect  directly  to  information,  which  results  in  the  feeling 
that  everyone  ‘owns’  a  library  collection.  From  this  perspective,  a  library’s 
collection  can  be  better  defined  as  the  (electronic)  collection  of  resources  to 
which  a  library  provides  access,  in  addition  to  the  more  traditional  physical 
library. Because of this shift, a library’s function has moved beyond collecting 
books and other resources. Because content can be accessed from anywhere, 
physical  library  spaces  are  not  always  necessary  to  consult  and  explore 
collections10/11.  In  line  with  this  trend,  the  reading  rooms  provided  by  the 
Commission  Library  also  lose  much  of  their  relevance,  particularly  for 

10 See for instance R. Coravu (2010), ‘Library spaces: new values, new functions’ Conference 
paper in BIBLIO 2010: Innovation within libraries. Brasov, Romania, 3 June - 5 June 2010. 
11 Or for a practical example see http://designinglibraries.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=391 (visited 

March 2, 2015) 

19 

 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

Commission  staff,  who  can  consult  the  catalogue,  order  books  and  download 
articles  from  e-journals  from  their  own  office.  External  users  still  need  a 
physical place where they can consult material, but also for this group the role 
and shape of reading rooms is changing, transforming from silent spaces with 
collections  of  books  into  meeting  and  working  places.  Items  normally  not 
available  for  loan,  such  as  encyclopaedias,  law  databases  or  dictionaries  can 
all  be  consulted  from  a  computer,  and  therefore,  are  no  longer  required  in 
reading rooms.  

Libraries are confronted with a multitude of online available search databases 
and entire collections stored and  – partly – accessible online, such as  Google 
Books. This makes it possible to greatly expand a small library’s  collection. In 
these interlinked information environments, the availability and accessibility of 
digital  information  is  crucial  for  the  continued  relevance  of  a  library,  and  for 
instance  requires  that  resources  in  a  library’s  collection  can  also  be  found 
through external discovery channels. Without this link to the ‘outside world of 
information’ a library risks not being found by the user community, despite the 
potential  value  of  its  physical  collections.  Moreover,  libraries  increasingly 
experience that their users are no longer bound to the search tools offered by 
the  library.  Instead,  library  users  use  this  variety  of  sources,  databases  and 
search  tools,  either  freely  available  or  under  subscription.  Even  if  a  library 
offers specific search and discovery tools as ‘added value’ or specific guidance 
to its users, it is inevitable that users find their resources through other means 
as well: ‘discovery happens elsewhere’12. For this reason, a currently ongoing 
debate  in  the  world  of  libraries  even  questions  the  acquisition  of  a  discovery 
tool at all, arguing that financial resources can better be applied to improving 
access by acquiring more subscriptions to online content13. 

These  developments  have  changed  the  function  of  libraries  in  the  process  of 
collecting information. This also requires different skills from library staff. Only 
a few of the more traditional (academic) library tasks will still be around in the 
libraries of the future. More traditional librarian functions, such as cataloguing, 
will  become  less  relevant,  while  it  remains  an  important  task  to  educate 
visitors on finding information. Together with new tasks of modern librarians, 
which  are  found  in  content  curation,  linking  (meta)data,  and  support  to 
research, the total picture laying out roles for a library and its librarians is an 
odd collection of very different fields of expertise. The common factor between 
these  areas  is  that  they  depend  on  linking  and  coordination  of  data  from 
different  sources.  Herein  lies  the  relevance  of  a  library  in  the  future  14.  This 
requires library staff to specialise, use new tools and face the changing needs 
of users. Library management also needs to adapt to this new situation15. New 
forms of interaction need to be developed to ensure continued added value of 
library  services  to  the  wider  world  of  information.  Consider  for  instance  the 
use  of  direct  communication  channels  with library  users,  such  as  applications 

12 L. Dempsey (2013), ‘Thirteen ways of looking at libraries, discovery and the catalogue: scale, 
workflow, attention’ in S. Chambers, Catalogue 2.0: The future of the library catalogue, Facet 
Publishing.  

13 S. Kortekaas (2012). Thinking the unthinkable: a library without a catalogue — Reconsidering 

the future of discovery tools for Utrecht University library. Presentation Utrecht University 
Library at LIBER General Annual Conference 2012, available at 
http://www.uttv.ee/naita?id=12538 

  Catalogue 2.0 - The future of the library catalogue, Edited by Sally Chambers 

(http://www.facetpublishing.co.uk/title.php?id=047166). 

14 See for instance L. Koster (2013), Discover AND Deliver OR else, blogpost available at 

http://commonplace.net/2013/01/discover-and-deliver-or-else/  

15 See P. Düren (2013), Leadership in Academic and Public Libraries, Chandos Publishing.  

20 

 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

that allow direct chat, or social media like Yammer. To remain relevant in the 
view  of  users,  discovery  tools  (if  offered  by  Libraries  at  all,  see  discussion 
above)  should  also  be  adapted  to  the  way  users  have  learned  to  search  for 
information  on  the  internet  (making  use  of  Google-like  intelligent  search 
functions using one box and one button).  

The  CL  Action  plan  2010-2012,  developed  in  response  to  the  2009  interim-
evaluation, proposes measures to contribute to the continued relevance of the 
CL  services,  but  does  not  explicitly  take  this  changing  role  of  libraries  into 
account.  Some  interviewees  indicated  that  the  rebranding  of  the  Commission 
Library into the ‘Commission Library and E-Resource Centre’, in January 2015, 
is  an  excellent  opportunity  to  rethink  the  its  role  and  build  a  future  strategy 
which  fully  incorporates  current  developments  in  the  wider  world  of 
information. One interviewee fears that if the CL does not consider these and 
merely continues its collections and services in the same way, the organisation 
will  soon  become  irrelevant.  Any  type  of  library,  but  particularly  a  corporate 
library  of  the  size  of  the  Commission  Library,  needs  to  fully  take  the  user 
perspective  into  account,  offering  its  services  as  crucial  element  of  the  core 
working  processes  of  the  Commission,  embedded  in  a  corporate  knowledge 
management  strategy.  We  define  knowledge  management  to  be  “the 
collection of systematic approaches to help information and knowledge flow to 
and between the right people at the right time (in the right format at the right 
cost)  so  they  can  act  more  efficiently  and  effectively  to  create  value  for  the 
organization”16. In this definition we specifically differentiate ‘information’ from 
‘knowledge’. We consider ‘information’ as the means to obtain ‘knowledge’. As 
such, throughout the report, information can refer to a library resources, while 
‘knowledge’ is more abstract.  

2.1.2  Changing organisational context in the European Commission 

As  described  in  more  detail  in  Chapter  1,  the  Commission  Library  has  a 
somewhat  peculiar  position  within  the  European  Commission.  Although  it 
officially  resides  under  DG  EAC,  it  offers  horizontal  services  across  the 
European Commission to a variety of DGs and services. For historical reasons, 
some  DGs  /  Services  fully  depend  on  the  Commission  Library  for  their 
information  needs,  whereas  others  have  their  local  documentation  centre, 
sometimes with local librarians and budget. A primary mechanism to develop 
some  uniformity  in  the  acquisition  and  provision  of  information  within  the 
Commission  has  been  the  network  of  libraries  ‘RéseauBIB’.  This  network  is 
centrally  organised  by  the  Commission  Library,  but  participation  or 
membership  is  voluntary  for  DGs  /  Services.  Through  this  network,  the  CL 
provides support and advice on library management, acquisition of information 
resources,  knowledge  management  skills  and  information  literacy  training 
across  the  different  services.  The  work  of  the  Commission  Library  and  the 
RéseauBIB network itself has undergone substantial changes as the result of a 
restructuring  of  the  library  infrastructure  in  the  European  Commission.  In 

16 Various definitions of knowledge management exist in the literature. One widely accepted 
definition of knowledge management within organizations is provided by the European 
Committee for Standardization and includes the “planned and ongoing management of activities 
and processes for leveraging knowledge to enhance competitiveness through better use and 
creation of individual and collective knowledge resources”. As competiveness is not a key 
criterion for the internal functioning European Commission, we adhere to comparable, yet 
slightly different definition. We define knowledge management as a collection of systematic 
approaches to help information and knowledge flow to and between the right people at the right 
time (in the right format at the right cost) so they can act more efficiently and effectively to 
create value for the organization (seeAPQC (2014) Knowledge Management Glosssary). 

21 

 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

2011,  the  European  Commission  closed  local  libraries  for  the  DGs  AGRI, 
DEVCO,  REGIO,  ECFIN,  CONNECT,  EMPL,  MOVE/ENER  for  efficiency  reasons, 
and  since  then  more  local  libraries  have  been  closed  (such  as  those  of  DG 
ENTR, ENV/CLIMA and HOME/JUST in 2013). Only a small number of DGs still 
have  their  local  libraries  in  place  to  cover  their  specific  library  needs.  As  a 
result, the relevance of the RéseauBIB network has changed considerably, as 
it  no  longer  brings  together  different  information  needs  from  across  the 
European Commission. This has put library services at a larger distance  from 
individual DGs, thereby also reducing the visibility of its services. 

In practice, the centralisation of library services in the Commission has meant 
that all collection items held by these closing local libraries were transferred to 
the  Commission  Library.  Here,  the  Library  staff  made  an  assessment  to  see 
whether the resources should be kept or should be deselected. This was done 
in  order  to  prevent  duplications  or  prevent  deselection  of  valuable  unique 
collections. The staff within the DGs responsible for the Departmental Libraries 
were  relocated  within  their  DG  and  were  not  transferred  to  the  Commission 
Library.  To  retain  a  personal  link  between  each  DG  and  the  Commission 
Library,  a  library  correspondent  was  appointed  for  each  DG  with  whom  the 
Commission Library coordinates new acquisitions or annual periodicals for the 
specific DG.  

Interviews with Library correspondents confirm the view that the centralisation 
of  library  services  was  unavoidable  and logical  from  a  cost-efficiency  point  of 
view.  Nevertheless,  stakeholders  indicate  that it  was  not  accompanied  with  a 
strategy  on  how  to  comply  with  its  side  effects.  Respondents  argue  that  the 
main challenge for the Commission Library is to remain ‘locally present’ and to 
develop ways to ensure that it can continue to satisfy the needs of individual 
DGs  and  their  staff.  In  fact,  this  challenge  is  crucial  for  the  continued 
relevance of any library organisation, and at the core of current developments 
across various types of libraries17. Whereas the centralising of services is very 
specific  to  the  current  context  of  libraries  in  the  European  Commission,  it 
coincides with a wider trend in the library  world. Amongst university libraries 
for  instance,  a  similar  centralising  tendency  can  be  observed  for  local  faculty 
libraries,  also  primarily  in  response  to  cost-efficiency  considerations18.  To 
ensure  the  link  between  the  centralised  library  organisation  and  the  content-
specific  expertise  of  librarians  required  by  end-users,  the  University  of 
Amsterdam  introduced  ‘embedded  librarians’.  These  are  not  based  in  the 
centrally  located  library,  but  work  from  the  faculties,  and  from  there  offer 
specific  substantive  support  to  end-users,  while  also  bridging  the  information 
needs of end-users with the librarian in the central organisation19.  

The importance of gaining the support of senior management and to continue 
engaging with the key departments in each DG is underlined in the interviews 
conducted.  This  engagement  does  not  necessarily  have  to  be  through  active 
local  libraries.  Instead,  these  can  be  taken  up  by  a  dedicated  individual  with 
extensive  library  experience  and  specific  knowledge  within  each  of  the  DGs. 

17 See for instance R.D. Lankes (2011), The Atlas of New Librarianship, MIT Press.  
18 See for instance arguments from the KU Leuven (at 

http://www.oecd.org/belgium/2004144.pdf), or the recent merger of the libraries of Hogeschool 
Amsterdam and University of Amsterdam.  

19 See for a discussion for instance:  
*J. Carlson and R. Kneale (2011), ‘Embedded librarianship in the research context: Navigating 

new waters’, College & Research Libraries News 72 (3): pp 167-170. 

*D. Shumaker and M. Talley (2010), ‘Models of embedded librarianship: a research summary’, 

Information Outlook 14, (1): pp 27–35. 

22 

 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

The ‘embedded librarian’ is a relevant model that can be used to explore this, 
which  can  also  contribute  to  showing  concrete  results  needed  to  win  the 
support  of  the  DG’s  management.  The  current  system  of  ‘correspondents’ 
cannot deliver the same potential, due to a  combination of lack of dedication 
to the CL and of library skills for most correspondents. In contrast, the specific 
library-work  performed  by  embedded  librarians  can  directly  foster  local 
engagement  within  DGs  to  the  Library,  which  contributes  to  a  mutually 
beneficial effect.  It exposes the  value of library services to Commission staff, 
while at the same time giving the Library better tools to be able to match local 
information needs to its central policies. This allows the Commission Library to 
respond to what is really needed in the daily work of a unit, which lies at the 
core  of  ‘relevance’.  Interviewees  also  point  out  the  need  for  more  structural 
mechanisms  to  ensure  continued  relevance  of  the  Commission  Library 
services.  This  relates  to  the  broader  findings  of  the  evaluation,  which  show 
that  the  services  of  the  Commission  Library  are  little  used  and  not  very  well 
known  across  the  European  Commission  (see  section  3.3).  This  creates  risks 
with  regard  to  continued  relevance  of  the  CL  in  the  long  run,  and  therefore 
necessitates targeted action. 

2.1.3  Continued relevance of the mission and objectives of the Library 

The  Commission  Library  has  the  mission  to  ‘conserve  and  develop  collections 
and  documentation  on  European  integration  and  to  make  them  available  to 
staff of the European Commission, other EU institutions and to citizens’20. The 
objectives are more specifically operationalised into the CL Action plan 2010-
2012.  In  this  document,  concrete  objectives  and  activities  are  proposed  for 
the  years  2010-2012,  closely  interlinked  with  the  recommendations  of  the 
2009  interim-evaluation21.  The  Action  Plan  proposes  working  on  (1)  building 
collections, (2) improving online and on-site access to information sources, (3) 
improving  cooperation  with  the  Publication  Office  (PO)  and  RéseauBib,  (4) 
identifying  and  responding  to  the  information  needs  of  users,  (5)  building 
awareness  of  the  services  of  the  Library,  and  (6)  supporting  Library  staff  in 
developing existing and new skills. These objectives give focus to the day-to-
day activities, conducted by the Commission Library. 

In order to assess the relevance of these specific objectives, Commission staff 
were  asked  to  provide  their  judgment  on  the  importance  of  five  of  these 
objectives  (excluding  the  objective  on  improving  cooperation  between 
stakeholders) and their level of satisfaction with these aspects. The results are 
presented in Figure 2.1 below. 

20 Its collections date back to the start of European Integration in 1958 and were brought together 
into the Commission Central Library in 1968. The CL collects publications in all fields covered by 
the ‘European Project’ and even though in the early years of European integration its collection 
initially covered economic or legal subjects, it now includes publications on international 
relations, economic and social policy, law and administration, politics, culture, society, 
educations, training, agriculture, industry, trade, transport, public finances, banking, 
international monetary relations, labour, management, demography, biology, health, the 
environment, science and research, and information and communication.  

21 Ecotec (2009), External Evaluation of the Central Library of the European Commission 

23 

 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

Figure 2.1  

Importance of policy objectives 

Source: Web survey amongst Commission staff (2015) 

Figure  2.1  shows  that  Commission  staff  generally  underline  the  continued 
relevance  of  all  policy  objectives.  Even  the  least  important  objective  is  still 
considered  important  by  64%  of  the  respondents.  However,  the  variation 
shown in the figure provides input for more specific conclusions on each of the 
formulated objectives. Respondents clearly underline the importance of online 
/ onsite access, the visibility of services, and expansion of the collection, while 
the CL’s  response to the information needs and support to develop skills, are 
considered as ‘less’ important. When asking staff members how they evaluate 
the performance of these aspects, it becomes clear that staff are less positive 
about  the  achievements  with  regard  to  the  visibility  of  services  provided  by 
the Library, support towards developing skills, and expanding the collection. 

This  finding  is  confirmed  by  other  elements  of  the  survey  as  well,  which 
indicated  that  one  third  of  Commission  staff  was  not  at  all  familiar  with  the 
services  provided,  while  half  of  them  was  ‘a  little  bit  familiar’,  and  only  15% 
indicated to be completely familiar. This is relatively low for a corporate library 
that  aims  to  serve  all  Commission  staff.  At  the  same  time,  around  half  of 
Commission  staff  indicated  not  to  make  use  of  the  services  provided  by  the 
Library. This questions the success of the Commission Library in reaching out 
to  all  Commission  staff.  To  ensure  its  continued  relevance  for  Commission 
staff,  it  may  therefore  be  necessary  to  expand  its  outreach  to  users  and 
improve  its  overall  visibility.  The  low  visibility  of  the  CL  should  also  be  seen 
against the current trend of closing numerous local libraries, the planning and 
execution  of  library  staff  savings,  and  other  budget  reductions  imposed  on 
Commission libraries. Staff working in DGs without a local library is less aware 
of  the  services  provided  (39%  is  not  at  all  aware)  compared  to  their 
colleagues in DGs with a (recently) closed local library (35% is not aware) and 
those in DGs with a local library (28% is not aware).  This was also especially 
emphasised  during  the  interviews  with  DGs,  where  the  point  was  made  that 
the Library could do more to make itself visible within the Commission.  

Respondents interviewed for this evaluation also indicated that the objectives 
as defined in the 2010-2012 Strategy are still relevant. Nevertheless, several 
interviewees  criticised  the  absence  of  an  objective  on  supporting  knowledge 
management  within  the  Commission.  Such  an  objective  would  encourage  the 
CL to take a more active role in knowledge management than is currently the 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

case.  Corporate  libraries  are  central  knowledge  partners  to  organisations  and 
as  such  have  a  natural  role  in  facilitating  knowledge  management  in  an 
organisation.  In  the  case  of  the  Commission  Library,  it  already  contributes 
implicitly  to  knowledge  management  by  responding  pro-actively  to  the 
individual needs in DGs and staff. An explicit objective to pursue an active role 
in knowledge management within the European Commission would contribute 
to closer alignment of  Library activities to the core business  of different DGs. 
Consider composing thematic briefing papers or literature reviews on relevant 
subjects  in  this  regard.  This  way,  the  Commission  Library  could  contribute  to 
the  realisation  of  the  broader  organisational  objectives  of  the  European 
Commission22.  This  notion  is  also  reflected  by  different  scholars,  indicating 
that  the  traditional  task  of  a  librarian  (cataloguing  and  indexing  of  explicit 
knowledge) is no longer good enough for the current knowledge management 
needs  of  most  businesses23.  They  argue  that  corporate  libraries  should  more 
closely align to the strategic goals of the organisation, prioritizing the needs of 
the wider organisation, actively seeking information through the organisation, 
but also better addressing tacit knowledge available in the organisation that is 
increasingly considered as key knowledge assets24.  

The  evaluation  sees  considerable  potential  for  such  an  active  role,  as  many 
individual DGs lack an internal knowledge management policy25. Only a limited 
number of DGs are exceptions and have such policies in place. The dedicated 
knowledge  management  teams  in  DG  COMP  may  be  considered  as  example. 
The  European  Commission  is  increasingly  considering  this  an  issue,  as 
evidenced  by  the  involvement  of  the  Commission  Library  in  an  internal 
working group on EC knowledge management26.  

Another  issue  is  how  the  library  services  are  positioned  in  the  daily  work  of 
Commission  staff  and  how  the  use  of  these  services  is  stimulated  by  the 
hierarchy of the organisation. The survey outcomes amongst Commission staff 
clearly  show  that  the  use  of  library  services  was  not  fully  stimulated  by  the 
hierarchy of the organisation (see figure 2.2). 

22 Consider for instance the support to efforts of establishing a Commipedia, based on the model 
of introduced by the US State Department (Diplopedia). See for instance Cozzani, F. (2015), 
‘Knowledge management 2.0: the proposal for Commipedia’, Transforming Government: People, 
Process and Policy, Vol. 9 Iss 1 pp. 17 – 34. 

23 See also Davenport, T. H., & Prusak, L. (2004). Blow up the corporate library. IFLA publications, 

108, 11-20 

24 Idem. 
25 Deduced from various interviews with Library correspondents.  
26 As reported in discussions with the Steering Group.  

25 

 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

Figure 2.2  

Use of library encouraged by hierarchy 

Source: Web survey amongst Commission staff (2015) 

Figure  2.2  shows  to  what  extent  library  users  believe  that  making  use  of 
library  services  is  encouraged  by  their  hierarchy.  The  results  are  reason  for 
concern,  as  in  total  less  than  10%  of  all  library  users  indicate  that  (higher) 
management  encourages  Commission  staff  to  make  use  of  library  services. 
Even lower support was indicated in DGs where the local library was recently 
closed,  but  figure  2.2  points  to  limited  support  across  all  DGs.  If  higher 
management does not support staff to reflect critically on their own work and 
does  not  stimulate  knowledge  management  within  the  organisation,  the 
services  of  a  corporate  library  within  the  European  Commission  will  become 
increasingly irrelevant.  

During  the  focus  group  meeting,  participants  also  indicated  that  the  internal 
culture within the Commission does not encourage staff to reflect critically on 
their  work27.  Due  to  time  constraints,  staff  is  not  encouraged  to  search  for 
additional  information.  As  a  result,  staff  makes  only  limited  use  of  library 
services,  as  observed  in  the  evaluation.  This  poses  a  challenge  for  the 
Commission  Library,  which  needs  to  offer  services  that  ensure  that 
information reaches the right people at the right time. At the same time, this 
poses a challenge for the Commission as a whole. Increasing staff awareness 
on  library  services  has  only  a  limited  effect  on  actual  use.  Instead,  attention 
needs to be paid at the organisational level to improving the ‘demand side for 
knowledge’  by  stimulating  effective  knowledge  management  among 
Commission  staff  and  creating  time  for  critical  reflection  and  personal 
development.  

27 The focus group organised for the purpose of the evaluation comprised of 17 staff members 

that worked regularly with the Commission Library. A majority were Library correspondents in 
their DG.  

26 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

2.1.4  Assessing the relevance of the Commission Library in wider context 

Based  on  the  findings  in  this  section,  the  evaluation  makes  the  following 
assessment  of  the  relevance  of  the  Commission  Library  against  the  wider 
context of developments in the world of information.  

Assessment of relevance of CL in wider context 

 

 

In view of the global developments in the wider world of 
information, with profound impacts on the relevance of collections 
and services provided by the Commission, the move towards e-
resources (digital first), further reinforced by the recent name 
change, is crucial to assure the continued relevance of the 
Commission Library.  
In the context of closing local libraries in the European 
Commission, the Commission Library and its services and 
collections are insufficiently institutionalised in the daily work of 
individual DGs.  

  The collections and services offered by the Commission Library are 

insufficiently embedded in the hearts and minds of senior 
management, which threatens the continued relevance of the 
Library.  

2.2 

Relevance of Commission Library to needs of its stakeholders 

The global challenges to libraries, changes within the organisational context of 
library services in the European Commission and objectives of the Commission 
Library all have their impact on the expectations of Library users. This section 
analyses more specifically the expectations and actual needs of library users in 
practice, and how the Commission Library has responded to these. In the end, 
the  relevance  of  the  Commission  Library  does  not  depend  on  global 
developments,  but  instead  depends  on  whether  it  offers  services  and 
resources  that  are  pertinent  to  its  users’  needs,  whether  these  form  an 
integral  part  of  working  processes  in  the  Commission  and  create  value  for 
employees and the organisation28.  

2.2.1  Library user needs and continued relevance of Commission Library 

The relevance of a corporate library is determined by the information needs of 
its users, their search behaviour and how these are facilitated by the Library. 
Of  similar  relevance  for  a  corporate  library  is  how  requested  information  is 
used  in  the  core  working  processes  of  an  organisation,  and  how  this  finally 
relates  to  productivity  and  results29.  Due  to  the  abstract  relation  with 

28 Wenger et al (2011) describe, define and provide indicators for ‘value creation’, which go 

beyond the business use of the term. Wenger, E., B. Trayner, M. de Laat (2011) Promoting and 
Assessing Value Creation in Communities and Networks: a Conceptual Framework. Rapport 18, 
Ruud de Moor Centrum, Open University of the Netherlands. 

29 Literature shows that it is very difficult to relate corporate library services to the productivity 
and results of an organisation (see for instance the results presented in: ‘Corporate Libraries 
Metrics Task Force (2013). The search for the value of the corporate library: a compendium of 
SLA-funded studies’.) It often takes time before library services are transposed to actual 
organizational result and there are all kinds of intervening factors contributing to the 

27 

 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

productivity  and  results,  users  are  the  ideal  point  of  leverage  for  assessing 
organisational impact.  The  users  are  the  only  people  in  the  organisation  who 
see  the  interactions  with  their  library,  who  see  the  purpose  of  those 
interactions, and who see the results of those interactions. For this reason, the 
evaluation focuses  especially on the Library users to determine the relevance 
of the Commission Library in the wider world of information. This requires an 
understanding  of  the  original  reasons  for  which  a  person  consults  the  library 
information  service.  The  starting  point  is  a  taxonomy  of  reasons  for  using  a 
library,  which  were  tested  in  the  user  survey.  We  begin  with  a  three-facet 
taxonomy of the value obtained in using the library.  

  The first facet relates to reasons of using the Library,  
the second with the interactions with the Library, and  
 
thirdly, the results of these interactions30.  
 

In  this  section,  we  only  discuss  the  reasons  for  (not)  making  use  of  the 
Library,  while  the  results  of  actual  interactions  with  the  library  services  are 
discussed in the chapters on utility and effectiveness. 

Figure 2.3  

Reasons for use of library services 

Source: Panteia (2015), based on stakeholder consultation of Commission staff 

Staff  members  who  use  the  services  provided  by  the  Commission  Library 
mention  various  reasons  of  relatively  equal  importance  for  doing  so;  none  of 
the  reasons  mentioned  is  particularly  dominant.  Users  turn  to  the  CL  to  stay 
up-to-date in their policy theme, as input for gathering information for writing 

performance of an organisation. These factors may enhance or diminish the impact of the library 
and are difficult to trace. 

30 Reasons: (1) doing a particular task or project, (2) personal (development) reasons, or (3) get 
an object or get some information or perform some activity; Interactions: (1) the value that 
people attach to the resources at the library and particularly to their availability and 
accessibility, (2) the use of particular resources and services; (3) and finally the operations and 
environment of the library; Results: (1) cognitive development; (2) affective feeling; (3) 
accomplishment in relation to tasks; (4) expectations met; (5) time aspects; (6) money 
estimates. 

28 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                                                                                                      
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

a policy paper / documents, and for personal reasons of development (around 
half of staff mention this as an important reason). It is interesting to see that 
a limited number of  staff (22%)  said they use  the Library to find information 
not available in any other (online) source. This indicates that users also have 
other ways to find information. It is also striking that a very limited number of 
respondents (12%) indicate turning to the library to seek personal assistance 
from  a  librarian.  This  is  relevant  in  the  context  of  the  changing  role  of 
librarians, who are increasingly becoming facilitators in the process  of finding 
information.  

It has already been reported that the self-reported non-users are a relatively 
large group (around half the staff). When exploring their reasons, it becomes 
clear that a major reason for not making use of libraries services is the limited 
awareness of staff about the services provided by the Library. This highlights 
once more the crucial issue of visibility, as already pointed at in the previous 
section. An equally large group of staff indicate that they use other sources to 
find  their  information,  which  provides  support  for  the  finding  that  the 
collection of the Commission Library does not  fit the specific demands of this 
particular group. A small group (14%) notes that the Library is not useful for 
their  work;  for  some  staff  functions  and  roles  in  the  European  Commission  a 
corporate library service is simply not necessary.  Overall, it is concluded that 
in general the services provided by the Commission Library are quite relevant 
to Commission staff, both to stay up-to-date in their policy field as well as for 
more substantive work in writing a policy / research paper.  

2.2.2  Continued relevance of CL collection 

The  core  activity  of  the  Commission  Library  is to  provide  a  sufficiently  varied 
collection  of  resources  and  to  make  this  available  to  Commission  staff  and 
external users.  Here, the continued relevance  of this core activity  is explored 
in  view  of  what  its  users  look  for.  Figure  2.4  presents  the  specific  type  of 
information  needs  of  users,  compared  to  non-users.  More  specifically,  the 
figure  gives  insight in  the  types  of  resources  that library  users  look  for  when 
consulting  the  Library.  In  order  to  remain  relevant  for  its  current  users,  the 
Commission Library should focus on those types of resources that its users are 
looking for. In comparison, non-users were also asked to indicate what types 
of  resources  they  need  for  their  work.  Thereby,  this  lists  the  types  of 
resources that can be better made available by the Commission Library to also 
become  relevant  for  Commission  staff  that  currently  do  not  make  use  of  its 
services. As may be expected, considerable differences are observed between 
the two groups.  

29 

 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

Figure 2.4  

Types of information needed (library users versus non-users) 

Source: Panteia (2015), based on stakeholder consultation 

Library  users  indicate  that  they  primarily  look  for  academic  contributions 
(online  or  in  print)  when  they  consult  the  Commission  Library.  Newspapers 
and policy documents from other international organisations are the next most 
mentioned  types  of  information  needed.  This  underlines  the  relevance  of  the 
collection  provided  by  the  Commission  Library  to  its  users.  Most  of  the 
acquisitions done by the Commission Library satisfy exactly these needs. Non-
users, on the other hand, indicate working primarily with EU policy documents 
and  studies  conducted  within  the  Commission,  for  which  indeed  the 
Commission Library may not necessarily be a unique provider.  

Figure  2.4  suggests  that  non-users  hardly  need  to  consult  academic  journals 
and  books.  It  is  therefore  unlikely  that  expanding  the  Commission  Library 
collection  with  these  resources  will  automatically  raise  the  relevance  of  the 
Library  to  these  groups.  However,  a  more  detailed  analysis  shows  that  this 
depends  to  a  large  extent  on  the  type  of  official.  A  low  number  of  non-users 
working  as  Assistants  indicate  that  they  need  academic  contributions,  while 
this lies significantly higher for Administrators (AD). Indeed, up to 55% of AD 
non-users need academic e-resources in their work at least sometimes, while 
this  is  true  for  43%  AD  non-users  for  printed  academic  resources31.  This 
suggests that the collection of the Commission Library may be more  relevant 
than these Administrators think. Another possibility is that they are not aware 
that  they  are  already  making  use  of  Commission  Library  services  (by  the 
access  provided  to  e-journal  on  staff  workstations;  this  possibility  is  further 
explored in section 2.2.3), or are simply not aware of services and collections 
available.  In  any  case,  this  data  shows  that  the  Library  cannot  merely 
continue  focusing  on  its  collections  to  increase  its  relevance.  Instead,  the 
Commission  Library  needs  a  more  proactive  approach  that  raises  awareness 
among relevant staff members. A more detailed analysis of types of users and 
non-users,  which  may  inform  such  targeted  approaches  are  discussed  in 
section 3.1.  

31 Not presented in the figure, which presents the totals for the entire group of non-users.  

30 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

The  efforts  of  the  Commission  Library  to  offer  newspapers  /  magazines,  and 
make  available  studies,  reports  and  evaluations  are  relevant  from  the 
perspective  of  non-users.  These  respond  to  the  information  needs  of  non-
users and therefore increase the overall relevance of the Commission Library. 
The  decision  to  discontinue  the  collection  and  categorisation  of  national 
implementing  laws  by  the  Commission  Library  is  also  in  line  with  user  needs 
and  contributes  to  the  Library’s  relevance.  This  service  is  currently  only 
provided by the Legal Service Library, so users with this specialised need can 
still find the resources they need. Only a small number of users indicate that 
they  consult  the  Library  for  this  and  only  18%  of  non-users  indicates  using 
these  frequently  for  their  work.  In  fact,  Figure  2.4  (on  previous  page)  shows 
that  from  all  types  of  resources,  only  the  use  of  printed  academic 
contributions is lower among the group of non-users.  

2.2.3  Continued relevance of CL services in providing resources  

Even if a library were to offer all potentially relevant information sources to its 
users, it remains irrelevant if its users use  other (online) information sources 
free  of  charge  without  library  mediation.  To  assess  the  relevance  of  the 
activities developed by the Library in this respect, we compare the sources of 
information used by users and non-users against the resources offered by the 
Library (see Figure 2.5).  

Figure 2.5  

Use of different types of information sources 

Source: Panteia (2015), based on stakeholder consultation 

A large number of Library users make use of Google services (56%), which is 
also  confirmed  qualitatively  by  a  user  panel  conducted  by  the  Library32. 
Second  are  the  use  of  e-resources  (43,6%)  and  printed  library  resources 
(29,6%). Only 16,2% indicates to making use of open access databases, and 
11,2% use national legislative portals directly. It is striking that amongst the 
Commission  staff  that  do  not  use  the  Commission  Library,  relatively  similar 

32 User Panel on the services of the Central Library, (2011). 

31 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

information  sources  are  used  as  are  used  by  Library  users.  Among  the  non-
users,  69,2%  report  that  Google  services  are  used,  while  52,7%  indicates 
they make use of digital resources available within the Commission. It seems 
unlikely  that  all  of  these  digital  resources  offered  within  the  Commission  are 
made  available  without  any  subscription  of  the  Commission  Library.  In  fact, 
this  suggests  that  up  to  half  of  the  self-reported  non-users  may  make  more 
use of library resources than they realise. If online articles are made available 
directly to a Commission workstation, staff may not relate this to the work of 
the  Library  and  therefore  consider  him/herself  a  non-user.  Finally,  13,4%  of 
non-users  makes  use  of  open  access  databases  and  13,3%  makes  use  of 
national legislative portals, which is also relatively similar to users.  

The  finding  that  both  users  and  non-users  find  their  resources  primarily 
through Google is in line with global trends in other libraries. Some innovators 
in  the  library  world  even  argue  that  investments  in  discovery  tools  are 
therefore  redundant  and  should  be  allocated  to  providing  access  instead. 
Indeed,  the  above  shows  that  investments  in  the  Library’s  discovery  tools 
does  not  benefit  ‘unaware  users’.  Such  unaware  users  on  the  other  hand, 
would benefit from access provided to the resources they found with Google or 
other search tools. This finding, in combination with the large number of users 
and  non-users  that  indicates  to  make  use  of  digital  (library)  resources 
contains  a  clear  message  for  the  Commission  Library.  To  remain  relevant  for 
Commission  staff,  the  provision  of  access  to  digital  resources  should  be  the 
uncontested number-one priority in the years to come. This is in line with the 
developments  in  the  wider  world  of  information  as  described  in  section  2.1, 
and  lines  up  to  the  direction  that  the  Commission  Library  is  already  taking. 
While users consider printed resources relevant as well, these are not relevant 
to attract non-users. A continuing focus on printed resources will not increase 
the  relevance  of  Library  services  for  current  non-users,  and  is  therefore, 
unlikely to increase usage.  

Another finding is the use of newspapers / magazines, which scores highly for 
both  Library  users  and  non-users.  Even  though  the  Library  already  provides 
access to a selection of printed newspapers, it does not offer online access to 
newspapers and magazines to the entire Commission staff. The survey shows 
that  a  possible  expansion  of  the  provision  of  these  information  sources, 
particularly when offered online, would be relevant in view of the information 
needs of Commission staff.  

2.2.4  Assessing the relevance of the Commission Library in relation to its 
stakeholders 

Based  on  the  findings  in  this  section,  the  evaluation  makes  the  following 
assessment  of  the  relevance  of  the  Commission  Library  in  relation  to  its 
stakeholders.  

Assessment of relevance of CL for Commission staff 

  The Commission Library is relevant to its users in their work and 
for personal development. Most non-users of the Library are not 
aware of the services provided, which suggests that relevance is 
not the core problem behind non-use.  

32 

 
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

  The academic content made available by the Commission Library is 
highly relevant for its users, while the Library’s efforts to offer 
newspapers / magazines and to categorise studies and evaluations 
are considered relevant by users and non-users alike.  

  Library users and non-users refer to relatively similar types of 

(predominantly) digital information sources in their work, which 
underlines once more the relevance of the Library’s ‘digital first’ 
acquisition policy.  

2.3 

Added value of the Library to internal / external sources 

In this section we move away from the narrow understanding of relevance as 
pertinent  to  user  needs.  Library  activities,  collections  and  services  are 
evaluated  in  this  section  from  the  perspective  of  added  value  to  the  wider 
world  of  information.  A  particular  service  or  provision  of  particular  resources 
may  very  well  connect  to  the  needs  of  stakeholders,  but  if  it  is  already 
accessible  by  other  means  it  is  of  limited  added  value  if  the  Commission 
libraries  offer  it  as  well.  In  other  words,  the  costs  of  sustaining  activities  can 
insufficiently  be  justified  if  there  is  no  added  value.  The  section  starts  by 
exploring  the  more  general  added  value  of  the  collection  and  services  of  the 
Commission Library to the wider world of information in 2.3.1. Subsequently, 
the added value of the Library is assessed from the perspective of Commission 
staff (section 2.3.2) and external users (section 2.3.3) specifically.  

2.3.1  General added value of CL to the wider world of information 

The primary added value of the Commission Library collection lies in bringing 
together  a  large  amount  of  resources  /  publications  /  content  on  European 
integration  in  one  place  (physical  and  online),  which  makes  the  collection 
relevant for internal staff, and for external researchers. Even if this collection 
may  not  be  fully  unique,  the  Commission  Library  offers  the  possibility  of 
searching  the  thematically 
linked  content  made  available.  From  this 
perspective, it is not only the collection itself, but actually the services offered 
and the available knowledge and expertise of library staff that offer the main 
added value compared to a situation without the Commission Library.  

It  is  from  this  broader  perspective  that  users  were  asked  to  evaluate  the 
added value of the library’s collection and services to available collections and 
services  inside  and  outside  the  Commission  Library.  Figure  2.6  shows  that 
around  one-third  (34%)  of  Commission  users  and  four-tenths  (40%)  of 
external  users  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  collection  and  services  of  the 
Commission Library are indispensable. Almost half (48%) of Commission staff 
and four tenths (42%) of external users see ‘some added value’ of the Library, 
while  only  a  small  group  (5%)  of  Commission  staff  and  no  external  users 
consider  the  Commission  Library  to  have  no  added  value  at  all.  Note  that 
these responses are only based on the answers of users.  

33 

 
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

Figure 2.6  

Added value of Library services 

Source: Panteia (2015), based on stakeholder consultation 

Another crucial element of added value of the Commission Library’s collection 
and  services  is  the  extent  to  which  individual  items  in  the  collection  are 
related  to  each  other.  This  refers  to  the  ability  for  users  to  find  related 
publications  and  information,  which  may  or  may  not  have  already  been 
included in the results of the initial search query. Overall, it is concluded that 
the  Commission  Library  offers  an  added  value  to  the  Commission  through 
effective (meta)data management, which is identified as a crucial new role for 
librarians  and  their  organisations.  In  this  respect,  the  availability  of 
classification  schemes,  thesauri,  and  links  between  various  subjects  are 
crucial,  and  depend in particular  on  the  support  of  multiple  languages,  which 
seems to be handled well in the Commission Library’s ambitions to maintain a 
multi-lingual  environment.  By  means  of  linked  data  concepts,  implicit  links 
between  publications  and  content  can  be  made  more  explicit,  or  for  instance 
extended  beyond  the  user’s  initial  search  query.  The  provision  of  such  linked 
content further contributes to the added value of the Library’s collection33. The 
work of the Library to incorporate these linked data concepts in the upcoming 
call  for  tenders  for  the  new  Library  Management  System  provides  evidence 
that the Commission Library takes these developments seriously.  

2.3.2  Added value to internal users 

Interviewees confirm the added value of having a central information point for 
Commission  staff  (and  colleagues  in  other  Institutions),  which  provides 
support in their daily work.  Various developments that are described in more 
detail  below  have  increased  the  added  value  of  the  Commission  Library  to 
Commission staff.   

First  of  all,  the  European  Commission  operates  in  an  increasingly  complex 
world  that  is  continuously  changing,  due  to  increasing  political  and  economic 

33 See for a discussion of various approaches to implement linked open data for instance: R. 

Greenall and L. Koster (2014), An unbroken chain: approaches to implementing Linked Open 
Data in libraries; comparing local, open-source, collaborative and commercial systems, IFLA 
2014 Lyon, available at http://ifla2014-
satdata.bnf.fr/pdf/iflalld2014_submission_Koster_Greenall.pdf  

34 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

integration  of  the  EU,  for  which  the  recent  enlargements  in  2004  and  2007 
and the adoption of the Lisbon treaty are a clear example. At the same time, 
the European Commission is active in an increasing number of different policy 
domains,  which  are  all  facing  a  variety  of  economic,  political,  technical  and 
social  developments.  To  be  able  to  continue  developing  relevant  and  high 
quality  policies,  Commission  staff  need  to  be  fully  aware  of  such  complex 
social,  cultural,  political,  economic  and  technological  realities.  This  is 
underlined in the reaffirmed ambitions of the European Commission to achieve 
impact  assessment 
‘better  regulation’ 
guidelines34.  This  asks  for  a  specific  knowledge  strategy  (or  different 
strategies  per  DG)  in  the  Commission,  carefully  assessing  the  knowledge 
domains needed for performing Commission tasks and activities35. While only 
a  limited  number  of  DGs  have  established  these  knowledge  strategies  at  this 
time,  the  role  of  a  Commission  Library  as  the  hub  of  existing  knowledge  and 
information is a clear added value; in the development and in the execution of 
knowledge management strategies36.  

its  revised  evaluation  and 

in 

Secondly,  the  Commission  increasingly  tends  to  recruit  generalists  in  its 
organisation  for  policy  positions  (through  EPSO  open  competitions  based  on 
competence  based  testing,  rather  than  the  pre-2010  knowledge  tests).  While 
there are exceptions with specific recruitment, most policy generalists receive 
training in the thematic area of their deployment only after they start working. 
At  the  same  time,  the  internal  mobility  policies  of  the  Commission  put 
pressure  on  the  institutional  memory  of  the  organisation,  by  stimulating 
Administrators  to  move  regularly  from  one  position  to  another.  These  two 
elements together create a clear added value for a central information centre, 
such as the Commission Library. The Library has a relevant role to play in the 
development  of  internal  knowledge  management,  as  it  offers  the  means  to 
prevent that knowledge ‘leaks away’ from the organisation.  

When  assessing  whether  the  collection  and  services  offered  by  the 
Commission  Library  provide  an  added  value,  most  interviewees  point  to  the 
broad variety of resources available. The Commission Library has taken up the 
de facto role as repository for the variety of studies conducted throughout the 
Commission.  As  such,  it  brings  together  the  information  available  on  various 
policy fields, which delivers particularly added value where a policy is relevant 
for multiple DGs. For DGs with an active local library, the Commission Library 
collection provides added value to the local library by complementing the more 
specialised  locally  available  resources  with  a  more  general  collection.  It  also 
plays a crucial role in supporting DGs in obtaining their specialised information 
sources  (by  managing  the  acquisitions  and  framework  contracts),  and  adds 
value  through  its  expertise  in  the  field  of  procurement  for  local  libraries.  The 
added  value  to  these  local  libraries  of  the  Commission  Library  lies  in  the 

34 European Commission (2015), Communication from the Commission to the European 

Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee for 
the Regions, Better Regulation for Better Results: an EU Agenda, COM (2015) 215 final, 
Strasbourg 19.5.2015.  

35 A knowledge domain is a collection of knowledge (crucial, specific or basic need) that is 

considered as a key lever for delivering quality work that contributes to the realization of the 
organisational objectives. 

36 A knowledge strategy implies the use of knowledge processes to an existing or new knowledge 

domain in order to achieve strategic goals. Identifying and developing the key knowledge 
domains implies a multi – stakeholder approach to include the best ‘new ideas’ and to further 
develop what is already great about the organisation. There are five generic knowledge 
strategies namely (1) Leveraging Knowledge: (2) expanding Knowledge; (3) Insourcing 
Knowledge; (4) Exploring Knowledge (5) Open Source Knowledge. (Lekanne Deprez and Tissen , 
2011). 

35 

 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

central provision of a wide range of information and expertise in how to make 
use  of  this,  in  addition  to  the  more  specific  resources  available  in  the  local 
libraries  in  DGs.  As  an  example,  one  interviewee  indicated  that  for  certain 
requests  outside  of  the  expertise  of  their  local  library,  they  are  directed 
towards the Commission Library for assistance.  

2.3.3  Added value to external users 

The  added  value  of  the  collection  and  services  of  the  Commission  Library 
compared  to  a  situation  without  it,  is  also  separately  assessed  for  external 
users.  These  users  are  essentially  different  than  Commission  staff,  and  so  is 
the  relevance  of  providing  library  services.  This  does  not  lie  in  the  need  to 
contribute to corporate knowledge, but lies instead on a more abstract need to 
open  up  resources  to  the  academic  world,  and  informing  and  educating 
citizens. This need is no less  relevant than the Library’s  corporate  knowledge 
role and its added value is assessed separately in this section.  

The  Commission  Library  is  visited  by  a  diverse  public  of  external  users  as 
shown by Figure 2.7 below.  

Figure 2.7  

Type of user, external users.  

Source: Panteia (2015), based on stakeholder consultation external users 

The  largest  group  consists  of  researchers  and  students,  and  together  these 
form a small majority of the external users. A substantial number of external 
visitors  in  the  Library  are  also  Administrators  from  other  EU  Institutions.  For 
them,  the  collections  and  services  provided  by  the  Commission  Library  are 
relevant, and offer an added value to the collections held by their Institution.  

However,  the  added  value  of  the  Commission  Library  services  to  external 
researchers  in  Brussels  and  Luxembourg  is  less  clear  in  comparison  to  the 
services provided by around 400 European Documentation Centres (EDC)37. A 
variety  of  different  institutions  perform  this  task  as  EDC,  most  of  which  are 
renowned academic libraries in all EU Member States such as Collège d’Europe 
in  Bruges,  Belgium,  European  University  Institute  in  Florence  –  Italy,  or  the 
LSE Library in London  – United Kingdom. Whereas external users themselves 

37 The latest figures on the Europe Direct website indicate that there are 376 EDC (last updated in 
September 2013). See http://europa.eu/europedirect/meet_us/index_en.htm (consulted on July 
24, 2015) 

36 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

consider  the  collections  and  services  of  the  Commission  Library  relevant  and 
an added value to other collections, this is not self-evident from an  objective 
point  of  view.  European  Documentation  Centres  (EDC)  promote  research  on 
EU  integration  and  fall under  the  ‘Europe  Direct’  budget,  administered  by  DG 
COMM.  Most  EDCs  offer  a  wide  range  of  academic  resources  in  the  field  of 
European  integration,  provide  access  to  all  official  EU  publications,  and 
encourage the academic community to engage in debate on Europe38. In view 
of this combined informational and educational function, these centres provide 
resources  on European integration in a physical location open to researchers, 
students  and  citizens.  Contrary  to  the  Commission  Library,  which  is  only 
located  in  Brussels  and  Luxembourg,  the  extensive  network  of  these  ECDs 
ensures  equal  access  to  all  EU  citizens.  Moreover,  the  physical  locations  of 
these  European  Documentation  Centres  also  offer  personal  assistance  to 
citizens / researchers in searching EU resources and publications, which have 
been  published  increasingly  online  over  the  last  decade.  As  such,  the 
evaluation  concludes  that  EDCs  offer  relatively  similar  services  as  the 
Commission  Library  to  external  users  but  are  more  accessible  to  European 
citizens.  

Figure 2.8   Member state of residency, external users.  

Source: Panteia (2015), based on stakeholder consultation external users 

The  survey  amongst  external  users  of  the  Commission  Library  shows  that  its 
visitors  are  predominantly  (68%)  residents  of  Belgium  and  Luxembourg, 
where the Library is based. It is no surprise that amongst these respondents, 
a  large  number  still  consider  the  Commission  Library  relevant  and  an  added 
value  to  other  collections.  However,  it  cannot  be  excluded  that  the  added 
value  for  this  group  lies  more  in  the  convenient  location  than  in  the  unique 
collections that could not be accessed elsewhere. For the Commission Library, 
this  raises  a  potential  efficiency  issue  in  the  deployment  of  its  resources, 
which is discussed further in section 4.2. Even though the Commission Library 
provides  services  to  external  users  that  are  in  line  with  their  needs  and  that 
they consider an added value to library services they have access to, this does 
not  automatically  constitute  an  added  value  from  the  perspective  of  the 
European Commission.  

38 http://europa.eu/europedirect/meet_us/index_en.htm  

37 

 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

2.3.4  Assessing the added value of the Commission Library in relation to other 

information sources  

Based  on  the  findings  in  this  section,  the  evaluation  makes  the  following 
assessment of the added value of the Commission Library compared to other 
information sources.  

Assessment of added value of CL to other information sources 

  The services and collections of the Library offered to Commission 
staff are an added value to resources available elsewhere. The CL 
also offers resources with an added value for Commission staff that 
does not make use of the Library, which has the potential to attract 
new users if effectively communicated.  

  The Commission Library offers added value to the internal 

organisation, as the nature of its daily work make the Library a 
natural partner for the European Commission to develop a 
consistent internal knowledge management strategy for all DGs. 
However, this is insufficiently reflected in the institutional 
objectives and mission statement of the Commission Library.  
  The added value of the Commission Library for external users is 
questionable in comparison to the collections and services made 
available by around 400 European Documentation Centres, based 
in all Member States and also financed by the European Union.  

2.4 

Conclusions  

This  chapter  explored  the  relevance  of  the  Commission  Library  against  the 
developments  in  the  wider  world  of  information,  and  for  the  operational 
activities of the Commission staff.  

Relevance of the Commission Library in a wider context 

 

 

In  view  of  the  global  developments  in  the  wider  world  of  information, 
with  profound  impacts  on  the  relevance  of  Library  collections  and 
further 
services,  the  move  towards  e-resources  (digital 
reinforced  by  the  recent  name  change,  is  crucial  to  assure  the 
continued relevance of the Commission Library.  
In  the  context  of  closing  local  libraries  in  the  European  Commission, 
its  services  and  collections  are 
the  Commission  Library  and 
insufficiently institutionalised in the daily work of individual DGs.  

first), 

  The  collections  and  services  offered  by  the  Commission  Library  are 
the  hearts  and  minds  of  senior 

insufficiently  embedded 
management, which threatens the continued relevance of the Library.  

in 

Relevance of the Commission Library for Commission staff 

  The  Commission  Library  is  relevant  to  its  users  in  their  work  and  for 
personal development. Most non-users of library services are not aware 

38 

 
 
  
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

of  the  services  provided,  while  only  a  smaller  group  indicates  that  the 
Library  does  not  offer  relevant  services.  This  suggests  that  also  for 
non-users, relevance is not the core problem.  

  The  academic  content  made  available  by  the  Commission  Library  is 
highly  relevant  for  its  users,  while  the  Library’s  efforts  to  offer 
newspapers / magazines and to categorise studies and evaluations are 
considered relevant by users and non-users alike.  

  Library  users  and  non-users  refer  to  relatively  similar  types  of 
(predominantly)  digital  information  sources  in  their  work,  which 
underlines  once  more  the  relevance  of  the  Library’s  ‘digital  first’ 
acquisition policy.  

Added value of the Commission Library 

  The services and collections of the Library offered to Commission staff 
for 
offer  added  value  to  resources  available  elsewhere,  even 
Commission  staff  that  currently  do  not  make  use  of  the  Library.  Its 
ongoing support for remaining departmental libraries and its efforts  to 
bring  together  the  various  studies  performed  by  different  services  in 
the  European  Commission  are  of  added  value  as  well.  In  fact,  these 
have the potential to attract new users if effectively communicated.  
  The  Commission  Library  offers  clear  added  value  to  the  internal 
organisation, as the nature of its daily work make the Library a natural 
partner  for  the  European  Commission  to  develop  a  consistent  internal 
knowledge  management  strategy  for  all  DGs.  However,  this  is 
insufficiently  reflected  in  the  institutional  objectives  and  mission 
statement of the Commission Library.  

  The  added  value  of  the  Commission  Library  for  external  users  is 
questionable  in  comparison  to  the  collections  and  services  made 
available by around 400 European Documentation Centres, based in all 
Member States and also financed by the European Union. 

39 

 
 
 
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

3. 

IMPLEMENTATION AND UTILITY OF LIBRARY ACTIVITIES 

Key messages 

  Only about half of the surveyed Commission staff indicate that they 
use library services. However, those that do are very satisfied with 
the achieved results and the services provided. 

  The ‘digital first’ acquisition policy meets the needs of current 

users, but the Commission Library is insufficiently scaling back the 
acquisition of printed resources to ensure useful collections to all 
Commission staff in the next few years.  

  Services provided by the Library are found to be particularly useful 

to Commission staff working in a DG where a local library has 
recently closed. However, this group is also the group that is least 
aware of the available services. 

  The cooperation between the Commission Library and its 

institutional partners is useful, particularly through its expertise in 
acquiring (e-)resources for the various departments and services 
across the European Commission.  

  The ongoing communication activities conducted by the 

Commission Library lack an overarching strategy and are not useful 
to meet its communication needs. 

The activities of the Commission Library since the evaluation in 2009, and the 
implementation of Action Plan 2010-2012 can be grouped around four central 
pillars; (1) the collection of the Library, (2) Services provided by the  Library, 
(3) cooperation with stakeholders and (4) communication and promotion. This 
chapter briefly outlines the implementation of the activities under these pillars 
and links this to an assessment of utility of these activities, based on the input 
received from users in the stakeholder survey and interviews. Utility is defined 
as the extent to which the activities have met user needs, taking the needs of 
different groups into account. As such, this chapter is guided by the following 
evaluation question to assess utility:  

Evaluation question on ‘utility’ 

EQ3. To what extent do the results obtained by the CL correspond 
to the needs of its stakeholders? 

3.1 

General use of Commission Library 

The  evaluation  starts  with  a  mapping  of  users  and  non-users  of  the  Library. 
This  allows  contextualising  the  satisfaction  of  current  library  users,  and  also 
helps to explore the potential utility of services for Commission staff  that are 
currently  not  using  the  Library.  Commission  staff  that  participated  in  the 
online survey were asked to indicate to what extent they made use of services 
offered  by  the  Commission  Library.  Overall,  less  than  half  (48%)  of  all 
respondents indicated to make use of the Library. In view of the large number 
of  respondents  that  did  not  use  library  services,  it  is  important  to  assess  in 
detail the background characteristics of respondents that (do not) use library 
services.  

40 

 
 
 
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

Based  on  the  background  characteristics  provided  by  respondents  in  the 
survey,  different  groups  that  significantly  deviate  from  the  average  use  of 
library  services  are  assessed  and  presented  inFigure  3.1.  Each  box  in  the 
figure  represents  a  (sub-)  group  of  respondents,  displayed  with  the  size  and 
share  of  respondents  that  uses  library  services  in  that  group.  Each  box 
presents  the  defining  group  attribute  underlined,  with  the  total  number  of 
respondents  in  the  survey  that  belong  to  that  group.  Each  box  represents  a 
sub-group  of  the  group  at  the  higher  level.  This  way  of  presentation  has  the 
advantage that it shows significant differences between sub-groups that at the 
aggregate level may not be visible. If, for instance, the location of work does 
not  influence  the  usage  of  library  services  at  the  aggregated  level,  it  is  not 
revealed that it is a relevant factor for Administrators. As such, this allows the 
evaluation to develop specific profiles for users, and non-users of the Library.  

Figure 3.1  

Profiling (non)users (showing significant differences) 39 

Source: Panteia (2015), Stakeholder consultation 

Starting  with  the  upper  level,  48,1%  of  all  respondents  (1  810  out  of  3  760 
respondents)  indicated  to  use  library  services.  This  information  was  already 
presented  above.  More  interesting  is  the  second  level  in  the  figure,  which 
shows  significant  differences  in  the  use  of  the  Library  between  different 
function  types.  This  finding  follows  intuition,  as  we  may  expect  that  an 
Administrator  needs  to  use  library  services  more  often  in  his  work  than  an 
Assistant.  Figure  3.  shows  that  58,3%  of  all  Administrators  (890  of  all  1  526 
Administrators) in the survey uses library services, whereas only 39,8% of all 
Assistants uses library services. The figure displays between these groups the 

39 Please note that significant differences also exist in use between respondents working for a DG 

with an active local library, and DGs without. Those without active local library significantly 
make less use of the Library than with. However, these differences disappear in the face of the 
variables included in the figure, such as function, location and age.  

41 

Entire population (N=3760)48.1% -1810Uses Library servicesHead of Unit, Higher management, Trainees (N=336)49,1% -165Uses Library servicesAdministrator (N=1526)58,3% -890Uses Library servicesBrussels / Luxembourg (N=1383)59,7% -826Uses Library servicesOther EC site (N=143)44,8% -64Uses Library servicesAssistant, other (N=1898)39,8% -755Uses Library services25-34 years old (N=219)70,3% -154Uses Library services35-65 years old (N=1164)57,7% -672Uses Library services45-65 years old (N=876)32,0% -280Uses Library services35-44 years old (N=733)44,3% -325Uses Library services25-34 years old (N=289)51,9% -150Uses Library services 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

group of higher management (Heads of Unit and Directors) and trainees, from 
which on average 49,1% uses the Library in their work40.  

Moving  down  to  the  third  level,  Figure  3.1  shows  that  within  the  group  of 
Administrators, those working in Brussels and Luxembourg make more use of 
the Library (59,7%) than Administrators working elsewhere (44,8%). This can 
be explained due to limitations placed on existing IP-addresses. Most licences 
are  limited  to  Brussels  and  Luxembourg,  and  do  not  enable  staff  based 
elsewhere  to  access  electronic  resources.  In  addition,  the  lack  of  physical 
presence  of  the  Commission  Library  in  these  locations  may  have  another 
negative  effect.  At  the  same  time,  it  should  be  taken  into  account  that  the 
type  of  work  within  the  various  Commission  delegations  is  considerably 
different  in  comparison  to  the  headquarters.  DG  DEVCO  and  DG  COMM,  the 
primary  DGs  outside  of  Brussels  and  Luxembourg,  do  not  have  typical  policy 
tasks related to the work  of other DGs. JRCs  are also  based outside  Brussels 
and  Luxembourg,  but  these  have  their  own  library  at  their  disposal  that  is 
independent  from  the  Commission  Library.  Moving  further  down,  among  the 
Administrators  working  in  Luxembourg  and  Brussels,  significant  differences 
can  be  found  between  the  youngest  Administrators  (younger  than  35  years 
old) and their older colleagues. Up to 70,3% of young Brussels / Luxembourg 
based Administrators uses library services, compared to on average 57,7% of 
their  older  colleagues41.  This  difference  may  be  related  to  the  introductory 
courses  given  to  recruits  on  how  to  use  the  services  provided  by  the 
Commission Library.  

When  looking  at  the  groups  making  least  use  of  the  Library,  significant 
differences  were  observed  between  Assistants  (and  other  functions,  including 
Contract  Agents  and  National  Experts)  in  different  age  groups.  The  youngest 
Assistants (25-34 years old) again make significantly more use of the Library 
(51,9%) than their older colleagues in the same function. On average, 44,3% 
of the group of 35-44 year old Assistants use the Library, while for Assistants 
older than 45 this is only 32%.  

The  analysis  above  allows  specific  profiling  of  Library  users,  and  gives 
direction  concerning  specific  groups  to  target  to  promote  the  Commission 
Library. Based  on the figures presented the following target groups could get 
more attention while communicating the Commission Library: 

  Administrators in general; 
  Administrators working in Commission representations outside Brussels 

and Luxembourg; 

  Experienced Administrators in Brussels and Luxembourg.  

Strategies  implemented  by  the  Commission  Library  to  reach  different  groups 
are  discussed  in  more  detail  in  section  3.5.  The  next  sections  proceed  by 
exploring  the  use  and  utility  of  specific  library  services  provided  for  its  main 
users.  

40 Please note that these groups are presented together as no significant differences were found in 

library use between trainees and higher management. 

41 Here, all respondents older than 35 years old have been grouped together, because no 

significant difference were found within this age group. Compare non-users, where three sub-
groups in age were displayed, because here difference between these three groups were found.  

42 

 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

3.2 

Assessment of the utility of collections  

The  core  business  of  the  Library  and  e-Resources  Centre  is  to  maintain  and 
update  its  collection  of  resources.  A  central  element  to  this  objective  is  its 
internal  acquisition  policy,  which  was  revised  in  2014.  Annually,  the 
Commission  Library  identifies  the  need  for  specific  periodicals,  newspapers 
and specific standing orders in all the DGs, in an effort to provide Commission 
staff  with the information resources  they need for their work. The budget for 
collections  has  been  static  over  the  last  recent  years  and  includes  the 
acquisitions  for  the  Library  and  e-Resources  Centre  and  most  local  libraries 
within  the  Commission  as  well.  This  section  starts  listing  the  activities 
undertaken  by  the  Commission  Library  with  regard  to  its  collection.  Section 
3.2.2  reviews  the  use  of  the  various  resources,  which  forms  the  basis  for  an 
analysis of user satisfaction with these resources in section 3.2.3.  

3.2.1  Providing collections on the ‘European Project’ 

The  Commission  Library  brings  its  general  collections  and  the  specialised 
collections of DGs together in a single catalogue. It collects publications in all 
fields  covered  by  the  ‘European  Project’,  spanning  the  fields  of  international 
relations, economic and social policy, law and administration, politics, culture, 
society,  education,  training,  agriculture,  industry,  trade,  transport,  public 
finances,  banking,  international  monetary  relations,  labour,  management, 
demography,  biology,  health,  the  environment,  science  and  research,  and 
information and communication42. 

The  Commission  Library  buys  resources  and  pays  subscription  fees  from  its 
own  budget  for  publications  that  are  of  general  interest  to  the  European 
Commission.  

Publications  with  a  general  focus  are  acquired  by  the  Library  to  complement 
the more specialised resources in the various institutions or departments with 
their  own  library  budgets.  In  addition,  it  offers  its  expertise,  management 
services  and  budget  to  assist  libraries  and  documentation  centres  at  the  DG 
level to acquire specialised publications in specific fields.  

The  Library  is  subscriber  to  e-books  and  papers  published  by  commercial 
publishers  such  as  Kluwer,  Larcier,  Bruylant,  EbscoHost  e-books  platform, 
learned  societies  (NBER),  think  tanks  (CPER),  Databases  (Lexis  Nexis  UK), 
thereby bringing together 34.000 e-books at the disposal of Commission staff. 
These sources can be accessed directly from every Commission workstation in 
Brussels  and  Luxembourg’43.  The  number  of  online  available  periodicals 
accessible to Commission staff has also grown considerably, further outlined in 
Figure  3.2  below.  Since  2013,  the  Library  and  e-Resources  Centre  offers 
senior  management  in  the  Commission  online  access  to  ‘Pressdisplay’,  which 
offers online access to a wide range of newspaper titles.  

This  development  follows  the  recommendation  of  the  working  group  on  the 
evolution of library services in the Commission, which underlined  the need to 
move  from  printed  resources  to  a  digital  collection.  The  number  of  titles 
available online to Commission staff has more than doubled since 2011. In line 
with  what  can  be  expected  with  a  stable  budget  and  increased  online 
periodicals, the number of book volumes acquired has dropped.  

42 Commission Library; Background document.  
43 European Commission (2013), Annual Activity Report Commission Library 2013. 

43 

 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

Figure 3.2  

Development in acquisition of library resources 

Source: Panteia (2015), AAR 2008-2013 

The  acquisition  of  new  online  resources  is  a  key  element  in  the  Commission 
Library’s  recently  revised  acquisition  policy,  which  in  principle  favours  online 
resources  over printed versions44. In spite of the substantial growth of online 
periodicals  made  available,  and  the  reduced  number  of  books  acquired,  the 
Library  still  spends  more  than  half  of  its  budget  on  paper  resources  (2012  : 
63%, 2013: 60%)45. We take into account that various specialised periodicals 
under subscription by the Commission Library are not available electronically, 
either  for  technical,  economical  or  legal  reasons,  such  as  the  existence  of 
ongoing  contracts.  Still,  in  comparison  to  various  academic  libraries  this 
percentage  remains  relatively  high;  for  the  University  of  Amsterdam  for 
instance  this  was  only  19.9%  in  201246.  It  is  acknowledged  that  university 
libraries  may  not  be  fully  comparable  to  the  Commission  Library  in  size  and 
scope,  but  they  share  a  similar  ambition  towards  digital  resources.  Compare 
for  instance  the  ‘digital  first’  acquisition  policy  from  the  Commission  Library 
against  the  acquisition  policy  of  the  University  Library  of  Amsterdam,  which 
states that ‘in response to user demand, for new acquisitions specific attention 
will  be  paid  to  digital  versions’47.  Other  academic  libraries  invest  a  similar 
share of their acquisition budget (15-25%) to new paper resources48. 

The  Commission  Library  also  aims  to  ensure  the  preservation  and 
conservation of EU official publications. ‘In particular, the cooperation with the 
Publication  Office  (PO)  and  EU  Bookshop  is  relevant  in  this  respect’.  Through 
this  cooperation  the  Commission  Library  seeks  to  ensure  that  the  EU 
‘information  products’,  ranging  from  studies,  reports  and  staff  working 
documents  are  properly  catalogued.  Before,  titles  were  only  catalogued  into 
ECLAS if the Commission Library received a paper copy of the publication from 
the  Publication  Office  or  other  EU  bodies.  Since  the  end  of  2012,  the 

44 Central Library (2013), Politique d’acquisition de la Bibliothèque centrale de la Commission 

européenne, ARES 3801195. 

45 Based on budgetary data received from the Commission Library 
46 Based on Annual report 2013 by Library of University of Amsterdam. For other academic 

libraries similar percentages in the range of 15-25% were found.  

47 M. Streefkerk, M.J. van den Berg (2008), Informatiebeleidsplan Universiteitsbibliotheek 

Universiteit van Amsterdam, page 28.  

48 Based on the annual reports of University Libraries Leuven, Amsterdam, and EUR Rotterdam. 

Unfortunately no data could be obtained from corporate libraries.  

44 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

Publications Office shares the bibliographic data of all PO publications directly 
with  the  Library  on  a  weekly  basis.  As  such,  PO  publications  are  integrated 
into the Commission Catalogue (ECLAS), and are searchable  for library users. 
The  metadata  is  also  regularly  exported  by  the  Library  to  WorldCat  (a 
worldwide  library  catalogue49)  where  it  becomes  accessible  to  other  libraries 
and to Internet search engines, increasing the visibility of EU publications.  

Many of the studies commissioned by individual DGs are not published by the 
EU  Publications  Office.  In  an  effort  to  improve  coverage  of  these  valuable 
Commission  publications  further,  the  Commission  Library  set  up  cooperation 
with  individual  DGs  to  complement  the  contents  of  the  EU  Bookshop.  DGs 
were  approached  directly  by  the  Library  to  share  meta-data  on  their 
publications.  Since  2010  individual  DGs  are  obliged  to  deliver  the  final 
products  of  policy  evaluations  under  the  Commission  budget  to  the 
Publications  Office,  but  for  most  other  types  of  studies  this  is  not  common 
practice.  As  a  result,  studies  and  reports  are  not  always  included  in  the 
catalogue,  and  are  therefore,  at  risk  of  being  hard  /  impossible  to  find.  An 
assessment  conducted  in  this  evaluation  of  the  collection  of  studies  available 
through the Commission catalogue, confirms that many existing recent studies 
(EU ‘grey literature’) still do not show up as results50. 

the  acquisition  procedures 

for  specific  databases51, 

Following  the  2007  decision  by  the  Secretariat-General  and  DG  COMM  to 
decentralise 
the 
Commission Library does not coordinate the acquisition of databases. In fact, 
it  is  generally  not  involved  in  the  acquisition  and  access  provision  of  certain 
specialist  databases,  which  is  the  competence  of  DGs.  Where  possible,  the 
Commission  Library  obtains information  on  the  access  to  these  databases,  to 
provide  links  on  its  website  to  databases  that  can  be  consulted  by  the  entire 
European  Commission.  However,  interviewees  working  in  various  DGs 
indicated that the persons responsible for communication with the Commission 
Library were not always aware of the databases that are acquired by his / her 
DG.  Given  the  lack  of  coordination  on  the  acquisition  of  databases,  various 
interviewees noted that a substantial number of duplications in the acquisition 
of databases exist across different DGs. In an effort to get an overview of the 
databases acquired, DG Competition collected a list of subscribed databases in 
each  DG.  This  list  is  now  managed  by  the  Commission  Library,  and 
correspondents  in  each  DG  can  access  and  update  it,  to  prevent  future 
duplications. However, currently such duplications still exist, as the Library has 
no  formal  role  for  coordination.  The  continued  decentralised  acquisition  of 
these resources does not serve efficiency for the Commission as a whole, nor 
does it contribute to better utility.  

3.2.2  Use of various resources 

This  section  evaluates  the  use  and  utility  of  the  various  resources  in  the 
Commission  Library.  Primary  input  for  this  are  the  CL  download  and  loan 
statistics  and  the  survey,  in  which  users  were  asked  what  type  of  info  they 
look  for  when  consulting  the  Commission  Library.  Whereas  the  actual  use  of 
resources  is  a  good  measure  for  their  overall  utility,  it  should  be  taken  into 
account that some unique material for use by one staff member may have an 

49 See https://www.worldcat.org/ 
50 Panteia searched for all studies it has conducted for the European Commission since 2006 in the 
social domain (by authors and firm name), and was able to retrieve less than 10% of all studies.  

51 COMM/A.4/AP-msw D(2007) 19901 - SG/AI/ar D(2007) 10313 of 27 November 2007.  

45 

 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

important  impact  on  policymaking.  For  this  reason,  usage  statistics  can  be 
insightful, but are not the only valuable source of information.  

The statistics kept by the Commission Library show a rising trend in use of its 
online  resources.  Over  the  last  six  years,  a  steady  growth  of  downloaded  e-
journal articles can be observed. In that sense the increase in acquired online 
resources  goes  together  with  an  increasing  use  of  these  resources.  The 
Library’s  statistics  on  usage  of  its  collection  show  that  the  number  of  paper 
loans  had  been  growing  up  until  2010.  After  2010,  this  growth  stabilised,  if 
not  slightly  decreased.  This  suggests  that  employees  are  using  online 
information more and more frequently.  

Figure 3.3  

Development in the use of Library resources 

Source: Panteia (2015), AAR 2008-2013  

Over  the  course  of  2014,  additional  loan  statistics  of  paper  resources  was 
collected by the evaluation to draw more specific conclusions on the utility of 
the Library’s acquisition policy. For this, a data extract of all loans conducted 
in 2014 through ECLAS was analysed and displayed below in Figure 3.4.  

Figure 3.4  

Number of loans per title (2014) 

Source: Data provided by the CL circulation team 2014  

First  of  all,  it  is  noted  that  a  negligible  amount  of  volumes  were  borrowed 
more  than  10  times  in  2014.  This  is  understandable  in  view  of  the  standard 

46 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

loan  duration  of  six  weeks  and  related  shipping  time.  As  such,  regular  titles 
can normally only be borrowed up to 8 times per year. However, items in high 
demand  are  assigned  a  reduced  loan  duration  (three  weeks),  so  that  it 
becomes possible to circulate more than 10 times per year. This has been the 
case  for  only  38  volumes  (0,79%  of  all  volumes  loaned)  in  2014,  while  only 
4,3%  of  the  volumes  were  borrowed  more  than  5  times.  When  further 
analysing the 38 titles that were borrowed more than 10 times, it shows that 
more  than  half  (20)  of  these  volumes  were  books  to  prepare  for  the  various 
EPSO EU exams. This indicates that the most popular loans are not for use by 
Commission  officials  in  their  work,  but  mainly  by  temporary  or  contractual 
agents, trainees and national experts, Below, the top 10 of most popular titles 
are  summarised.  A  critical  look  reveals  that  in  addition  to  the  various  test 
books for the EPSO exams, only an EU law textbook and the 2014 best-seller 
by  Thomas  Piketty  can  be  found.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  most  popular 
titles  are  not  related  to  the  professional  activities  of  the  European 
Commission, the immediate utility of these paper resources towards the work 
of the European Commission is questionable.  

 Top 10 borrowed titles  

1.  Situational judgment test for European institution competitions / 

Claire Mercier, Emmanuel Hetru. 

2.  EU law : text, cases and materials / Paul Craig and Gráinne de 

Búrca. 

3.  The ultimate EU test book : Administrator (AD) edition 2013 / 

András Baneth. 

4.  The ultimate EU test book : Assistant (AST) edition 2013 / András 

Baneth. 

5.  QCM de raisonnement abstrait des concours des institutions 

européennes : une méthodologie et 180 questions avec corrigé / 
Emmanuel Hetru, Claire Mercier 

6.  Numerical reasoning MCQ for European institutions competitions / 

Emmanuel Hetru, Jean-Luc Bizeur. 

7.  Abstract reasoning MCQ for European institution competitions : a 
methodology and 180 questions with answers / Emmanuel Hetru, 
Benoît Crepin 

8.  Test de jugement situationnel des concours des institutions 

européennes / Claire Mercier, Emmanuel Hetru 

9.  Verbal reasoning MCQ for European institution competitions / 

Emmanuel Hetru and Jean-Luc Bizeur. 

10. Capital in the twenty-first century / Thomas Piketty ; translated 

by Arthur Goldhammer. 

The  online  survey  amongst  Commission  staff  further  assesses  the  perceived 
utility  of  the  Commission  Library’s  collections.  The  survey  asked  staff 
members  to  indicate  the  frequency  with  which  they  used  the  available  e-
resources and printed resources held by the Library. The results are presented 
in Figure 3.5. 

47 

 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

Figure 3.5  

Use of Collection – Commission staff 

Source: Panteia (2015), AAR 2008-2013 

As  shown  by  Figure  3.5,  Commission  staff  indicated  that  they  had  made 
slightly  more  use  of  printed  library  resources  than  e-resources  over  the  last 
two  years.  In  total,  32%  of  users  indicated  that  they  never  made  use  of 
printed resources, while 37% never made use of e-resources. However, this is 
only  one  part  of  the  story,  as  the  figure  also  shows  that  Commission  staff 
members  have  used  e-resources  more  often  in  the  last  year  (54%  against 
52% for printed resources), but particularly so in terms  of use in the  last six 
months  (44%  versus  39%).  Moreover,  particularly  younger  staff  members 
significantly  more  often  and  more  recently  use  e-resources  than  their  older 
colleagues. Older staff members indicated using printed resources more often, 
but did so less recently than their less experienced colleagues did52.  

The closing down of various departmental libraries since 2011 has had a direct 
impact on the Commission Library’s collections, and its activities conducted in 
this  field.  For  each  of  the  closing  libraries,  Library  staff  had  to  assess  every 
item  in  the  collection  and  decide  to  retain  or  discard  it.  This  decision  was 
based  primarily  on  usage  statistics,  and  the  time  expired  since  the  last  loan 
request  from  a  user.  As  such,  this  deselection  gave  the  Commission  Library 
staff  an  opportunity  to  review  the  collection  on  actual  usage.  Whereas  no 
systematic  analysis  was  conducted  in  this  respect,  Library  staff  gained  an 
insight in the use of various resources. 

3.2.3  Satisfaction with resources provided 

The  utility  of  a  collection  is  not  solely  measured  by  the  use  of  resources.  If 
Commission staff turns to the Library’s collection, but cannot find exactly what 
they  are  looking  for,  the  collection  scores  low  in  terms  of  utility,  even  under 
high  usage.  Staff  members  were  therefore  asked  whether  the  collections 
provided  by  the  Commission  Library  included  the  most  recent  relevant 
publications in their line of work, which is presented in Figure 3.6 below.  

52 Figures not presented here, see Annex VII for additional figures.  

48 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

Figure 3.6 

Satisfaction with contents of collection – Commission users 

Source: Panteia (2015), Stakeholder consultation 

ECLAS  generally  includes  the  most  recent  publications  according  to  38%  of 
Commission  staff,  versus  21%  of  the  Commission  staff  that  disagreed  with 
this statement. A large number, 41% of users remained neutral. This question 
was  further  analysed  on  various  background  characteristics,  such  as  age, 
experience,  type  of  DG  library  (if  at  all),  location,  but  none  of  these 
characteristics caused a significant difference in results.  

Library  users  were  also  asked  about  their  satisfaction  with  the  availability  of 
titles in  the  collection  of  the  Library.  The  results  are  presented  in  Figure  3.7. 
First  of  all,  it  is  noted  that  a  relatively  large  number  of  Commission 
respondents  indicated  not  having  sufficient  knowledge  to  give  a  substantive 
judgment  (up  to  52%)53.  This  suggests  that  a  substantial  number  of  Library 
users do not consult the collection frequently.  

Figure 3.7 

Satisfaction with availability of collection 

Source: Panteia (2015), Stakeholder consultation 

Figure 3.7 shows that only a very small number of users is unsatisfied with the 
availability  of  resources  in  the  Library,  both  Commission  staff  and  external 
users. External users do not have access to online resources and are restricted 
to using paper resources in the reading room.  However, these  restrictions do 
not  seem  to  have  a  negative  effect  on  their  evaluation,  as  they  are  overall 
more  satisfied  than  Commission  staff.  Commission  staff  based  outside 
Brussels and Luxembourg are significantly less satisfied with the availability of 

53 These ‘don’t know’ answers have not been presented to ease the interpretation and comparison 

of substantive answers. 

49 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

the  various  collections,  particularly  with  regard  to  the  availability  of 
newspapers54.  This  indicates  that  the  provision  of  online  content  can  be 
further  expanded  to  ensure  equal  access  to  resources,  regardless  of  where 
staff is based. 

In comparison to the satisfaction with various collections, it is remarkable that 
both  Commission  staff  and  external  users  are  slightly  less  satisfied  with  the 
availability  of information  at  the  MS  level.  This  comparatively  low  rating  may 
be  related to the recent decision of the Commission Library to  stop acquiring 
country  specific  information  and  contribution  on  national  law  in  Member 
States. Instead, the Library only acquires such information if it is provided as 
an e-resource and can be provided to the entire Commission staff55. However, 
Commission  staff  are  still  able  to  access  such  resources  through  the  legal 
services library.  

3.2.4  Assessment of utility of collections 

Based  on  the  findings  in  this  section,  the  evaluation  makes  the  following 
assessment of the utility of the collection.  

Assessment of utility of collections 

  The usage statistics of the Commission Library resources show a 

substantial rising trend in the use of online articles, and a relatively 
stable trend in the number of printed loans. 

  Particularly ‘newer’ Commission staff (in the first 5 years of 
working for the EC), use resources made available by the 
Commission Library, both printed and e-resources. Staff that work 
longer for the Commission more often refer to printed material, but 
do so less frequently than their younger colleagues.  

  A large number of users does not have a substantive opinion on the 
availability of the CL’s collection, but those that respond are very 
satisfied with the material offered. Commission staff working 
outside Brussels and Luxembourg are slightly less satisfied with the 
available resources, particularly in relation to newspapers.  

54 Analysis not presented here, but reported in Annex VII.  
55 Based on information provided in informal acquisition policy document.  

50 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

3.3 

Utility of Commission Library services 

Users  of  the  Library  and  e-Resources  Centre  have  access  to  the  collections 
through  a  variety  of  services  offered  by  the  Library,  the  Commission 
Catalogue  (ECLAS)  and  the  reading  rooms  in  Brussels  and  Luxembourg.  In 
addition,  Library  staff  is  available  to  support  Commission  staff  and  external 
users  in  their  search  for  information  sources.  In  this  section,  evidence  is 
presented  with  regard  to  the  utility  of  the  various  services  offered  by  the 
Library and E-Resources Centre.  

3.3.1  Overall evaluation of Commission Library services 

Library  users  are  very  satisfied  with  the  various  services  provided,  as 
summarised inFigure 3.8. 

Figure 3.8 

Overall satisfaction of internal users 

Source: Panteia (2015), Stakeholder consultation 

Only  3%  of  the  internal  users  are  not  satisfied,  whereas  a  large  majority 
(76%)  are  (very)  satisfied  with  the  services  provided  by  the  Commission 
Library in general. These results were analysed by background characteristics, 
and  as  Figure  3.8  presents,  significant  differences  were  found  primarily 
between  respondents  working  in  different  locations.  Library  users  in  other 
locations  are  significantly  less  satisfied  with  the  services  provided  by  the 
Commission  Library  than  their  colleagues  in  Brussels  and  Luxembourg.  This 
shows  that  the  IP  access  restrictions  outside  Brussels  and  Luxembourg  have 
an  actual  impact.  As  more  and  more  resources  become  available  online,  the 
provision  of  (digital)  collections  also  needs  to  respond  to  the  needs  of 
Commission staff working outside main sites in Brussels and Luxembourg.  

To better understand the relation between the overall satisfaction of staff and 
their  satisfaction  with  individual  services  provided,  a  regression  analysis  was 
conducted56. The results are presented graphically in Figure 3.9. Four specific 
elements  significantly  contributed  to  the  overall  evaluation  of  Commission 
Library  services.  These  are  indicated  with  the  arrows  in  the  figure.  The 
elements  presented  in  the  separate  boxes  were  excluded  from  the  model 

56 An ordinary least squares analysis was conducted to calculate the contribution of each individual 

variable to the prediction model.  

51 

 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

because these did not significantly contribute to variation in the evaluation of 
CL services.  

Figure 3.9 

OLS regression model on evaluation of CL services.  

Source: Panteia (2015), Stakeholder consultation 

As  presented,  the  model  based  on  the  four  significant  elements  (Intranet, 
reading rooms, loans procedure and ECLAS) can explain 54,6% of all variation 
in  the  evaluation  of  CL  services  by  its  users57.  This  is  a  relatively  high  score 
and  indicates  that  the  contribution  of  these  four  variables  to  the  overall 
satisfaction  with  CL  services  is  substantial58.  Satisfaction  for  these  four 
elements  significantly  contributes  to  higher  evaluation  of  CL  services. 
Therefore,  if  the  performance  of  these  four  elements  is  improved,  this  may 
contribute to higher overall satisfaction levels. The other elements, presented 
in  the  square  grey  boxes  on  the  side,  do  not  significantly  contribute  to  the 
satisfaction  with  CL  services.  This  means  that  users'  evaluations  on  these 
specific issues do not affect their evaluation of the overall service provision. In 
other  words,  the  current  users  associate  the  Commission  Library  particularly 
to the more traditional tasks of a library. This image includes the searching for 
resources in ECLAS / Intranet, borrowing books, and consulting material in the 
reading room. The utility of these elements will be explored in more detail in 
the sections below. However, in order to offer services that are useful in view 
of changing search behaviour of Commission staff – particularly those that are 
currently not using the Library –, the Commission Library needs to go beyond 
these traditional tasks, and aim to be associated by its users with knowledge 
and expertise, swift response time and useful support by Library staff.  

57 The R-square (goodness of fit of the model), as presented in the figure is 0,546.  
58 The individual coefficients are not reported, but are all four of relatively comparable size, and all 

significant at p<.01.  

52 

Evaluation CL services(R2: ,546)Ease of using ECLASSatisfaction with loan procedureSatisfaction with CL intranet websiteSatisfaction with reading roomsSatisfaction with:Help of staff in finding resources  informationKnowledge and expertise staffResponse time LibrarySatisfaction with:External websiteSocial media of LibraryOpening hours reading roomsInformation sessions / workshops 
 
  
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

3.3.2  ECLAS 

Through the catalogue (ECLAS), available on the Library website and used by 
a  number  of  other  EU  Institutions,  users  can  consult  the  Commission’s 
collections.  The  meta-data  on  the  titles  in  the  collection  are  regularly  shared 
with  WORLDCAT,  and  can  therefore  be  discovered  by  non-ECLAS  users.  The 
number of ECLAS searches per day has been relatively stable over the last six 
years59.  In  view  of  the  substantial  rise  of  Commission  staff  using  online 
sources  to  meet  their  information  needs,  this  shows  that  Commission  staff 
increasingly use other channels of access, such as databases provided by the 
CL,  or  free  alternatives,  such  as  Google  Scholar.  This  is  in  line  with  wider 
global  trends  in  the  world  of  information,  where  library  users  no  longer  fully 
depend  on  the  internal  catalogue  of  a  library.  Still,  more  than  80%  of  the 
Commission  staff  reports  to  have  used  ECLAS  in  the  last  two  years.  Among 
these,  more  than  55%  used  ECLAS  within  the  last  six  months.  Below,  the 
main findings on the utility of ECLAS are summarised. 

Figure 3.10 

Ease of using ECLAS and finding information 

Source: Panteia (2015), Stakeholder consultation 

Commission  staff  report  that  overall  ECLAS  is  relatively  easy  to  search,  with 
slightly under 20% who disagree with this. At the same time, more than 20% 
of Commission staff indicate that they are sometimes unable to find the right 
information. Whereas this does not give rise to particular concern, the share of 
external  users  that  finds  ECLAS  easy  to  use  is  larger  than  the  share  of 
Commission staff, as shown in Figure 3.10Figure 3.10. An explanation for this 
can  be  that  external  users  are  more  experienced  users  of  library  tools,  while 
Commission staff are not necessarily knowledgeable about these tools60.  

Figure  3.10  shows  that  Commission  staff  from  DGs  in  a  transition  phase 
experience  most  problems  finding  the  resources  they  need.  Library  users  in 
DGs  that  are  currently  closing  their  local  library  indicated  significantly  more 
often  that  they  were  not  able  to  find  resources.  They  were  also  significantly 
more  negative  about  the  user-friendliness  of  ECLAS.  At  the  same  time,  the 
survey  results  suggest  no  link  with  the  presence  of  a  local  librarian  and 

59 Based on Annual activity reports 2008-2013.  
60 Within the group of Commission respondents, the evaluation tested for relevant background 

characteristics, such as age, work experience, position. All of these do not significantly 
contribute to different opinions on ease-of-use of the catalogue. 

53 

0%20%40%60%80%100%Library currently closingRecently closed libraryNo local libraryIndependent budgetActive libraryAll ECExternal UsersECLAS is easy to search Fully agreeAgreeNeutralDisagreeFully disagree0%20%40%60%80%100%Library currently closingRecently closed libraryNo local libraryIndependent budgetActive libraryAll DGsI can always find the info I look forFully agreeAgreeNeutralDisagreeFully disagree 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

perceived user-friendliness of the catalogue. Particularly the users who do not 
have a local library in their DG rate the ease-of-use of ECLAS the highest, and 
also score best in whether they can find the information they need. Without a 
local  librarian  to  consult,  these  Commission  staff  seem  to  have  found  their 
way to find their resources.  

The survey further shows that satisfaction with using ECLAS depends primarily 
on  the  experience  of  using  the  tool.  Respondents  that  make  use  of  ECLAS 
more  often  are  also  significantly  more  satisfied  than  respondents  that  do  not 
make use of it61. Possibly, users that do not find ECLAS easy to use stop using 
it.  According  to  non-frequent  ECLAS  users,  ECLAS  can  be  useful  for  checking 
what  is  available  in  the  Library’s  collection,  especially  for  books.  However, 
when  conducting  a  refined  search  with  specifically  defined  criteria  they 
preferred  other  tools  to  meet  their  needs.  However,  users  that  have  been 
assisted by Library staff highly appreciated the support given to find their way 
around  the  catalogue.  These  users  also  indicate  that  this  assistance  is 
particularly  useful  for  searching  in  ECLAS.  This  shows  the  potential  for 
improving satisfaction with ECLAS even more by providing targeted assistance 
in using ECLAS.  

3.3.3  Reading rooms 

The  reading  rooms  in  Brussels  and  Luxembourg  are  visited  by  a  relatively 
stable  number  of  annual  visitors  (roughly  4.000  in  Brussels,  equalling  15-20 
on an average day, and 2 700 in Luxembourg, equalling 10-15 on an average 
day).  A  considerable  number  are  external  users.  In  fact,  the  survey  shows 
that 86% of all Commission staff has never been in the Library reading rooms. 
Since 2010, the Library and e-Resources Centre has undertaken a number  of 
efforts to  modernise the facilities in the reading rooms.  In 2011 for instance, 
Wi-Fi  access  was  provided  in  the  Brussels  reading  room62.  Moreover,  the 
material  on  display  in  the  Brussels  and  Luxembourg  reading  rooms  was 
carefully  reviewed  in  the  course  of  2011  and  2012.  During  this  review,  the 
process of retrieving loans from closed stacks was also streamlined to provide 
better assistance to reading room visitors. External users indicated on various 
occasions  their  appreciation  of  the  changes  in  the  reading  room;  some  were 
explicitly  positive  about  the  availability  of  dictionaries  and  encyclopaedias  in 
the reading room63. Despite these positive remarks, library experts point to an 
increasing obsolescence of printed reference materials such as encyclopaedias 
and  dictionaries,  and  question  their  utility  in  reading  rooms.  Particularly  if 
online  access  to  such  resources  is  also  provided  by  the  Library  services,  the 
provision of these paper resources in reading rooms is not useful.  

61 Not reported here, see specific analysis in Annex VII.  
62 European Commission (2011), Annual Activity Report Commission Library 2011. 
63 External assessment Panel of the Central Library's services 2014 

54 

 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

Figure 3.11 

Evaluation of reading rooms / opening hours 

Source: Panteia (2015), Stakeholder consultation 

Currently,  external  users  indeed  indicate  they  are  very  satisfied  with  the 
reading  rooms.  In  fact  none  of  the  external  users  in  the  survey  is  ‘very 
unsatisfied’ with the reading rooms, while a clear majority of external users is 
generally (very) satisfied. Only with regard to  the opening hours, a  relatively 
large group of respondents was unsatisfied (27%, when excluding respondents 
that don’t know 37,5%). The Brussels reading room is open Monday to Friday, 
but closes on Fridays after lunch, which caused some unsatisfied respondents. 
70%  of  internal  users  did not  have  an  opinion about  the  reading  rooms  (and 
60%  did  not  have  an  opinion  on  the  opening  hours  either),  which  underlines 
the  relatively  low  utility  of  this  facility  to  Commission  staff.  Amongst  those 
staff members with an opinion on the reading rooms, a substantial majority is 
satisfied, while hardly any unsatisfied respondents were found.  

3.3.4  Support from staff  

In  recent  years,  the  Commission  Library  has  started  to  present  itself 
increasingly  as  a  helpdesk  for  Commission  staff  with  an  information need.  In 
order  to  do  so  effectively,  one  functional  point  of  contact  (by  email)  for 
information  assistance  was  created  in  2013:  ‘ask  a  librarian’.  The  use  of  this 
service is presented in Figure 3.12. 

Figure 3.12  Contact with Library staff  

Source: Panteia (2015), Stakeholder consultation 

Despite  the  recent  developments  and  communication  of  the  ‘ask  a  librarian’ 
campaign, slightly over half of internal users (55%) indicated they have never 

55 

0%20%40%60%80%100%Reading rooms - ext.Opening hours - ext.Evaluation reading roomsVery satisfiedSatisfiedNeutralUnsatisfiedVery unsatisfiedDon't know0%20%40%60%80%100%Reading rooms - ECOpening hours - ECEvaluation reading roomsVery satisfiedSatisfiedNeutralUnsatisfiedVery unsatisfiedDon't know6,0%6,6%12,5%8,4%11,4%55,1%Last time in contact                          with library staffIn the last 2 weeksIn the last monthIn the last 6 monthsIn the last yearIn the last 2 yearsNever 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

received  personal  advice  from  a  librarian  (seeFigure  3.12).  Only  33%  of 
internal  users  have  received  personal  advice  from  a  librarian  within  the  last 
year.  As  these  percentages  only  refer  to  the  users  of  the  Library,  the  use  of 
this  service  among  the  larger  population  of  Commission  staff  is  considerably 
lower.  This  shows  that  there  is  still  considerable  room  for  expanding  this 
service.  Those  respondents  that  have  been  in  contact  with  Library  staff  are 
very  satisfied  with  the  support  provided.  The  percentages  of  unsatisfied 
respondents,  both  amongst  Commission  staff  and  external  users  are  hardly 
visible  in  Figure  3.13,  and  amount  to  less  than  1%  on  the  various  items 
presented.  

Figure 3.13 

Evaluation of Library staff 64 

Source: Panteia (2015), Stakeholder consultation 

This  shows  that  Library  staff  are  very  helpful  (high  utility)  in  the  process  of 
information  retrieval  for  Commission  staff.  The  high  performance  of  Library 
staff  is  confirmed  by  the  interviews  with  local  library  correspondents.  The 
quality  of  services  provided  by  the  Commission  Library  and  the  personal 
assistance  of  librarians  in  information  requests  is  overall  highly  appreciated. 
Interviews have shown that staff of the Commission Library can answer most 
questions,  and  can  really  help  users  find  the  right  resources.  As  such,  the 
assistance provided to Commission staff is evaluated to be very useful.  

3.3.5  Linking to internal and external resources  

For  resources  to  be  useful  to  users,  they  need  to  be  able  to  find  and  access 
these,  regardless  whether  the  resources  are  located  within  or  outside  the 
Library  physical  walls.  For  this  reason,  the  2009  evaluation  recommended 
making  the  pre-1978  collections  accessible  and  searchable  in  ECLAS  as  well, 
as  this  was  not  yet  the  case.  A  large  number  of  sources  from  the  pre-1978 
period  in  the  field  of  European  integration  are  conserved  in  the  Commission 
Library archives, and are only indexed in the paper catalogues. As such, these 
resources cannot be discovered outside Library walls, neither in ECLAS nor in 
the wider world. The Commission Library has only been able to dedicate very 
limited resources to conduct this vast task since 2012. In 2012, the work was 
started  with  two  library  interns65.  In  2014,  one  FTE  was  working  on 
cataloguing  these  pre-1978  items,  a  task  which  was  subsequently  narrowed 

64 Note that external users were not asked about the loan process, as they cannot borrow 

resources.  

65 Final progress report Q4 2012.  

56 

0%20%40%60%80%100%Help from staffin finding informationKnowledge and expertisestaffResponse timeLoan processEvaluation Library staff -CommissionVery satisfiedSatisfiedNeutralUnsatisfiedVery unsatisfied0%20%40%60%80%100%Help from staff in findinginformationKnowledge and expertisestaffResponse timeEvaluation Library staff -ExternalVery satisfiedSatisfiedNeutralUnsatisfiedVery unsatisfied 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

down  to  only  include  ‘EU  publications’  rather  than  the  entire  collection.  It  is 
estimated  that  this  way,  roughly  4.000  records  had  been  entered  from  the 
paper  catalogues  into  ECLAS,  while  another  40.000  records  had  been 
corrected  in  ECLAS  during  this  process66.  The  focus  of  this  task  is  to  include 
material  if  it  is  not  available  elsewhere,  and  therefore  does  not  assess  the 
usability per se of the documents catalogued.  

When it comes to linking to external online resources, the Library followed the 
2009  evaluation’s  recommendation  to  acquire  link  resolver  software  (SFX, 
under licence of Ex Libris) to allow easy access to online e-resources. The SFX 
tool assists in finding online access to existing subscriptions to e-journals and 
e-books  and  has  been  operational  since  September  2012.  This  tool  is  crucial 
for  improving  the  usability  of  online  resources,  and  can  be  combined  with 
searches  of  online  content  through  various  channels.  It  does  not  make  a 
difference  whether  the  user  found  resources  through  ECLAS,  Google,  or  any 
other  means.  The  SFX  link  resolver  offers  access  to  the  online  content  if  the 
Library has a  relevant active subscription and offers the possibility to contact 
the  Library  to  indicate  interest  in  articles  to  which  no  subscription  exists. 
Further search is then performed, or ILL (Inter Library Loan) offered.  

The utility of the acquisition of SFX is clear and undisputable. This tool aligns 
well  to  the  needs  of  users.  In  fact,  it  aligns  so  well  that  many  Commission 
staff members do not even know they are using CL services when they access 
online journals and the database through library subscriptions. More than half 
of  all  respondents  to  the  survey  (53%)  that  indicated  not  to  use  library 
services indicates to use digital resources made available by the Commission. 
Moreover,  another  7%  of  all  non-users  referred  specifically  to  using  the 
information provided by online commercial journal providers. This content can 
only  be  used  with  the  ongoing  subscriptions  by  the  Commission  Library,  but 
can  be  consulted  through  Google  searches  (or  through  more  specialised 
information  databases)  and  subsequently  opened  by  means  of  the  SFX  link 
resolver. It is therefore considered not only useful, but in fact a crucial tool for 
a modern Library to allow easy online access to its collections. The opposite is 
true  for  the  work  on  retro  cataloguing  the  pre-1978  records.  Although  these 
efforts  in  principle  link  to  the  objective  of  making  internal  resources 
accessible, there is no evidence that shows that there is an actual user need. 
Not  a  single  respondent  in  the  online  survey  or  interviews  requested  making 
these  records  more  readily  available  in  the  open  suggestions  section.  When 
combined  with  an  objective  to  reduce  the  pre-1978  collections  substantially, 
the efforts may be defensible. As this is not the case, the ongoing work is not 
considered  useful  and  should  be  discontinued,  even  the  small-scale  activities 
that have been deployed by the Library since 2009.  

66 Interview with CL staff, 26 September 2014 

57 

 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

3.3.6  Assessment of utility of services 

Based  on  the  findings  in  this  section,  the  evaluation  makes  the  following 
assessment of the utility of the services provided by the Library.  

Assessment of utility of services 

  Young Administrators in Brussels and Luxembourg make most use 
of the Commission Library, whereas Assistants, and particularly 
older Assistants (over 45 years old), make least use of Library 
services. To expand service provision, older Administrators may be 
specifically targeted.  

  Library users working in DGs undergoing the closure of their local 

library since 2009 face more problems in finding the information 
they need than other users. To improve the utility of the Library 
services for this group a targeted approach is necessary.  

  The services provided by the Commission Library, such as ECLAS, 
the reading rooms and support by Library staff are insufficiently 
known amongst Commission staff, but highly appreciated by those 
who are aware and make use of them.  

3.4 

Cooperation with stakeholders 

3.4.1  Role of CL in Commission Library system 

The  Library  and  e-Resources  Centre  is  the  central  actor  in  the  Commission’s 
library infrastructure, which has significantly changed shape due to the closure 
of  many  local  libraries.  Through  the  ‘RéseauBIB’  network,  the  Commission 
Library  provides  support  and  advice  on  library  management,  and  on 
acquisition of information resources (particularly through framework contracts, 
managed by the CL). Specific procedures are in place to ensure that the funds 
for  acquisitions  and  subscriptions  are  distributed  as  fairly  as  possible  among 
members of RéseauBIB67. The CL also has a central role in the maintenance of 
ALEPH 500, which involves updates, testing and installing new service packs, 
setting up new ALEPH services, and migrating to new versions of ALEPH.  

Through  ‘RéseauBIB’,  the  local  libraries  in  DGs  work  together  with  the 
Commission  Library.  As  such,  these  local  libraries  are  the  primary  point  of 
contact  for  information  needs  of  Commission  staff  in  that  DG,  serving  as  the 
information  helpdesk  and  the  link  between  Commission  staff  and  the 
Commission  Library.  Interviewees  indicated  that  local  libraries  often  actively 
post relevant news about the Commission Library (making use of the intranet, 
e-mails  and  newsletters)  and  provide  help  to  staff  with  finding  their 
documents.  Where  possible,  the  local  libraries  aim  to  help  staff,  and  where 
this is not possible, requests are forwarded directly to the Commission Library.  

Interviewees also indicated that local libraries are generally well aware of the 
needs  of  their  DG’s  staff,  which  allows  them  to  provide  targeted  services 
within their DG. Particularly their local presence, which gives them an overall 
understanding  of  the  local  issues  at  stake,  helps  them  provide  targeted 

67 CL (2013), Procedures RéseauBIB, December 2013.  

58 

 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

services.  Generally,  local  libraries  are  visible  on  each  DG’s  intranet  and 
promote their services  quite actively and on a personal level within their DG. 
Interviewees  indicated  that  the  success  of  a  local  library  (how  active  it  is, 
towards  its  DG’s  staff  and  towards  the  Commission  Library)  is  mostly 
dependent on the person staffing the local library.  

3.4.2  Role of CL in DGs without local library 

The  Commission  Library  offers  library  services  together  with  local  libraries  in 
DGs,  while  it  serves  as  the  primary  point  of  contact  for  staff  working  in  DGs 
without  a  local  library.  Where  no  local  library  is  present,  most  DGs  have 
appointed  a  person  to  take  responsibility  in  communicating  with  the 
Commission Library and transfer information requests. Often, this is a former 
librarian,  who  already  has  another  formal  role  /  job  within  the  DG.  The  main 
tasks  in  these  DGs  is  to  communicate  regularly  the  needs  of  that  DG  to  the 
Library  to  coordinate  the  acquisition  process.  Annually  in  the  summer,  the 
local  coordinators  receive  a  list  of  their  current  DG  subscriptions.  The 
Commission  Library  subsequently  asks  for  updates  of  this  list  by  September. 
Based  on  internal  consultation  within  the  DG,  the  contact  person  should 
indicate which periodicals can be unsubscribed and which periodicals should be 
maintained  or  acquired.  These  periodicals  are  generally  covered  by  the 
Commission  Library  budget,  but  some  DGs  also  contribute  with  their  own 
budget for subscriptions for certain resources. The same process is organised 
for standing orders. 

Most  DGs  without  a  local  library  have  this  working  mechanism,  but  in  some 
DGs  a  vacuum  emerged  after  the  closure  of  the  local  library.  Interviews 
showed  that  in  some  instances  no  mechanisms  are  in  place  to  identify  the 
needs  for  resources,  particularly  in  DGs  where  the  local  library  has  only 
recently  been  closed.  In  these  situations,  the  role  of  the  CL  to  provide 
assistance  in  the  collection  of  information  is  also  less  articulated.  One  of  the 
interviewees indicated that the closure of a physical local library from the DG 
can  put  the  idea  in  the  mind  of  staff  that  they  need  to  find  information 
themselves.  It  is  this  conception  that  may  contribute  to  the  relatively  low 
number of requests for assistance from such DGs and the subsequent lack of 
awareness.  

3.4.3  Assessing user needs 

One of the key objectives for the Commission Library identified in the previous 
evaluation  was  to  identify  and  respond  to  the  information  needs  of  its  users. 
For  this  purpose,  the  2009  evaluation  recommended  the  development  of  an 
‘integrated  customer  management  system’.  This  would  serve  to  remain 
informed on the highly diverse needs of various users. This integrated system 
was  not  implemented,  and  the  Commission  Library  instead  established  a 
consultative user panel through RéseauBIB at the end of 2010 to ensure user 
input.  This  user  panel  was  convened  annually  and  sometimes  during  these 
occasions,  observations  /  suggestions  with  a  specific  focus  were  gathered  on 
users and non-users of the Library and e-Resources Centre services. In 2012, 
for  instance,  a  user  panel  was  formed  to  obtain  the  views  of  interns  on  the 
services  provided68.  In  addition,  some  small-scale  online  surveys  were 
conducted,  through  which  the  Library  and  e-Resources  Centre  obtained 

68 European Commission (2012), Annual Activity Report Commission Library 2012 : p.14. 

59 

 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

feedback  from  users  on  the  reading  rooms,  the  quality  of  support,  and  the 
response time of the Library’s staff. 

these  activities  with 

The  difference  of 
the  recommended  customer 
management  system  are  substantial.  The  various  user  panels  and  surveys 
show  consistently  high  levels  of  user  satisfaction,  but  failed  to  capture  the 
information needs of Commission staff in their daily work. These only bring to 
light the needs of the group that is already a steady user of Library services. 
The  interviews  also  show  that  the  Library  staff  provides  its  services  in  a 
relatively  passive  way,  assuming  that  if  a  staff  member  has  a  question  or 
problem,  he/she  will  contact  the  Library.  This  is  however  not  self-evident,  as 
many staff members are unaware of the services provided by the Library.  

As  such,  the  Library  has  been  unable  to  capture  and  streamline  its  services 
directly  to  the  information  needs  it  is  confronted  with.  Instead,  it  offers 
reactive responses to ad-hoc needs articulated by Commission staff who reach 
the  Library  by  phone  or  through  the  ‘ask  a  librarian’  portal.  Again,  it  is 
underlined  that  current  users  are  satisfied  about  the  services  provided. 
However,  the  management  of  information  could  be  substantially  improved  if 
these services are developed based on a stronger link with (developments of) 
user  needs.  Through  an  integrated  customer  management  system  for 
instance,  the  Commission  Library  would  gain  an  insight  in  the  most  common 
difficulties  that  Commission  staff 
face  when  retrieving  or  consulting 
information resources provided by the Library. This could be used as empirical 
input for strategic organisational decisions, such as the allocation of resources 
to the ‘library helpdesk’, or expansion of the collection in a particular direction.  

3.4.4  Cooperation with other institutions 

The Commission Library also takes an active role with  respect to its relations 
with  other  EU  institutions.  Consider  for  instance  the  lead  taken  by  the  CL  in 
programming  ALEPH  to  enable  an  independent  set  up  for  local  databases  in 
other EU Institutions, such as the Council of the EU and the combined library 
of  the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  Committee  of  the 
Regions.  In  relation  to  the  other  EU  Institutions,  the  Commission  Library 
cooperates  on  the  basis  of  equality  within  the  informal  framework  of  the 
European  Community  and  the  Associated  Institutions  Library  Cooperation 
Group  (EUROLIB),  through  which  for  instance  closer  cooperation  with  the 
publishing  activities  of  the  inter-institutional  Publication  office  are  discussed. 
Through  this  framework  of  cooperation,  the  CL  also  plays  a  key  role  in 
launching  and  managing  inter-institutional  calls  for  tenders.  By  doing  so,  it 
creates  a  long-term  impact  in  terms  of  harmonisation  of  acquisition 
approaches. Take for example the upcoming call for tenders for a new Library 
Management System, which will be used by various other libraries.  

Whereas  the  libraries  of  different  institutions  are  not  always  comparable  in 
character, they often face similar issues, and through annual meetings in the 
framework of EUROLIB, libraries are able to learn from each other. All libraries 
face  similar  pressures  due  to  budget  cuts  and  reconsiderations  of  their 
continued  value.  As  a  result,  these  libraries  often  do  not  have  much  time  for 
strategic  considerations  during  hectic  day-to-day  work.  In  this  framework  it 
should  be  considered  that  the  libraries  of  various  institutions  have  different 
roles,  some  of  them  acting  as  a  research  service  (like  the  European 
Parliament),  others  as  a  website  management  service  (European  Agency  of 
Gender  Equality  in  Vilnius),  and  others  are  considered  more  as  traditional 
libraries (Library of the European Commission). These differences in character 

60 

 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

can provide input in determining the strategic direction of the internal libraries 
in the EU.  

3.4.5  Assessment of utility of cooperation 

Based  on  the  findings  in  this  section,  the  evaluation  makes  the  following 
assessment of the utility of the cooperation with other libraries.  

Assessment of utility of cooperation 

  Through the management of framework contracts of resources, the 
Commission Library is the central actor through which efficiency 
gains can be achieved in the acquisition of resources, while 
meeting information needs in the Commission. 

  For this, the Library is highly dependent on the dedication of 

individuals working for and within their DGs, who often have other 
priorities. 

  The Commission Library is relatively reactive to demands; without 

a customer management system in place, the Library will remain 
unable to anticipate user needs in the near future. 

3.5 

Communication and promotion 

Through communication and promotion of its services, the CL can improve its 
position  in  knowledge  management  within  the  European  Commission  and 
ensure  its  central  position  to  deliver  the  resources  required  by  Commission 
staff in their daily work. The Library website is an important access tool to the 
various  services  of  the  Library,  which  is  discussed  first.  On  top  of  that,  a 
number  of  additional  and  more  active  communication  activities  will  be 
discussed after.  

3.5.1  Website  

The  primary  portal  of  the  Library  and  e-Resources  Centre  to  its  users  is  its 
website. It was thoroughly revamp in 2012, and links directly to the catalogue 
(ECLAS),  but  also  offers  access  to  the  most  relevant  databases  and  open 
access  portals69.  The  survey  shows  that,  for  Commission  staff  without a local 
library,  the  Library  intranet  site  serves  as  the  primary  portal  to  Library 
services.  Only  one-third  (35%)  of  Commission  staff  reported  that  they  used 
the  external  website,  whereas  75%  indicated  they  had  used  the  intranet 
website over the last two years70. The satisfaction with the website of different 
user groups is presented inFigure 3.14. 

69 European Commission (2012), Central Library Activity Report 2012. 
70 Not presented in the figure, based on the survey results. 

61 

 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

Figure 3.14 

Evaluation of external / intranet website – by use 

Source: Panteia (2015), Stakeholder consultation 

Overall, a large number of users were satisfied with the website; with regard 
to  the  intranet  website,  only  a  small  group  (5  %)  is  unsatisfied,  just  like  for 
the  external  website  (5%).  External  users  are  equally  positive  about  the 
external  website;  amongst  external  users,  only  a  small  group  (6%)  were 
unsatisfied  with  the  external  website.  The  frequency  of  visiting  the  website 
has an impact on the satisfaction with the website (both intranet and external 
website).  Those  visiting  the  website  more  often,  were  significantly  more 
satisfied than those that do not use the website. Individuals that did not visit 
the  website  were  significantly  more  ‘neutral’,  and  not  necessarily  more 
negative  than  frequent  visitors.  This  is  further  evidence  that  the  overall 
evaluation  of  the  website  is  ‘positive’.  If  people  did  not  use  the  website 
because  it  is  not  useful,  or  they  did  not  like  it  for  other  reasons,  then  the 
share of unsatisfied respondents would be larger amongst non-users.  

Interviewees  indicated  that  the  website  of  the  Commission  Library  has 
improved  substantially  recently.  Most  notably,  there  is  more  information 
available  on  possible  resources  and  services  to  visitors,  which  is  appreciated 
by  users.  On  the  other  hand,  interviewees  indicated  that  the  Commission 
Library  website  is  not  a  default  starting  point  for  searching  resources.  Many 
users  simply  start  their  search  in  Google,  or  start  directly  in  specific  online 
databases.  Whereas  it  is  not  necessary  to  start  at  the  Commission  Library 
website to find the right resource, it would contribute to the overall visibility of 
various services. Because the online library resources can already be accessed 
at  every  Commission  workplace,  the  challenge  is  to  make  the  role  of  the  CL 
visible.  Without  such  visibility,  the  legitimacy  of  services  may  be  increasingly 
questioned in the near  future. From this perspective, it is relevant that some 
interviewees did not find the information presented on the website to be user-
friendly.  Moreover,  Commission  staff  from  DGs  with  a  local  library  for 
instance,  noted  that  they  often  started  their  search  from  their  DG’s  intranet. 
Here, relevant links to library resources are presented, for instance, to ECLAS, 
but  also  to  specific  databases  and  thereby  reducing  the  need  to  visit  the 
Commission Library website.  

3.5.2  Role of Library correspondents 

The  individual  Library  contact  persons  in  DGs  play  an  important  role  in  the 
communication of Library services to the Commission colleagues. In fact, this 

62 

0%20%40%60%80%100%EC - Recent user (N=133)EC - Non-recent user (N=306)EC - Not a user (N=160)All EC (N=599)External users (N=53)Evaluation external website Very satisfiedSatisfiedNeutralUnsatisfiedVery unsatisfied0%20%40%60%80%100%EC - Recent user (N=496)EC - Non-recent user (N=649)EC - Not a user (N=80)All EC (N=1225)Evaluation Intranet website -EC library usersVery satisfiedSatisfiedNeutralUnsatisfiedVery unsatisfied 
 
 
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

evaluation  shows  that  the  visibility  of  the  Commission  Library  in  a  DG  highly 
depends  on  the  individual  activities  by  these  correspondents,  rather  than  on 
more  centrally  organised  communication  activities.  The  local  contact  persons 
often  forward  relevant  announcements  /  requests  to  their  colleagues,  but 
generally do so on their own initiative. They also make  sure that news about 
relevant  Library  events  is  published  on  the  DG’s  intranet  (for  instance  the 
acquisition  of  new  databases  /  resources).  The  interviews  show  that  some 
correspondents take the communication of relevant Commission Library news 
very seriously. Other correspondents however indicated not to have sufficient 
time for it in combination with their ‘regular work’ within their DG. While some 
are not taking an active approach, these correspondents indicated to be happy 
to  take  this  role  if  the  Commission  Library  would  provide  them  with  relevant 
material.  This  is  further  confirmed  by  many  Commission  staff  members,  who 
indicated  in  the  online  survey  that  they  would  be  interested  in  receiving 
regular  updates  on  new  acquisitions  by  the  Library.  Generally,  it  can  be 
concluded  that  the  Library  could  do  more  to  make  itself  more  visible  and 
obtain a fixed place in users' information search routines.  

The  survey  results  confirm  the  need  for  a  more  active  communication 
strategy.  Up  to  one  third  of  all  respondents  indicated  to  be  unfamiliar  with 
services  provided  by  the  Library  at  all,  and  only  15%  claim  to  be  completely 
familiar with these services. Significant differences are found in familiarity with 
library services between respondents working in a DG with a local library, and 
where no local library is present. Respondents working in a DG without a local 
library  are  significantly  less  familiar  with  the  services  of  the  Commission 
Library. In DGs where the local library recently was closed, respondents were 
significantly  better  familiarised  with  the  services  offered,  however,  not  as 
aware as their colleagues working in a DG with a local library. This underlines 
the potential of active correspondents to promote the range of services offered 
by  the  Commission  Library.  This  is  also  confirmed  in  the  open  comments  of 
the  survey,  where  large  numbers  of  respondents  underlined  the  need  to 
improve visibility of library services amongst Commission staff.  

Figure 3.15 

Familiarity with Commission Library services 

Source: Panteia (2015), Stakeholder consultation 

3.5.3  Training new recruits 

Training  of  new  Commission  recruits  can  serve  as  a  key  mechanism  to  raise 
the  level  of  awareness  of  the  Library  and  e-Resources  Centre’s  activities  and 
services amongst Commission staff. Numerous survey respondents suggested 
to  better  target  new  staff  with  correct  information  to  improve  the  role  of  the 

63 

 
  
 
 
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

Library within the Commission working processes. The Commission Library has 
actually already taken action in this respect. For instance, in collaboration with 
DG  HR  it  sought  to  target  new  recruits  during  the  Commission  welcoming 
days,  to  raise  awareness  of  the  Commission  Library  and  ensure  that  staff 
know their way to obtaining relevant information from the Library. In 2013, all 
new colleagues received a welcoming letter outlining the available Commission 
Library  services.  However,  no  outputs  or  results  of  these  activities  are 
collected, which leaves little data to analyse the utility of these activities. This 
lack  of  data  does  not  allow  assessing  to  what  extent  this  practice  has  been 
adopted  structurally.  However,  the  finding  in  section  3.1  that  the  youngest 
Administrators  make  significantly  more  use  of  the  Library  provides  evidence 
that this strategy could be successful. During the interviews, it was suggested 
that  only  sending  a  welcome  letter  is  not  sufficient  and  that  an  appropriate 
follow-up should be organised after a new staff member has started working. 
In fact, participants in the focus group confirmed that new staff members are 
generally informed about the services, but that a proper follow-up is missing.  

3.5.4  Other activities 

To  broaden  the  scope  beyond  only  newly  recruited  Commission  staff,  the 
Commission  Library  published  online  video  tutorials,  to  introduce  its  main 
services in 2010. Although still available, these videos have not been updated 
since  and  therefore  lost  most  of  their  usefulness71.  In  addition,  presentations 
and  newsletters  are  produced  for  the  entire  Commission  (for  which  its  e-
Reference newsletter won the ‘Clear Writing Campaign award’ in the category 
of internal communication) and the Commission Library participates in internal 
conferences  and  workshops  to  present  its  services  to  a  broader  public.  In 
some  DGs,  detailed introduction  guides  /  emails  have  been  developed  by  the 
local  libraries  to  provide  more  guidance  to  new  Commission  staff,  in  addition 
to  guidance  and  communication  actions  provided  by  the  Commission  Library. 
Knowledge  sharing  events  are  also  regularly  conducted,  but  these  reach  a 
very limited amount of Commission staff (820 members of staff in 201372).  

In  Luxembourg,  information  stands  are  regularly  set  up  and  organised  in  the 
various  Commission  buildings.  However,  despite  the  organisation  of  these 
activities,  no  overarching  communication  strategy  is  in  place.  With  a  total 
reach  of  only  446  Luxembourg-based  staff  in  2013,  the  usefulness  of  these 
information  stands  to  the  wider  Commission  community  is  doubtful73.  This  is 
also  reflected  by  the  relatively  low  number  of  users  in  the  survey  that 
indicated  to  have  participated in  workshops  /  training  sessions  hosted  by  the 
Commission Library (10%) in the last year.  

71 Site visit interviews.  
72 Number of colleagues reached based on a Library estimate in the annual activity report 2013 
73 Various AARs, Progress report.  

64 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

Figure 3.16 

Participation and evaluation of training sessions  

Source: Panteia (2015), Stakeholder consultation 

Figure  3.16  shows  that  the  small  number  of  recent  participants  to  these 
activities  are  in  fact  very  satisfied.  This  points  to  the  potential  value  of  such 
sessions,  not  only  from  a  communication  perspective,  but  also  to  improve 
Commission staff skills in finding the information they need. Interviewees also 
suggested  various  possibilities  for  the  Commission  Library  to  promote  its 
services  better,  for  instance  by  going  to  different  DGs  at  lunchtime  to  give  a 
training  and  tell  people  about  ‘what  the  Commission  Library  can  do  for  you’. 
Across all DGs, Commission staff would benefit from outreach activities by the 
library,  including  explanations  of  tools  and  services,  and  giving  examples  of 
the services of the Commission Library.  

3.5.5  Assessment of utility of communication activities 

Based  on  the  findings  in  this  section,  the  evaluation  makes  the  following 
assessment of the utility of the communication activities.  

Assessment of utility of communication activities 

  Respondents are satisfied with the Library websites, but the Library 

needs to realise that its website is not necessarily their users’ 
starting point in information searches.  

  Activities targeting individual DGs depend on the willingness of 

individual library correspondents, which varies substantially and is 
not supported by a more structural strategy.  

  The Commission Library does not have a clear and effective 

communication strategy, and the activities undertaken by the 
Library only reach a very small portion of the Commission staff.  

65 

0%20%40%60%80%100%EC - Recent user (N=48)EC - Non-recent user (N=196)EC - Not a user (N=175)All EC (N=419)Evaluation information sessions -CommissionVery satisfiedSatisfiedNeutralUnsatisfiedVery unsatisfied 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

3.6 

Conclusions 

This  chapter  explored  the  activities  undertaken  by  the  Commission  Library 
since the last evaluation, and contrasted this user satisfaction to asses to what 
extent the results obtained actually correspond directly to user needs. 

Collections 

  The  usage  statistics  of  the  Commission  Library  resources  show  a 
substantial  rising  trend  in  the  use  of  online  articles,  and  a  relatively 
stable trend in number of printed loans. 

  Particularly ‘newer’ Commission staff (in the first 5 years of working for 
the EC) use resources made available by the Commission Library, both 
printed material and e-resources. Staff that have been working longer 
for the Commission more often refer to printed material, but do so less 
frequently than their younger colleagues.  

  A large number of users does not have a substantive opinion about the 
availability of the CL’s collection. However, those that respond are very 
satisfied  with  the  material  offered.  Commission  staff  working  outside 
Brussels  and  Luxembourg  are  slightly  less  satisfied  with  the  available 
resources, particularly in relation to newspapers. This is also related to 
awareness of the services provided (see also 3.5) and as such may be 
targeted by further improving the availability of e-resources. 

Library services 

  Young  Administrators  in  Brussels  and  Luxembourg  make  most  use  of 
the  Commission  Library,  whereas  Assistants,  and  particularly  older 
Assistants  (over  45  years  old)  make  least  use  of  Library  services.  To 
expand  service  provision,  older  Administrators  can  be  specifically 
targeted.  

  Library  users  working  in  DGs  undergoing  the  closure  of  their  local 
library  since  2009  face  more  problems  in  finding  the  information  they 
need than other users. To improve the utility of Library services for this 
group a targeted approach is necessary.  

  The  services  provided  by  the  Commission  Library,  such  as  ECLAS,  the 
reading  rooms  and  assistance  by  library  staff  are  insufficiently  known 
amongst  Commission  staff,  but  highly  appreciated  by  those  who  are 
aware and make use of them. 

Cooperation with partner libraries 

  Through  the  management  of  framework  contracts  of  resources,  the 
Commission  Library  is  the  central  actor  through  which  efficiency  gains 
can  be  achieved  in  the  acquisition  of  resources,  while  meeting 
information needs in the Commission. 

  For this, the Library is highly dependent on the dedication of individuals 

working for and within their DGs, who often have other priorities. 

  The  Commission  Library  is  relatively  reactive  to  demands;  without  a 
customer management system in place, the Library will remain unable 
to anticipate user needs in the near future. 

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Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

Communication to (potential) users 

  Respondents  are  satisfied  with  the  Library  websites,  but  the  Library 
needs to realise that its website is not necessarily their users’ starting 
point in information searches.  

  Activities  targeting  individual  DGs  depend  on  the  willingness  of 
individual library  correspondents,  which  varies  substantially  and is  not 
supported by a more structural strategy.  

  The  Commission  Library  does  not  have  a  clear  and  effective 
communication  strategy,  and  the  activities  undertaken  by  the  Library 
only reach a very small portion of the Commission staff.  

On  each  of  these  elements,  this  chapter  has  shown  that  the  Commission 
Library is very useful for its users, but fails to communicate this to non-users, 
most  particularly  due  to  a  lack  of  a  communication  strategy  and  only  a  very 
limited  cooperation  with  individual  DGs.  These  findings  have  been  translated 
into concrete recommendations in Chapter 8.  

67 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

4. 

EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY OF THE LIBRARY 
ACTIVITIES 

Key messages 

  The Commission Library has made available relevant collections, 
both to Commission staff and external users and as such been 
effective in meeting its objectives.  

  However, its activities to meet the objectives are not sufficiently 
visible to Commission staff and thereby limit the possible role of 
the Library in supporting effective knowledge management within 
the European Commission. 

  The deployment of staff to its activities is generally in line with the 

importance of the various objectives. 

  The relatively high costs related to the circulation of resources for 
external users may be reconsidered in view of the limited added 
value to the existing network of EU libraries, provided to these 
users.  

  The costs for continued acquisition of printed newspapers among a 
marginal number of senior staff are disproportionate, particularly if 
no information exists on whether these newspapers are actually 
read.  

This  chapter  presents  an  assessment  of  the  effectiveness  and  efficiency  of 
Library  activities  in  view  of  its  policy  objectives.  It  starts  by  comparing  the 
results  of  the  activities  undertaken  with  the  main  objectives,  after  which  the 
cost-efficiency of achieving these objectives is assessed.  

4.1 

Have the objectives been achieved? 

When  assessing  the  (continued)  effectiveness  of  the  Commission  Library,  the 
policy  objectives  (as  defined  in  the  mission  statement  in  DG  EAC’s 
Management plan) are contrasted with the activities executed (as discussed in 
the previous section) and their direct outputs. Effectiveness refers to whether 
the objectives formulated have been achieved, what the potential successes or 
difficulties  have  been  and  to  what  extent  the  effect  can  be  linked  to  the 
actions undertaken or was influenced by external factors. 

Evaluation questions on ‘effectiveness’ 

EQ4.  To  what  extent  has  the  CL  achieved  the  objectives  in  its 
mission statement and DG EAC’s Management Plan? 

4.1.1  Objectives  

The  primary  objective  of  the  Commission  Library,  as  defined  in  the  DG  EAC 
management  plan,  is  ‘To  conserve  and  develop  collections  in  either  print  or 
electronic format on all subjects relating to European integration and to make 
them available to staff of the European Commission and other EU institutions, 
as well as to citizens’. This general objective is described in more detail in the 

68 

 
 
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

library’s mission statement and split into three broader objectives74, for which 
the  outputs  of  the  activities  undertaken  will  be  discussed  separately  in  the 
section below: 

 

  making  available  to  the  Commission,  its  staff  and  others  seeking 
information in  the  field of  European  integration  any  useful information 
published in either paper or electronic format (Collections); 
responding  effectively  to  requests 
for  documents  and  offering 
interactive  electronic  library  services  allowing  users  to  have  access  to 
information  and/or  to  identify  information  sources  without  having  to 
call  upon  external  assistance  and  without  prior  training  (Library 
services); 

  developing  cooperation  and  partnership  between  libraries  both  inside 
and outside the Commission, and in particular with the libraries of the 
other institutions (Cooperation). 

The previous chapter on utility followed a similar structure, with the exception 
for the horizontal activity of communication (section 3.5). As performance on 
this  has  an  effect  on  the  effectiveness  for  all  three  objectives,  it  is  not 
discussed separately here.  

4.1.2  Making available any useful information in the field of European integration 

The  Library  has  been  very  active  over  the  years  since  the  last  evaluation  in 
updating  its  collections,  spanning  the  wide  field  of  European  integration 
towards the demands of users in the current world of information. Substantial 
new  material  has  been  acquired  in  the  field  of  European  integration. 
Additional focus has been given to extend the range of online resources in 
the  collection.  Thereby,  the  CL  does  not  only  implement  its  objectives  under 
DG  EAC’s  management  plan,  but  also  follows  the  wider  trend  in  the  world  of 
libraries  and  user  needs.  This  additional  focus  on  online  resources  increases 
possibilities  for  library  users  to  access  the  resources  in  the  field  of  European 
integration,  which  is  particularly  relevant  for  Commission  staff,  who  often 
need  their  resource  as  quickly  as  possible  on  their  desks.  Both  staff  and 
external  users  indicated  that  the  resources  made  available  by  the  library  are 
indeed useful to their needs, further underlining the continued effectiveness of 
the Library in this respect. As  

FigureFigure  4.1  shows  below,  around  three  quarters  (76%)  of  Commission 
respondents confirmed that the Commission Library performs well in terms of 
providing  online  and  onsite  access  to  its  information  sources.  Moreover, 
around  half  (51%)  of  Commission  respondents  rated  the  performance  of  the 
Commission Library as ‘good’, versus only a small group (7%) of respondents 
that  were  ‘disappointed’  with  the  results.  These  high  levels  of  satisfaction 
confirm  the  finding  above,  and  show  that  the  Library  has  been  effective  in 
making useful information in the field of European integration available. 

74 Based on AAR 2011 

69 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

Figure 4.1 

Performance Commission Library 

Source: Panteia (2015), Stakeholder consultation 

4.1.3  Responding to requests for documents and offering interactive electronic library 

services 

Chapter  3  already  outlined  the  various  activities  that  the  library  has 
undertaken  to  improve  its  services  to  its  users  further  after  the  2009 
evaluation.  Primarily,  the  library  has  continued  to  respond  to  requests  for 
loans  for  printed  documents,  which  users  evaluated  as  very  satisfactory. 
Additionally,  its  services  to  users  in  the  reading  rooms  have  been 
improved after the changes in 2011 / 2012. The Library further improved its 
provision  of  interactive  electronic  library  services.  For  instance  through  the 
implementation of SFX, users are able to retrieve online content to which the 
library is subscribed with only a few mouse clicks. This contributes directly to 
the  objective  to  enable  staff  to  access  material  without  having  to  call  upon 
external  assistance.  At  the  same  time,  the  effectiveness  of  this  approach, 
mainly  through  the  intended  result  of  providing  online  library  content  in 
Commission  workstations,  had  the  unintended  result  that  it  reduces  the 
visibility  of  the library  amongst  its  core  users.  Users  can  access  resources  so 
easily that users do not directly associate the availability of online sources to 
the Commission Library. 

The  Commission  Library  also  improved  its  services  to  Commission  staff  that 
need  help  from  trained  library  staff.  Most  importantly,  the  process  to  contact 
library  staff  for  support  was  streamlined.  The  Library  has  attempted  to  offer 
its support services proactively to its users through a dedicated e-mail address 
and clearly identifiable links on the library websites. The library also regularly 
consults  its  users  through  an  online  satisfaction  survey,  which  served 
as  input  for  potential  improvements.  Overall,  these  surveys  show  that  users 
are satisfied with the services provided by the library. This is confirmed by our 
survey.  FGigure  4.2  shows  the  performance  on  this  aspect  as  evaluated  by 
Commission  respondents.  They  rate  the  performance  in  terms  of  responding 
to  information  needs  very  highly.  Three  quarters  (75%)  of  Commission 
respondents  were  positive  about  the  Library’s  performance  and  only  a  very 
small group (4%) of the respondents thinks that the Library underperformed.  

70 

0%20%40%60%80%100%Access to informationsources (online / onsite)Expanding collectionPerformance Commission Library Very goodGoodNeutralPoorVery poor 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

Figure 4.2 

Performance Commission Library (2) 

Source: Panteia (2015), Stakeholder consultation 

However, the survey also showed that many potential users are not aware of 
the (electronic) library services offered (see also section  3.5). This is possibly 
because many users can access online library content directly. The integration 
of  access  to  e-resources  is  designed  to  directly  link  to  the  relevant  resources 
(through  the  SFX  link  resolver).  As  a  result,  users  may  not  necessarily  be 
aware  of  the  involvement  of  the  Commission  Library.  When  asking  about  the 
performance of the Library in ensuring its visibility amongst Commission staff, 
the  survey  showed  that  more  respondents  were  negative  (33%)  instead  of 
positive (29%) with regard to the Library’s performance.  

The Commission Library organised trainings and information sessions for 
its users, but these reached a limited number of participants. Given the small 
scope  and  outreach  of  these  activities,  these  were  not  sufficient  to  improve 
the  visibility  or  the  strategies  to  obtain  information  autonomously  within  the 
European  Commission.  However,  these  should  also  contribute  to  developing 
skills  amongst  Commission  staff  to  find  research  autonomously.  Despite  the 
relatively small number of training sessions that were organised, respondents 
were  relatively  positive  about  them.  Almost  half  (42%)  of  the  Commission 
respondents  were  positive,  while  only  around  one  eighth  (12%)  rated  the 
performance as negative.  

This shows that the library has been effective in achieving its goals to respond 
to  requests  for  documents  and  in  offering  interactive  and  easy-to-use 
electronic  library  services.  In  fact,  the  CL’s  continued  effectiveness  in 
achieving this goal seems to have simultaneously contributed to a problem of 
visibility  amongst  its  main  users.  At  the  same  time,  the  limited  outreach  of 
activities  conducted  by  the  library  were  not  able  to  reduce  this  problem,  and 
thereby, pose a risk to the overall effectiveness of this objective.  

4.1.4  Developing cooperation and partnership  

The  Library  takes  a  central  position  in  the  European  Commission  library 
system and collaborates with various other libraries in other Institutions. Such 
cooperation  has  proven  effective  in  the  case  of  organising  the  structural 
sharing of metadata with the Publication Office. Due to this cooperation, 
the Library is able to integrate the metadata from all EU publications directly 
into  its  catalogue,  thereby  saving  costly  cataloguing  at  the  Library’s  end  and 
making  all  these  resources  directly  available  in  ECLAS.  Chapter  3  shows  how 
the Library has taken an active role in cooperation through the network of EU 

71 

0%20%40%60%80%100%VisibilityProviding support todevelop searching skillsResponding to informationneedsPerformance Commission Library Very goodGoodNeutralPoorVery poor 
 
 
 
 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

Institution  libraries  (EUROLIB).  In  cooperation  with  DG-libraries  within  the 
Commission,  the  Library  has  adopted  a  central  role,  providing  support  and 
guidance,  while  offering  services  to  staff  in  these  DGs,  and  as  such, 
complementing the expertise of the local libraries.  

4.1.5  The impact of Commission Library activities 

The  different  sections  in  this  chapter  explored  to  what  extent  the  activities 
performed  by  the  Commission  Library  have  contributed  to  achieving  its  main 
objectives.  This  is  a  crucial  question  for  assessing  the  effectiveness  of  the 
work  of the  Library  over the last years. These  objectives further build on the 
mission  statement  in  which  the  objective  is  ‘to  conserve  and  develop 
collections […] on all subjects of European integration’. Although this may be a 
goal in itself, working towards this objective also has consequences beyond its 
immediate  effects,  such  as  whether  users  have  learned  something  from  the 
use of the catalogues, whether they accomplished their task and whether the 
expectations of users are met.  

The  most  relevant  of  these  criteria  is  whether  users’  expectations  have  been 
met75. We believe that the people working in an organisation have sufficiently 
internalised  the  goals  and  objectives  of  the  organisation  so  that  those  goals 
shape  their  expectations  when  they  come  to  the  library.  They  are  expecting 
that  the  library  will  help  them  get  the  job  done.  In  addition,  effects  can  be 
identified  at  the  organisational level,  with  the  final  goal  to  improve  European 
policies  (being  informed  and  evidence  based).  Here,  we  enter  the  field  of 
knowledge management. Knowledge management has been defined in chapter 
2 as a collection of systematic approaches to help the flow of information and 
knowledge  in  an  organisation,  allowing  employees  to  act  more  efficiently  and 
effectively  and  create  value  for  the  organisation  as  a  whole.  A  corporate 
library is an important partner in facilitating effective knowledge management. 
To assess the impact of the Commission Library on this, we asked Commission 
staff that made use  of  the Commission Library to indicate to what extent the 
Commission library created value. Although such ‘value’ is difficult to quantify 
and measure, we understand it here in the extent to which the library assists 
in  ‘getting  the  job  done’.  Particular  attention  was  paid  to  improving  the 
internal  work  process  and  the  way  the  library  contributed  to  improved  policy 
making.  

75 Paul B. Kantor, Ph.D. Tefko Saracevic, Ph.D. Alexandria, Project Laboratory Rutgers University 
(1998), Valuing Special Libraries and Information.Services Special Libraries Association. Based 
on a Presentation at 

Indianapolis, IN., June 8, 1998.  

72 

 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

Figure 4.3 

Impacts – measured by survey 

Source: Panteia (2015), Stakeholder consultation 76 

The  figure  above  shows  that  amongst  those  respondents  that  use  the 
Commission  Library,  a  very  positive  image  exists  on  the  value  of  the 
Commission Library. Around one fifth (19%) of all respondents (a majority of 
56%  when  excluding  non-users)  agreed  that  the  work  of  the  Commission 
Library  contributes  to  evidence-based  policymaking,  while  only  a  very  small 
group  of  around  2%  (6%  when  excluding  non-users)  indicated  this  as  not  to 
be  the  case.  An  even  larger  number  of  users  of  around  a  quarter  (27%) 
agreed  to  the  statement  that  the  Library  helps  staff  members  to  achieve 
better results in their work. Only a very small group (3%) of the respondents 
disagreed  with  this  statement.  By  asking  one  relatively  abstract  question 
(contribution to evidence-based policymaking), and a more concrete question 
(achieve better results in work), the importance of the Commission Library for 
improving  work  processes  in  the  European  Commission  could  be  confirmed. 
Only  a  very  small  number  of  users  is  not  convinced  that  the  Commission 
Library  contributes  to  this.  This  shows  the  substantial  potential  for  the 
Commission Library to play a central role in the wider knowledge management 
strategy  within  the  European  Commission.  However,  if  more  than  half  of  the 
Commission  staff  do  not  use  the  services,  then  this  potential  remains  largely 
unused, thereby limiting its overall impact.  

4.2 

Proportionality of achieved results 

To  assess  the  efficiency  of  the  results  in  relation  to  the  objectives  set,  it  is 
evaluated  to  what  the  extent  the  outputs  were  achieved  by  the  activities  ‘at 
reasonable  cost’77.  Information  about  financial  resources  of  the  European 
Commission library system as a whole is rather scarce and difficult to obtain, 
as  it  is  not  in  a  central  location.  The  Commission  Library  only  has  direct 
control  over  its  annual  acquisition  budget.  In  addition,  this  evaluation  also 
assesses the Library’s allocation of resources under other budgets, such as the 
Library’s  overall  annual  staff  and  storage  costs.  For  these  aspects,  the 
deployment of costs will be discussed, after which the CL’s organisation set-up 
and  internal  procedures  are  reviewed,  thereby  reflecting  the  following 
evaluation questions.  

76 Please note that the substantial difference between the share of non-library users is related to 

different number of respondents answering do not know. These are not presented in the figure.  

77 European Commission (2003), Evaluating EU Activities: A practical guide for the Commission 

services. EC DG Budget. 

73 

Does not use Library57%Fully agree7%Agree20%Neutral13%Disagree2%Fully disagree1%Other3%CL enables to achieve better results in my workDoes not use Library66%Fully agree5%Agree14%Neutral13%Disagree1%Fully disagree1%CL contributes to evidence-based policy making 
  
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

Evaluation questions on ‘efficiency’ 

EQ5. To what extent has the CL achieved outputs and results cost-
effectively in terms of financial and human resources deployed? 

EQ6. To what extent do the CL’s organisational set-up and internal 
procedures  contribute  to  the  effectiveness  and  efficiency  of 
operations? 

4.2.1  Financial costs related to Library activities 

The  Library’s  acquisition  budget  is  assessed  from  a  general  efficiency 
perspective first, after which the efficiency for the more specific acquisition of 
newspapers,  other  printed  acquisitions  and  the  acquisition  of  e-resources  are 
for  purchasing  and  preserving  resources  and 
evaluated.  The  budget 
subscriptions  amounts  to  roughly  2,5  million  euros  per  year  and  has  been 
relatively  stable  over  the  last  years  (see  below).  This  budget  includes  the 
acquisitions for most local libraries within the Commission as well.  

Figure 4.4 

Development acquisition budget 

Figure 4.4. shows that over the last four years, the division of the acquisition 
budget  has  also  been  relatively  stable.  The  share  of  e-resources  has  slightly 
increased  from  one  third  (35%)  in  2011  to  almost  half  (42%)  of  the  entire 
acquisition  budget.  Still,  the  budget  spent  on  e-resources  is  less  than  half  of 
the entire acquisitions budget, which does not seem in line with wider trends 
in  the  library  world.  This  is  also  not  in  line  with  the  increasing  preference  of 
online resources, as discussed elsewhere in the report. The increasing budget 
for e-resources corresponds with the increasing number of articles downloaded 
from  e-resources  that  has  tripled  since  201178.  In  addition,  the  decreasing 
budget  for  printed  resources  is  reflected  in  the  number  of  printed  resources 
loaned out, which has gone down.  

It  is  not  argued  here  that  the  budget  on  e-resources  should  expand 
proportionally  to  the  increased  use.  However,  the  large  share  of  printed 

78 Based on user statistics provided by the Commission Library in the Annual Activity reports 

2008-2013.  

74 

 
 
  
 
 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

resources that is still being bought may become obsolete in the near future, as 
can be deduced from wider developments in the library world. In comparison 
with  other  libraries,  the  share  of  the  acquisition  budget  spent  on  printed 
resources  within  the  Commission  Library  is  relatively  high  (in  2013  over 
50%79).  Compare  this  for  instance  to  figures  collected  from  a  number  of 
academic  libraries,  where  over  the  last  years  on  average  only  20%  of  the 
acquisition  budget  was  spent  on  printed  resources80.  An  explanation  for  the 
large  share  of  printed  resources  in  its  acquisitions  is  that  a  considerable 
portion of the budget is spent on the printed daily issues of major newspapers 
in all Member States and some third country newspapers. In 2013, about one 
third (30%) of the total acquisition budget was spent on newspapers81.  

Newspaper budget 
This  large  allocation  of  the  budget  to  newspapers  reaches  only  a  very  small 
share of the Commission staff. As a general rule, dailies and weeklies can only 
be ordered within the limits of each DG’s budget, for libraries, documentation 
centres,  the  cabinets  and  senior  management  (no  more  than  one  title),  and 
for  the  press  review  department  of  DG  COMM.  Despite  the  small  number  of 
staff members reached, users indicate in the survey that they make use of the 
newspapers  and  magazines  regularly,  as  indicated  in  figure  2.4,  and  are 
generally  happy  with  the  availability  of  newspapers.  However,  the  costs 
amount  to  €25  per  staff  member  a  year,  which  seems  disproportionate.  To 
assess whether these costs are justified from the perspective of efficiency, it is 
necessary  to  know  to  what  extent  these  1.274  paper  copies  are  read.  This 
information is however not available. Even though the Commission Library has 
started  to  make  PressDisplay  (a  tool  to  access  printed  media  content  online) 
available to a small selection of staff in higher management, it is currently not 
accessible  for  Commission  staff  with  lower  pay  grades.  Also  for  this  tool,  no 
data on actual usage is available. Without any knowledge on the actual use of 
one-third of the entire annual acquisition budget, allocated to buy slightly over 
1.000  paper  copies  of  daily  newspapers,  these  expenses  cannot  be  justified 
and  seem  disproportionate.  Moreover,  it  is  not  in  line  with  the  wider  Library 
objective to provide resources to the ‘entire Commission’.  

Other acquisitions in print 
To gain an understanding of the efficiency, the evaluation paired the expenses 
for  other  types  of  resources  acquired  under  the  annual  acquisition  budget  to 
user  statistics.  This  analysis  gives  insights  into  the  size  of  the  acquisition 
budget  against  the  use  of  library  resources  and  also  gives  an  indication 
whether the ‘right’ resources are being acquired. 

In  2013,  the  Commission  Library  spent  €37  on  average  on  acquisitions  of 
printed material for every loan processed (€17 if the budget on newspapers is 
excluded).  To  be  able  to  interpret  this  value,  this  was  also  calculated  for  a 

79 Based on data provided in annual activity report 2013 and additional budgetary data provided 

by the Commission Library. 

80 Most libraries do not publish this data in a comparable format. Based on a selection of 

comparable figures in annual reports of 2013 of various academic libraries, the figures are based 
on KU Leuven Library, Library of University of Amsterdam, Library of Erasmus University 
Rotterdam.  

81 Based on additional financial figures provided by the Commission Library. In 2013, this budget 
was used to acquire 1240 daily editions of 147 newspapers from all Member States in Brussels 
and another 34 in Luxembourg, reaching in total a maximum of 1,274 users, if all editions are 
read at least once (data inferred from AAR 2013).  

75 

 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

number  of  academic  libraries82.  It  was  found  that  these  academic  libraries 
spent  considerably  less  per  processed  paper  loan;  the  Libraries  in  the 
University  of  Amsterdam  and  KU  Leuven  for  example  spend  roughly  €5  on 
paper acquisitions per  paper loan processed.  The  EUR (Erasmus University of 
Rotterdam)  Library  spends  considerably  more,  roughly  €15  per  paper  loan 
processed, which is still less than half of the Commission Library83. Even if the 
considerable  CL-expenses  on  printed  newspapers  are  excluded, 
the 
Commission  Library  scores  in  the  high  end  in  comparison  to  these  academic 
libraries84.  These  values  show  a  remarkable  difference  between  the 
investments in acquisitions in print and the number of loans in print. As such, 
the  Commission  Library  does  not  only  spend  relatively  more  on  acquiring 
printed  resources  than  academic  libraries,  its  own  resources  are  also  utilised 
less than in academic libraries.  

Acquisition of e-resources 
For  e-resources  a  similar  analysis  was  conducted.  In  2013,  the  Commission 
Library  spent  €7,80  on  acquiring  e-resources  for  every  article  downloaded, 
while  this  value  lies  around  €1  in  academic  libraries.  As  already  outlined 
above, this distortion is not because the Commission Library spends that much 
on  e-resources  in  absolute  terms  at  this  moment.  Instead,  this  high  value  is 
related to the comparative low use of e-resources at this point in comparison 
to academic libraries85. Even though some of this discrepancy may be related 
to  the  different  nature  and  different  demand  of  the  Commission  Library 
compared  to  academic  libraries,  these  cannot  explain  the  full  extent  of  the 
difference. 

 One of the solutions for raising efficiency in the acquisition of these resources 
is to increase the use of Commission Library services. Elsewhere in this report 
it was concluded that the limited visibility of services has limited the full use of 
the  (e-)  resources  made  available  by  the  Commission  Library.  Therefore, 
future  improvement  of  visibility  of  services  and  resources  provided  by  the 
Commission Library can also contribute to a more efficient use of acquisitions. 
If  more  Commission  staff  make  more  use  of  the  provided  resources,  then 
costs per downloaded article will go down. A similar argument can be used for 
the paper newspaper that can only be read by a limited group. If these are no 
longer provided in paper, but instead, digitally to the entire Commission staff, 
for  instance  through  PressDisplay,  then  usage  cannot  only  be  improved 
considerably, but can also be monitored. This should improve the efficiency of 

82 As argued earlier, such a comparison should be treated with caution, due to the specific nature 
of some of the acquisitions of the Commission Library. However, as a rough benchmark, the 
costs of these academic libraries can be compared to the cost structure of the Commission 
Library. Such a comparison gives an insight in the costs of offering full library services to staff 
with only occasional needs for information. This insight allows a critical assessment on the 
efficiency of services provided. The parameters within which ‘the cost per loan’ are acceptable 
for academic libraries and the CL may be considerably different, but the costs themselves can be 
compared. 

83 Based on annual reports 2013 of various academic libraries, including KU Leuven Library, 

Library of University of Amsterdam, Library of Erasmus University Rotterdam. 

84 The estimates cannot distinguish newspapers acquired for these academic libraries. However, 
even if these libraries spend a considerable share of their budget on newspapers, we assume 
that its share in relation to other acquisition is relatively small, in contrast with the Commission 
library.  

85 It is also taken into account that publishers often work with differentiated prices for academic 
libraries and corporate libraries. For obvious reasons we cannot compare the actual prices paid 
for similar products by an academic library and the Commission Library. See for instance Heidi 
Weller "The Twenty-First Century Law Library: A Law Firm Librarian's Thoughts" Law Library 
Journal, Vol. 101:4, 2009, p. 517-523. http://www.aallnet.org/mm/Publications/llj/LLJ-
Archives/Vol-101/pub_llj_v101n04/2009-28.pdf  

76 

 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

the  resources  allocated  and  further  help  to  offer  resources  in  line  with  user 
needs. 

4.2.2  Human resources costs 

In  2014,  the  Commission  Library  employed  65  persons,  including  the  staff 
working  at  the  Luxembourg  Library.  The  total  costs  were  calculated  by 
multiplying  this  number  of  persons  with  the  annual  cost  calculation  of  an 
average  EU  staff  member,  as  determined  by  DG  BUDGET86.  As  a  result,  the 
annual personnel costs related to the operation of the Commission Library are 
estimated  at  €7,6  million  for  201487.  In  reality,  the  costs  are  lower  because 
the  larger  proportion  of  the  CL  staff  is  AST  (94%,  based  on  AAR  2013), 
instead  of  the  more  expensive  AD  grade.  For  the  European  Commission  as  a 
whole  (and  therefore  for  the  DG  BUDGET  calculation),  this  distribution 
between AD-AST is roughly 50%-50%.  

In order to estimate the human resources cost made per type of activity, the 
number  of  library  staff  were  matched  by  relevant  sections88.  As  a  result,  the 
budget  spent  on  human  resources  per  type  of  activity  was  estimated  (see 
table 4.1 below). 

Table 4.1 

Overview of personnel costs Commission Library 

Type of activities 

Total 

Number 
of staff  

Number 
contract 
agents  

of 

Estimated 
costs 

Share  in 
costs 

Acquisition team 

Circulation team 

11 

8 

Dedicated 
resources 

to 

e-

5 

8 

2 

4 

Horizontal 
technical support  

and 

8+1* 

6 

Internal - Financial cell   3 

Internal - Management  2 

Librarians 

Staff in Luxembourg 

17 

10 

3 

2 

17 

8 

3 

6 

1 

2 

0 

0 

0 

2 

 € 1.266.000   17% 

 € 684.000  

9% 

 € 598.000  

8% 

 € 932.000  

12% 

 € 396.000  

5% 

 € 264.000  

3% 

 € 2.244.000   30% 

 € 1.196.000   16% 

Total 

64+1*  50 

14 

 € 7.580.000    

86 Ares(2014)2105048 - 26/06/2014 
87 Based on 14 Contract Agents and their average costs, and 50 officials against the average costs 

of a permanent official in 2014. 

88 These sections do not necessarily follow the internal set-up of the Library, but are instead, 

based on the type of work they do. We cannot exclude the possibility that staff members work 
for different sections, but will merely consider this an estimation. Based on the interviews 
conducted during the site visit to the CL, it was assumed that the various ‘chefs d’équipe’ also 
contribute substantially to the work of their team. 

77 

 
 
                                                 
Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

The  overview  table  shows  that  12%  of  the  HR  budget  is  spent  on  internal 
(support)  services,  including  the  financial  department  and  management.  The 
horizontal  and  technical  support  (8%)  are  not  considered  as  internal  support 
services, as these work substantively with the various departments. Based on 
the  information  provided  here,  it  cannot  be  assessed  whether  or  not  these 
contribute  to  the  functioning  of  the  organisation  efficiently.  What  can  be 
concluded  is  that  the  Commission  Library  has  a  relatively  small  body  of  staff 
compared  to  the  institutional  size  of  the  entire  Commission  (0,2%).  In 
comparison to the number of staff employed in various academic libraries and 
their  target  populations  (around  0,5%-0,6%),  the  CL  staff  size  is  smaller89. 
When interpreting this difference, again we should not ignore the fact that the 
CL  and  academic  libraries  are  inherently  different.  The  use  of  resources  lies 
considerably  higher  in  academic  libraries,  when  measured  in  number  of 
searches or number of loans per individual staff member.  

Compared  to  other  more  or  less  similar  (corporate)  libraries,  it  is  noted  that 
the  CL  does  not  employ  university-trained  librarians  at  AD  level  (unlike  for 
instance,  the  European  Parliament).  This  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  the 
librarians  in  the  CL  are  less  qualified,  but  their  competences  are  scaled  at  a 
lower  level  with  a  relatively  lower  pay  grade  than  in  other  Institutions.  This 
may be related to historical reasons, but can have an effect on the quality of 
future  service  provision  of  the  Commission  Library.  This  report  already 
identified  the  need  for  professional  fully  trained  librarians  and  for  this  a  full 
recognition of their skills is necessary. This does not just mean staff with the 
right  IT  skills  but  also  staff  who  understand  user  needs  and  are  geared 
towards  excellent  service.  To  attract  such  staff,  an  appropriate  pay  grade  is 
also essential.  

4.2.3  Costs of specific tasks 

Based  on  the  function  profiles  identified  in  Table  4.1  in  the  previous  section, 
an  estimation  was  made  to  what  extent  each  of  the  function  categories 
contributes  to  the  three  global  institutional  objectives  of  the  Commission 
Library90.  

Table 4.2 

Estimation of contribution to global institutional objectives 

Making information available to users 

Acquisition team 

 € 1.266.000   17% 

Staff in Luxembourg (1/3) 

 € 398.667  

5% 

Horizontal  &  technical  support 
(1/3)  

 € 310.667  

4% 

Internal – Management (1/3) 

 € 88.000  

1% 

Internal - Financial cell (1/3) 

 € 132.000  

2% 

Total 

€ 2.195.333  29% 

89 Based on annual reports 2013 of various academic libraries, including KU Leuven Library, 

Library of University of Amsterdam, Library of Erasmus University Rotterdam. For the 
Commission the total number of staff in 2013 (33.197) was divided by the total number of 
Library staff (62). For the academic libraries, the number of staff for each library are divided by 
the total body of staff and students.  

90 It is assumed that the horizontal services (Internal organisation and horizontal support service) 
and the Luxembourg staff (for which a breakdown was not provided) invest their time equally 
towards each objective. 

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Responding to request for documents / other services 

Librarians 

Circulation team 

 € 2.244.000   30% 

 € 684.000  

9% 

Dedicated to e-resources 

 € 598.000  

8% 

Staff in Luxembourg (1/3) 

 € 398.667  

5% 

Horizontal  &  technical  support 
(1/3) 

 € 310.667  

4% 

Internal – Management (1/3) 

 € 88.000  

1% 

Internal - Financial cell (1/3) 

 € 132.000  

2% 

Total 

€ 4.455.333   59% 

Cooperation & partnerships 

Staff in Luxembourg (1/3) 

 € 398.667  

5% 

Horizontal  &  technical  support 
(1/3) 

 € 310.667  

4% 

Internal – Management (1/3) 

 € 88.000  

1% 

Internal - Financial cell (1/3) 

 € 132.000  

2% 

Total 

 € 929.333   12% 

Table  4.2  shows  that  relatively  limited  resources  are  invested  in  cooperation 
and partnership with other libraries / services; an estimated 12% of the total 
HR  expenses.  This  is  an  important  pillar  to  achieve  effectiveness  in  the 
objectives of the Commission Library, but it would not be reasonable to expect 
similar  expenses  here  as  for  the  other  two  objectives  that  focus  on  its  core 
users.  Therefore,  the  relatively  limited  expenses  in  this  field  are  considered 
proportionate  in  perspective  of  the  overall  objective  and  compared  to  the 
other two objectives, making information available to users and responding to 
requests for documents / other services. 

The  efforts  of  the  Commission  Library  to  acquire  the  right  resources  for  its 
users are estimated at around 29%  of the total budget for human resources. 
The acquisition team is responsible for acquiring books, periodicals and other 
types of resources, in close cooperation with its primary users. More than half 
(59%)  of  the  HR  costs  are  related  to  responding  to  requests  for  documents 
and  /  or  providing  services  through  which  users  can  access  collections 
themselves. Particularly in this area, the Library is of value to its users, which 
therefore  justifies  the  larger  costs.  In  fact,  these  larger  expenses  are 
necessary  for  the  Library  to  respond  adequately  to  user  needs.  An  important 
question  to  be  answered  here  is  how  the  costs  can  be  divided  between 
services  provided  to  external  users  versus  services  provided  to  Commission 
staff. 

For  this  reason,  an  attempt  was  made  to  quantify  the  costs  of  providing 
information  resources  to  external  users.  Additional  data  provided  by  the 
Commission  Library  indicates  that  in  2014  7.484  resources  (books  and 
periodicals)  were  requested  for  use  in  the  reading  rooms.  Based  on  the 

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assumption  that  these  resources  can  be  exclusively  attributed  to  external 
users91 the share of resources requested by external users are calculated and 
compared  to  the  total  number  of  loans  of  the  Commission  Library  in  2014 
(18.804)92.  This  shows  that  40%  of  the  activities  of  the  circulation  team  are 
related to requests from external users93. As such, this is a substantial cost for 
the  circulation  teams.  Whereas  external  users  are  very  positive  about  the 
added value of this service, this report already discussed the relatively limited 
added  value  to  existing  services  from  the  perspective  of  the  European 
Commission. As such, a balance needs to be struck between the added value 
from  the  perspective  of  external  users,  and  from  the  perspective  of  the 
European Commission.  

4.2.4  Storage of physical resources 

It  was  already  discussed  that  insufficient  data  is  available  to  evaluate  the 
actual  costs  of  the  physical  spaces  occupied  by  the  Commission  Library. 
Despite these limitations, some estimates were provided with the costs of the 
various  storage  locations  of  the  Library,  in  Brussels  and  in  Luxembourg.  The 
Commission  Library  has  storage  facilities  for  its  resources  available  in  its 
headquarters  at  VM18  (3.855m2),  an  out-of-town  storage 
in 
Kortenberg  near  Brussels  for  its  ‘cold  stock’  (600m2),  and  in  its  base  in 
Luxembourg  (860m2).  Table  below  summarises  the  costs  related  to  these 
locations.  

facility 

Table 4.3 

Costs for storage of physical resources94 

%  annual  acquisitions 
2013 

Brussels – 
VM18 

Brussels – 
Kortenberg 

Luxembourg 

85,75% 

14,25% 

Storage used (m2) 

% storage used 

3.854,9 

72,53% 

600 

11,29% 

Cost per m2 (2013)  

€240,50 

€70,50 

860 

16,18% 

€497,90 

Total costs storage 2013   €927.103 

€42.300 

€428.194 

% total storage costs 

69,36% 

30,64% 

In total, it is shown that the storage  costs in 2013 approximate €1,5  million. 
This surpasses the Library’s annual acquisition costs for e-resources. This is a 
substantial  annual  investment  and,  therefore,  warrants  additional  attention. 
The  cost  for  storage  is  relatively  lower  in  Brussels  than  in  Luxembourg,  as 
shown  by  the  ratio  between  costs  and  storage  space.  Even  though  only  16% 
of the total storage space is found in Luxembourg, its storage costs are almost 

91 This assumption was based on the fact that Commission staff can borrow books from the 

Library (instead of consulting on-site), they can access e-resources from their workstation and 
only a marginal share of Commission staff indicated visiting the reading rooms. 

92 Based on statistics provided directly to the evaluation team.  
93 Due to the availability of data in 2014 we ignore the share of inter-Library Loans. Even though 
external users cannot borrow material from the Commission Library directly, they can request a 
loan through another Library that subsequently obtains the requested resource. However, in 
2013 the number of loans through this mechanism was negligible, with only 192 external 
requests.  

94 Based on 2013 data, provided separately by the Commission Library.  

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half of the total storage space in Brussels. In view of its small share in loans 
and  visits  of  Luxembourg  in  comparison  to  its Brussels  location,  the  question 
is whether the continued practice to store printed resources in Luxembourg is 
justified in view of its considerable costs. 

4.3 

Conclusions 

This  chapter  has  shown  that  the  Commission  Library  met  its  institutional 
objectives effectively.  

  The  Commission  Library  offers  relevant  collections,  and  actively 

cooperates with partner libraries and other EU Institutions.  

  Library  services  provisions  help  Commission  staff  to  achieve  better 
results  in  their  work.  Due  to  the  relatively  limited  use  of  its  services 
among Commission staff, its impact can be further improved by raising 
visibility.  

  The  Library  also  develops  cooperation  and  partnerships  between 

libraries, both inside and outside the Commission.  

The  Library  is  a  crucial  actor  in  supporting  users  to  find  the  right  resources 
and offering relevant access to resources through relevant subscriptions. This 
justifies  corresponding  investments  in  relevant  IT-tools  and  skilled  library 
staff,  which  is  currently  partly  reflected  in  the  current  allocation  of  resources 
by  the  Library.  Due  to  the  lack  of  comparable  benchmark  data  or  underlying 
data  on  usage  of  services,  no  solid  conclusions  could  be  reached  on  the 
efficiency  of  Library  activities.  Instead,  the  various  costs  were  analysed  from 
the perspective of the other evaluation criteria, based on which activities were 
identified where efficiency may be improved. 

  The costs made by the Commission Library in acquisitions in relation to 
their  use  are  high  in  comparison  to  data  from  academic  libraries.  A 
higher  visibility  can  lead  to  higher  use  of  collections  and  services  by 
Commission  staff,  which  would  reduce  these  costs  expressed  per  user 
and as such contribute to overall efficiency. 

  Over  half  of  the  annual  acquisitions  budget  is  spent  on  printed 
resources, which is relatively high. Over a third of this budget is spent 
on paper newspapers for a small selection of senior management. 

  The  Commission  Library  has  a  relatively  small  body  of  staff  in 

comparison to academic libraries.  

  The  relatively  high  costs  related  to  the  circulation  of  resources  for 
external users may be reconsidered in view of the limited added value 
to the existing network of EU libraries, provided to these users.  

  The  costs  of  storage  of  printed  resources  are  comparatively  high  in 
Luxembourg,  particularly  in  view  of  decreasing  demand  for  printed 
resources in the next few years.  

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5. 

CONCLUSIONS 

Key messages 

  The collections and services of the Commission Library are found to 
be relevant, useful for its current users, and are offered effectively 
and cost-efficiently.  

  However, to ensure the continued relevance and utility of its 

services and to remain cost-efficient and effective in the near 
future, the findings of this evaluation point clearly towards more e-
resources, targeted support and more effective communication to 
reach Commission staff. These findings are further elaborated 
under the recommendations. 

This  chapter  presents  the  evaluation  conclusions  based  on  the  analysis 
presented  in  chapters  2-4  of  this  report.  In  the  online  survey,  a  Commission 
official  eloquently  evaluated  the  relevance  and  utility  of  Library  services  as 
follows: 

‘The central library will  inevitably have to find  a new role in the 21st  century. 
Most  of  the  information  is  now  available  on  the  internet.  EC  staff  members 
don't need a room full of paper, or a service for distant-loans. The information 
is all somewhere out there. Nevertheless, I see a great need for a service that 
helps staff (i) channel relevant information to them and (ii) filter out irrelevant 
information.  There  is  so  much  going  on  within  the  Commission,  papers, 
publications, press releases, etc. As a simple Administrator, it is impossible to 
keep  an  overview  over  it.  Nevertheless,  a  certain  portion  of  it  is  highly 
relevant for my work’ 

This  quote  very  well  summarises  the  main  evaluation  findings,  which  are 
briefly  revisited  below  for  each  of  the  evaluation  criteria.  Based  on  these 
findings, a number of practical recommendations and possible future scenarios 
are formulated in Chapter 6. These serve to support the Commission Library in 
dealing  with  the  internal  and  external  challenges  towards  the  continued 
relevance, utility, effectiveness and efficiency of the Library.  

5.1 

Findings on Relevance 

5.1.1  Relevance of CL operational activities (knowledge management) of the 
European Commission and stakeholders’ needs and expectations 

The  evaluation  shows  how  the  services  and  collections  of  the  Commission 
Library  continue  to  be  relevant  for  Commission  staff.  It  provides  printed 
resources demanded by Commission staff, and offers access to a large number 
of  e-resources,  which  assist  them  in  their  daily  work.  The  Library  also  offers 
resources  that  are  relevant  for  Commission  staff  that  currently  do  not  make 
use  of  the  Library.  In  fact,  it  provides  integrated  access  to  e-resources  in  a 
way  that  some  respondents  may  not  even  be  aware  they  are  making  use  of 
the  Library.  Most  e-resources  available  can  be  directly  accessed  from  every 
Brussels / Luxembourg based Commission work station, without making use of 
the Commission Library catalogue.  

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Despite this relevance  of the Commission Library to its users, its institutional 
objectives are  relatively vague. These do not provide targeted goals,  but aim 
at  a  broad  and  unspecified  need  for  information.  For  example,  they  do  not 
explicitly aim to contributing to knowledge management in the wider European 
Commission.  The  expectation  is  that  the  need  for  specific  knowledge 
management policies within the European Commission will further increase in 
the  next  years.  The  Commission  works  in  an increasingly  complex  world  that 
requires  in-depth  and  up-to-date  information  and  knowledge  on  a  large 
number  of  different  domains.  Moreover,  staff  are  increasingly  recruited  as 
generalists  and  are  mobile  within  different  positions  in  the  European 
Commission.  In  this  context,  it  is  crucial  to  establish  mechanisms  in  the 
organisation  to  prevent  the  ‘leaking  of  knowledge’  and  facilitate  the  flow  of 
information  between  the  right  people,  so  they  can  act  more  efficiently  and 
effectively to create value for the organisation (improving policies). In view of 
the nature of the daily work of the Commission Library, it has the potential to 
contribute actively to the implementation of such policies.  

Since  the  link  with  daily  operations  of  DGs  and  its  contribution  to  the 
realisation of Commission-wide organisational objectives is not specified in the 
Commission  Library’s  objectives,  very  little  ownership  exists  amongst  senior 
management,  as  confirmed  by  Commission  staff  who  indicated  in  the  survey 
that  the  hierarchy  does  not  sufficiently  encourage  them  to  make  use  of  the 
Library.  The  consequence  of  this  is  a  relatively  limited  use  of  services;  not 
because its services are not relevant, but because its key stakeholders are not 
sufficiently supported by the hierarchy to use the Library as an instrument for 
developing institutional knowledge. This poses an increasing risk to the future 
relevance of the CL. 

The  recent  focus  on  e-resources  and  immediate  access  of  collections  through 
staff workstations is important for the continued relevance of the Commission 
Library. Less and less printed resources are being requested by users, and the 
trends  in  the  wider  world  of  information  suggest  this  will  only  continue  to 
decline.  The  Library  has  recently  taken  a  first  step  towards  rebranding  its 
strategy,  services  and  communication  towards  users  with  the  newly 
introduced name of the Commission Library, in which it emphasises its role as 
‘e-resource centre’. This can potentially contribute to the continued relevance 
of  the  Commission  Library,  as  it  reinforces  its  role  in  providing  relevant 
resources  to  Commission  staff.  At  the  same  time,  the  increased  use  of  e-
resources creates challenges for the visibility of the Commission Library. With 
access  provided  to  every  Commission  workstation,  and  with  the  increase  in 
use  of  these  resources,  users  no  longer  need  to  contact  the  Commission 
Library directly.  

Moreover, this reduced visibility is observed parallel to the ongoing closure of 
local  libraries  in  various  DGs,  which  further  increases  the  physical  distance 
between users and the Commission Library. As a result, staff may not always 
know where specialised resources can be found. In the past, the Commission 
Library  would  be  the  place  to  find  general  collections,  while  the  DG  library 
used  to  offer  more  specialised  titles.  The  increased  physical  distance  and 
transfer of collections, resulting from local library closures also contributed to 
challenges in the continued relevance of the Library.  

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5.1.2  Complementarity and duplication of CL to resources available externally and 

restricted within Commission departments 

The  evaluation  shows  that  the  services  and  collections  provided  by  the  CL 
provide  an  overall  added  value  compared  to  external  information  providers 
and  electronic  resources  restricted  to  certain  Commission  departments.  The 
services  and  collections  of  the  Commission  Library  have  been  assessed  from 
the  perspective  of  changes  in  the  wider  world  of  information,  the  various 
ongoing  developments  within  the  Commission  and  the  concrete  needs  of 
Library  users.  The  evaluation  shows  that  users  see  an  added  value  for  the 
collection  and  services  offered  by  the  Commission  Library  to  what  is  already 
available externally and within Commission departments. The Library provides 
access  to  a  large  number  of  relevant  resources  that  would  not  be  so  easily 
accessible without its services.  

The  added  value  of  the  ongoing  cataloguing  efforts  by  Commission  Library 
staff  is  becoming  less  relevant  as  more  and  more  meta-data  becomes 
available for use in the wider world of information. The possible acquisition of 
a  cloud-based  Library  Management  System  may  facilitate  the  use  of  these 
global meta-datasets in the near future.  

Despite  ongoing  centralisation  of  library  services  in  the  Commission, 
specialised databases are still acquired directly by DGs. The evaluation shows 
that  some  duplications  exist 
in  the  databases  acquired  by  various 
departments.  These  duplications  may  be  resolved  by  a  more  central  role  for 
the Library, for instance, through RéseauBIB. The Commission Library has also 
taken  steps  to  increase  the  indexing  and  availability  of  the  various  studies 
conducted by the various DGs across the European Commission. These efforts 
are highly relevant and have an added value to the daily work of Commission 
staff,  but  need  to  be  properly  communicated.  Finally,  added  value  of  the 
Commission  Library  lies  in  its  crucial  role  to  support  DGs  in  obtaining  their 
specialised  resources,  and  its  expertise  in  the  procurement  of  library 
resources.  

The Commission Library also allows external researchers to consult its printed 
and electronic collections in the reading rooms. Even though the resources can 
be  of  relevance  to  external  users  as  well,  it  is  unclear  how  the  Commission 
Library provides added value to around 400 European Documentation Centres, 
which  are  present  in  all  Member  States,  most  often  in  the  form  of  renowned 
academic  libraries.  These  libraries  also  provide  access  to  valuable  collections 
relatively  similar  to  that  of  the  Commission  Library  in  the  field  of  European 
integration, although they do not gather in the same place as many languages 
as  the  Commission  Library  does.  Currently,  the  Commission  Library  mainly 
seems  to  serve  the  needs  of  Belgian  and  Luxembourgian  residents  for  whom 
the Library is more conveniently located than an EDC.  

5.2 

Findings on utility  

5.2.1  Extent to which results correspond to stakeholder needs  

Only half of the Commission staff indicates that they use the services offered 
by  the  Library.  Yet,  those  that  use  the  Library  (both  Commission  staff  and 
external  users)  are  very  satisfied  with  the  achieved  results  and  the  services 
provided.  Given  these  high  satisfaction  scores,  it  is  concluded  that  the 
relatively low use amongst staff is primarily related to little awareness of the 
services provided, and not due to dissatisfaction with the services provided.  

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Library users are making more use of online resources, and consequently, the 
Commission  Library  has  focused  on  increasing  the  acquisition  of  e-resources. 
Recently,  the  Commission  Library  adopted  a  ‘digital  first’  acquisition  policy, 
according  to  which  it  only  acquires  printed  resources  if  there  is  no  digital 
alternative.  Because  of  this  policy  change,  the  amount  of  new  printed 
acquisitions  follows  the  decreasing  trend  in  use  of  these  printed  resources. 
However,  only  following  the  pattern  of  use  is  not  sufficient.  The  Commission 
Library needs to be proactive in its acquisition strategy to remain useful in the 
near future. Currently, respondents were generally satisfied with the quality of 
the  resources  provided  by  the  Library.  Only  respondents  based  outside 
Brussels  and  Luxembourg  were  significantly  less  satisfied  with  the  collections 
provided. The inability to make use of printed resources and access limitations 
due to different IP addresses possibly contributed to their lower evaluation of 
and satisfaction with utility.  

Respondents  from  DGs  with  closing  /  recently  closed  departmental  libraries 
experienced more difficulties in making use of the Commission search services 
and finding the right resources. This underlines the importance of maintaining 
some  institutionalised  interaction  between  the  Commission  Library  in  the 
centre  and  the  various  DGs.  The  model  of  ‘embedded  librarians’,  which  is 
increasingly  being  adopted  by  various  academic  libraries,  offers  relevant 
insights.  Over  the  last  years,  ‘correspondents’  have  been  appointed  in  DGs 
without libraries, often amongst the former staff of the local library.  In many 
cases  however,  these  have  not  sufficiently  contributed  toward  awareness  of 
the  Commission  Library.  This  limited  the  possibilities  for  the  Commission 
Library  to  remain  fully  aware  of  user  needs  in  individual  DGs.  Often,  these 
correspondents  did  not  consider  it  their  task  to  contribute  toward  knowledge 
management within their DG or provide direct feedback to the CL. The lack of 
a  more  structured  strategy  or  communication  policy  with  clearly  identifiable 
targets  and  objectives  for  these  correspondents  reduced  the  potential  impact 
of  these  correspondents.  They  experienced  a  lack  of  support  from  the 
hierarchy in their work, and successes achieved are mostly related to personal 
effectiveness, rather than anything else. 

Findings  on  the  utility  of  communication  activities  further  underline  the  need 
for  a  more  effective  communication  strategy.  Although  users  indicate  to  be 
satisfied  with  the  Library’s  websites,  it  is  not  sufficient  to  have  a  website  or 
working  social  media  accounts.  Particularly  in  view  of  the  contextual  and 
institutional  challenges  that  the  Library  faces,  a  proactive  attitude  towards  – 
potential  –  users  is  crucial.  The  limited  utility of  the  communication  activities 
conducted  since  the  last  evaluation  could  not  improve  the  visibility  of  the 
Commission  Library.  This  had  its  effects  not  only  on  the  utility  of  the 
Commission Library, but equally on its relevance, effectiveness and efficiency. 

5.3 

Findings on Effectiveness 

5.3.1  Achievement of objectives 

The Commission Library contributed effectively toward reaching its objectives. 
First  of  all,  the  Commission  Library  offers  relevant  collections,  both  to 
Commission  staff  and  external  users.  Second,  it  responds  effectively  to 
requests for documents and offers interactive electronic library services. Third, 
it also actively cooperates with partner libraries and institutions, as outlined by 
its  objectives.  Library  users  give  a  positive  assessment  on  the  value  of  the 
Library  to  their  work  (it  helps  them  to  achieve  better  results)  but  also  for 
improving  the  evidence  base  for  European  policies.  Due  to  the  relatively 

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limited use  of  its  services  among  Commission staff,  its impact  can  be  further 
improved by raising visibility. 

The Commission Library’s effectiveness in improving interactive services for its 
users  without  having  to  call  upon  external  assistance  has  contributed  to  a 
reduced  visibility  of  the  Library  in  the  minds  of  its  core  users.  If  a  staff 
member  needed  a  particular  document  in  the past,  the  Library  was  a  natural 
partner to provide him / her with this resource. Currently, many resources are 
available  on  EC  staff  work  stations,  without  having  to  call  upon  external 
assistance,  which  underlines  the  effectiveness  of  the  Library  in  this  respect. 
However,  this  raises  the  important  issue  of  visibility  of  the  Library,  which 
remains  crucial  if  the  Commission  Library  is  to  play  a  role  in  contributing  to 
knowledge management within the European Commission.  

5.4 

Findings on Efficiency 

5.4.1  Cost effective results in terms of resources deployed 

Due  to  data  limitations,  it  was  not  possible  to  run  a  complete  assessment  of 
the  efficiency  of  the  resources  deployed.  The  available  data  on  the  efficiency 
of the CL was limited, and usable benchmarking data is also hardly available. 
Instead,  the  evaluation  included  an  analysis  of  the  costs  for  acquisitions, 
human  resources  and  storage,  and  identified  a  number  of  areas  where 
efficiency  may  be  improved,  particularly  in  view  of  other  findings  of  this 
evaluation.  A  substantial  part  of  the  Library’s  acquisition  budget  is  still 
allocated  to  printed  resources,  which  will  become  less  relevant  in  the  near 
future.  The  relatively  large  investment  in  a  limited  number  of  printed 
newspapers  seems  disproportionate.  The  subsequent  increase  in  use  of  e-
resources substantially changes the role and tasks of the Library, which needs 
to  be  reflected  in  the  deployment  of  financial  and  human  resources.  In 
particular, the substantial share of storage costs (which are on an annual basis 
higher  than  the  costs  for  acquisition  /  renewal  of  online  resources)  is 
becoming an increasing burden in view of the decreasing importance for users. 
Finally, the costs of services spent on external users were reviewed critically. 
Its  added  value  in  comparison  to  the  facilities  of  European  Documentation 
Centres - also financed by the European Commission - is questionable.  

5.4.2  Efficiency of organisational set-up  

In  view  of  the  ongoing  activities  of  the  Commission  Library,  its  current 
organisational  setup  and  internal  procedures  seem  adequate  to  meet  the 
current objectives in a cost-efficient way. The recent allocation of librarians to 
the  newly  established  reference  service  (‘ask  a  librarian’)  has  been  a  crucial 
step  to  reshape  the  Library  into  a  more  client-oriented  service  organisation. 
The  application  of  existing  staff  for  newly  arising  tasks  and  activities  has 
contributed  towards  the  efficiency  of  operations.  The  reduced  need  of 
cataloguing, due to the availability of meta-data for large amounts of (online) 
material  provides  the  opportunity  to  free  up  librarians  even  more  from  ‘20th 
century  library  work’.  Instead,  they  may  be  deployed  as  ‘information 
specialists’  in  more  client  oriented  tasks,  or  improve  the  link  with  individual 
DGs identifying needs and providing services.  The reduction in use of printed 
resources  is  likely  to  further  impact  the  organisational  set  up,  and 
substantially change the work of the circulation and acquisition teams, and as 
such  impact  efficiency.  In  this  regard,  the  organisational  set  up  and  internal 
procedures  need  to  be  critically  aligned  to  these  challenges  of  the  next 
decade. 

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6. 

RECOMMENDATIONS 

Key messages 

  Based on the main findings for each of the evaluation criteria 
(relevance, utility, effectiveness and efficiency), three main 
recommendations have been defined, for which specific elements 
are developed in this chapter.  

 

Improve the visibility of the Library among European 
Commission staff; 

  Take up an active role in internal EC knowledge 

management; 

  Adjust Library service provision to future information needs. 

  To further guide the implementation of these recommendations, 
four scenarios were developed, building on different ambition 
levels. These range from no ambition at all, where the CL is closed, 
to a high ambition in which the Library is modernised and turned 
into the cornerstone of knowledge management within the 
European Commission. Continuation of the status quo is also 
included as a low ambition scenario.  

Based  on  the  evaluation  findings,  a  number  of  key  recommendations  are 
formulated  in  this  section.  These  recommendations  serve  to  support  the 
transformation  needed  for  the  Commission  Library  to  respond  to  current  and 
future  challenges.  These  do  not  cover  the  daily  activities  specifically,  but 
instead seek to provide guidance on how to keep the ‘regular Library activities’ 
relevant  and  useful.  This  chapter  grouped  the  recommendations  into  sets  of 
broad objectives, which are listed below;  

 
Improve visibility of the Library among European Commission staff;  
  Take  up  an  active  role  for  the  Library  in  internal  knowledge 

management; 

  Adjust Library service provision to future information needs. 

A  central  element  under  these  three  objectives  is  the  aim  to  solidify  the 
relevance  and  utility  of  library  services  in  the  changing  context  of  library 
services, both globally and within the European Commission. Moreover, these 
recommendations also take into account how the Library can further increase 
its  effectiveness  and  efficiency  towards  possibly  revised  objectives.  These 
recommendations are firmly based on the empirical findings of the evaluation, 
and  are  particularly  influenced  by  comments  received  in  the  focus  group. 
Suggestions  were  also  received  in  the  online  survey,  which  have  been 
incorporated  in  the  recommendations  as  well.  These  suggestions  confirm  the 
large  majority, 
relevance  of  the 
Commission  staff  mention  visibility  as  the  most 
for 
improvement.  

formulated  recommendations;  by  a 

important  area 

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Table 6.1 

Suggestions received for improvements (open answers) 

Suggestion received 

# 
of 
mentioned 

times 

Increase visibility of Commission Library 

Expand the collection of resources offered 
-  Expand by: increasing the variety of e-journals in 
collection 
-  Expand by: improving collection (in general) 
-  Expand by: providing access to all staff to Economist 

/ Financial Times / other news resources 

48 

26 

22 

Improve access to online services / resources 

Compliments on support provided 

Improve search capabilities offered 

(re)Introduce a local section / correspondent in each 
DG 

Provide  staff  training  to  better  orient  staff  towards 
use of library resources 

Increase opening hours of the Library  

Improve process of paper loans 

Increase online (integration of) services  

388 

96 

54 

49 

24 

23 

16 

16 

14 

12 

Based  on  the  specific  policy  recommendations  and  their  contribution  towards 
broader  key  objectives,  this  chapter  ends  outlining  a  number  of  strategic 
future  scenarios,  in  which  the  conclusions  and  recommendations  in  this 
chapter  are  linked  towards  the  continued  relevance  and  utility  of  Library 
services  in  the  near  future.  These  scenarios  outline,  in  broader  terms,  a 
number  of  strategic  directions  that  the  Commission  can  take,  depending  on 
the level of implementation of the recommendations suggested.  

6.1 

Key policy recommendations 

6.1.1 

Improve visibility of Library among Commission staff  

As already indicated throughout this evaluation, a crucial factor for improving 
the  relevance,  utility  and  also  effectiveness  and  efficiency  of  the  Commission 
Library is an improvement of its institutional visibility, its staff, services and its 
collections.  Currently,  the  Library  is  insufficiently  present  in  the  minds  of 
Commission  staff  and  their  hierarchy  and  it  is  currently  not  a  first  stop  for 
information needs in the daily work of the Commission. 

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Recommended actions 

  Draw up a strategic long-term communication plan, which 

formulates its objectives, the targeted population and the activities 
to implement; 

  Set up proactive and targeted activities to reach specific groups of 
users in various DGs, such as tailored trainings, seminars and 
conferences; 

  Organise specific trainings for more experienced Administrators, 

while continuing with the introduction courses for newly recruited 
Administrators. 

Visibility  of  the  Commission  Library  amongst  Commission  staff  is  a  horizontal 
issue that cuts through all of the Commission Library’s work. Library  services 
may be very relevant to the daily needs of Commission staff, but if the staff is 
not aware of the services provided, the Library is bound to become irrelevant. 
Particularly in  the  current  context  of  austerity,  budget  cuts  and  ongoing  staff 
savings  in  the  European  Commission,  low  visibility  of  the  Library  risks  to 
contribute  to  a  perception  amongst  Commission  staff  of  irrelevance  and 
uselessness of its services. When asked what the Commission Library could do 
to  improve  its  services  in  the  near  future,  a  large  majority  of  respondents 
underlined  the  need  to  improve  visibility  amongst  its  core  users.  This  was 
further confirmed in the focus group. A crucial objective in the coming years is 
therefore to focus on it.  

An  overall  communication  strategy  to  create  awareness  and  reach  out  to 
Commission  staff  is  currently  lacking.  Some  communication  activities  have 
been  undertaken,  such  as  small-scale  workshops  or  information  stands. 
However,  these  are  not  part  of  a  structural  approach  and  depend  largely  on 
the  personal  dedication  of  individual  correspondents  in  DGs.  These  Library 
correspondents  are  often  too  busy  with  other  responsibilities  and  as  a  result 
Commission staff is insufficiently made aware of the possible utility and added 
value of Commission Library services to their  work.  To improve the relatively 
unstructured  and  small-scale  communication  activities  undertaken  by  the 
Commission  Library, 
to  draw  up  a  strategic 
communication plan, which defines in detail (1) the objectives, (2) who is to 
be  targeted  and  (3)  how  the  target  population  should  be  approached.  These 
elements are further explored below.  

is  recommended 

it 

The  findings  of  the  evaluation  give  clear  directions  on  the  objectives  of  this 
strategic  communication  plan.  Primary  objective  should  be  to  increase 
awareness of the utility of the Commission Library, its collection and services 
amongst  a  larger  share  of  relevant  Commission  staff.  In  this  respect, 
respondents to the survey and participants of the focus group also suggested 
to  send  out  a  newsletter  regularly,  (for  instance  monthly  /  bi-monthly)  in 
which  interested  staff  members  are  informed  about  new  acquisitions  by  the 
policy field. This may be a relevant tool, but it needs to be taken into account 
that hundreds of newsletters are already sent within the Commission. As such, 
these  may  only  reach  a  limited  number  of  interested  readers.  Moreover, 
internal  Commission  policies  do  not  allow  the  sending  of  newsletters  to  all 
staff  members,  and  the  utility  of  doing  so  is  questionable.  Currently,  some 
Library  correspondents  in  DGs  already  compile  the  general  news  provided 

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regularly  by  the  Commission  Library,  and  tailor  this  to  the  needs  of 
Commission  staff  in  their  DGs.  These  targeted  activities  yield  much  higher 
use and are therefore preferred. As an alternative to a newsletter, the Library 
can  also  set  up  targeted  notifications  on  its  website  and  expand  its  use  of 
social media such as Yammer, possibly complemented by a blog, for instance 
published through the DG’s intranet webpage. Regardless of the exact means 
to reach out to users, it is recommended that the Commission Library adopts 
a  proactive  communication  approach  to  its  users.  As  an  example  of  a 
possible  good  practice,  participants in  the  focus  group  mentioned  the  Council 
Library. Staff of this library regularly provide updates about upcoming books, 
not by a simple notification but by publishing an interview with the writers on 
its website.  

The  communication  activities  discussed  above  are  relatively  broad  and  lack  a 
specific focus. This is in fact the main criticism on the activities conducted thus 
far.  It  is  therefore  recommended  that  the  findings  of  the  evaluation  on  the 
characteristics  of  the  populations  to  be  targeted  are  used.  Whereas  visibility 
may  be  improved  amongst  all  staff  members,  it  is  recommended  to  target 
certain  groups  of  Commission  staff  specifically.  The  findings  of  the 
evaluation  suggest  to  primarily  target  more  experienced  Administrators, 
as  these  make  substantially  less  use  of  the  Library  compared  to  their 
colleagues.  From  a  knowledge  management  perspective  it  is  more  important 
that this group of experienced Administrators is reached than Assistants, who 
overall  need  to  make  less  use  of  Library  resources  in  their  daily  work.  Many 
respondents  also  pointed  out  the  potential  of  hosting  an  introduction  course 
for  new  Commission  staff.  The  Commission  Library  already  targets  new 
recruits,  which is  indeed  a  crucial  venue  to  ‘educate’  Commission  staff  in  the 
future  about  how  to  make  most  effective  use  of  library  services,  and  how  to 
find  the  resources  they  need.  It  is  therefore  recommended  that  the 
Commission  Library  continues  targeting  newly  recruited  Administrators 
with tailored training and introductory courses. However, more important than 
informing new Administrators, is in fact to continue following up after the first 
years,  to  continue  underlining  the  possible  added  value  of  the  Commission 
Library  in  their  work.  In  this  regard,  it  is  recommended  that  senior 
management  staff  is  also  specifically  targeted.  In  these  meetings,  focus  can 
be given to explaining the value of the Commission Library as a key lever for 
delivering quality work that contributes to the realisation of the organisational 
objectives.  Library  staff  for  example  could  help  individual  DGs  in  shaping  an 
internal  knowledge  management  strategy,  by  first  identifying  the  key 
knowledge  domains  (knowledge  strategy)  and  advise  on  systematic 
approaches  to  help  DG  better  dealing  with  knowledge  flow  within  the 
organisation (see Section 2.1.2). 

Communication  through  training,  instead  of  communicating  through  flashy 
brochures  and  smart  catchphrases,  is  important.  The  latter  can  contribute  to 
raising  visibility  of  the  Library,  but  would  not  necessarily  improve  the 
knowledge  management  within  the  European  Commission  and  as  such  does 
not increase demand for the Library. For that reason, it is recommended that 
the  outreach  activities  to  the  defined  target  groups  focus  mainly  on 
training  staff,  possibly  in  cooperation  with  DG  HR.  The  Commission  Library 
could  host  a  regular  training  day,  with  mandatory  regular  participation  of  all 
Administrators (for instance every few years), or specifically linked to DG HR’s 
competence  development  programme.  Given 
large  number  of 
Administrators,  a training should be given to  different  staff members all year 
long  at  the  Library  premises.  This  training  could  focus  entirely  on  using 
various  online  databases  and  online  sources  in  daily  work.  Other  potential 

the 

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activities  in  this  regard  could  be  for  instance  lunchtime  seminars  in  the 
various  DGs,  open  days  at  the  Library  premises  and  the  development  of  a 
reference  card  listing  the  relevant  services  offered.  Particularly,  activities  in 
which  the  Library  ‘descends’  from  its  premises  and  tours  around  the 
various  DGs  to  present  its  services  and  their  relevance  to  Commission  staff 
are recommended in addition to specific training. These campaigns should not 
overlook  Commission  sites  outside  Brussels  and  Luxembourg.  These  are 
important,  even  though  e-resources  have  the  potential  to  remove  the  barrier 
of  physical  distance  to  make  use  of  the  Commission  Library  services,  the 
barrier  on  awareness  due  to  physical  distance  has  yet  to  be  overcome.  The 
recent  introduction  of  the  new  Library  name,  in  which  the  importance  of  ‘e-
resources’  is  underlined,  can  be  used  as  a  main  reason  to  organise  a  ‘DG-
roadshow’,  in  which  Commission  Library  staff  visit  each  DG  to  present  the 
possibilities  that  the  Library  offers  for  Commission  staff  in  each  DG 
specifically. 

6.1.2  Take up an active role in internal EC knowledge management  

Related to raising awareness amongst Commission staff, it is recommended to 
reinforce the institutional position of the Commission Library. Only awareness 
of  the  Library’s  services  is  not  enough  to  ensure  the  continued  relevance  of 
Library  services.  The  centralisation  of  library  services  in  the  European 
Commission and the closure of local libraries in most DGs have literally moved 
the  Library  out  of  sight  from  the  day-to-day  work  of  policymakers.  At  the 
same 
of  
e-resources  has  created  the  possibility  for  staff  to  make  use  of  the  entire 
library  collection  from  their  workstation.  Awareness  of  these  possibilities  is 
crucial, as defined in the previous section. However, if these are not connected 
to a wider system of knowledge management, many Commission staff will still 
not find their way around the services provided. This would severely limit the 
impact of library services and indirectly the quality of policymaking within the 
European Commission. 

increased 

provision 

time 

and 

use 

the 

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Recommended actions 

  Relocate the Commission Library institutionally from DG EAC into a 

service reporting to the Secretariat-General, to re-affirm its 
Commission-wide role; 

  Affirm the role of the Commission Library to support knowledge 

 

management in the European Commission into its mission 
statement; 
Introduce the model of embedded librarians, by assigning librarians 
to a DG and physically moving his/her office to ensure a clear 
feedback link with the individual DGs; 

  Provide regular training to embedded librarians to ensure continued 

effectiveness; 

  Further develop the ‘ask a librarian’ service, for instance by setting 

up a client management system which allows tracking the various 
requests from Commission staff and monitoring the quality of 
responses; 

  Develop a broader quality assurance approach to internal library 
procedures, by defining a number of key performance indicators 
(KPI), based on ISO standards but tailored to the needs of the 
Commission Library; 

  Further centralise control over acquisition processes of technical 

databases and specialised resources, which are currently done by 
individual DGs. 

It is recommended that the Commission Library takes up an active role in 
supporting  effective  knowledge  management 
in  the  European 
Commission, and affirms this into its mission statement. To be effective, 
this  needs  to  be  reaffirmed  not  only  by  the  Library  itself  in  its  mission 
statement, but needs a broader support base in the Commission hierarchy. To 
increase this support amongst the higher hierarchy and Commission staff, it is 
necessary  to  reinforce  the  central  position  of  the  Library  in  the  provision  of 
information  resources.  The  current  institutional  position  of  the  Commission 
Library under DG EAC is at the least ambiguous, and does not reflect that the 
Library  offers  services  to  the  entire  Commission.  Particularly  after  closure  of 
most DG libraries, the Commission Library is more centrally located and more 
clearly  a  Commission-wide  service.  From  the  perspective  of  budget  and 
accountability,  it  is  difficult  to  defend  the  added  value  of  the  Commission 
Library  to  the  objectives  of  DG  EAC  per  se,  while  its  added  value  to  the 
Commission as a whole is uncontested. It is therefore recommended that  the 
possibilities  are  explored  to  relocate  the  Commission  Library  into  a 
service reporting to the Secretariat-General. Doing so would reinforce an 
active  role  in  supporting  knowledge  management  in  policymaking  within  the 
entire European Commission, while it would also re-affirm the relevance of the 
services of the Commission Library to the entire European Commission. In this 
new position, the Commission Library can more specifically solicit the support 
from  higher  management  to  reinforce  the  role  of  the  Library  in  Commission 
knowledge management.  

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In view of the ongoing centralisation of library services, further encouraged by 
the recommendation above, it is crucial that the Commission Library develop 
a clear feedback link with the individual DGs. This should ensure that the 
collections  and  services  offered  to  Commission  staff  remain  relevant  and 
useful  to  their  daily  work.  Commission  staff  members,  particularly  the  higher 
Commission  hierarchy,  will  only  recognise  the  relevance  of  the  Commission 
Library to internal EC knowledge management, if the Library continues to offer 
useful  resources.  For  this,  its  collections  and  services  need  to  be  specifically 
tailored to the needs of DGs. To this end, it is recommended that the current 
system  of  Library  correspondents,  who  work  first  and  foremost  for  their  DG, 
be  critically  revised.  In  its  place,  it  is  recommended  that  a  model  of  the 
‘embedded  librarian’  is  implemented  in  the  context  of  the  Commission 
Library.  A  number  of  academic  libraries  have  introduced  this  model  of 
embedded  librarians,  which  contains  valuable  lessons  for  the  Commission 
Library  as  well.  These  libraries  face  relatively  comparable  challenges  as  the 
Commission  Library,  as  they  are  centralising  their  library  services  for  cost-
efficiency reasons, while it is equally crucial to remain in touch with individual 
faculties. It is also suggested for the Commission Library to appoint librarians 
– from its current body of centrally-based staff – to become responsible for a 
(group of thematically linked) DGs, and set up a fulltime office there. For cost-
efficiency  reasons  it  is  suggested  that,  at  least  at  the  beginning  of  this 
programme,  librarians  be  assigned  to  multiple  DGs  with  thematic  links. 
Subsequently,  a  rotation  scheme  can  be  set  up,  where  each  librarian  moves 
after  a  fixed  period  of  time  (for  instance  a  few  months)  to  his  /  her  other 
(thematically  linked)  DG.  This  would  allow  for  activities  to  be  structurally 
planned  in  every  single  DG,  without  creating  the  necessity  to  have  one 
librarian  for  every  DG  in  this  early  stage.  An  embedded  librarian  would  gain 
substantive insight in the policy field. In this position, he/she can contribute to 
the  policy  process  by  suggesting  and  selecting  must-reads  (or  otherwise 
relevant publications) for staff members new to the policy field and staff that 
is already experienced in their field. A participant to the focus group indicated: 
‘we need people to identify what is relevant to read, and here the library could 
play a role’.  

The success of an embedded librarian depends to a large extent on the person 
appointed.  He  /  she  should  be  pro-active  in  the  dissemination  of  relevant 
resources,  and  it  is  therefore  recommended  that  a  librarian  is  embedded  in 
DG(s) related to personal affinity. The regular training of these librarians 
also  remains  crucial  for  their  success.  After  being  stationed  physically  in 
the  DG,  he/she  serves  as  a  primary  point  of  contact  for  Commission  staff  in 
that DG, while also being able to develop a sense of the specific needs of the 
DG  and  in-depth  knowledge  of  his  /  her  DG.  To  establish  their  role 
institutionally,  it  is  suggested  that  librarians  are  embedded  in  the 
internal  DG  organisational  structure.  Ideally,  dedicated  knowledge 
management units are established in every DG as part of internal HR policies 
to  address  the  relevance  and  importance  of  knowledge  management. 
However,  this  currently  the  case  in  only  a  limited  number  of  DGs.  Another 
option  is  to  embed  librarians  in  each  DG’s  dedicated  unit  for  evaluations  and 
impact  assessments.  These  units  perform  the  function  of  an  internal 
knowledge  hub,  bringing  together  their  specific  expertise  in  the  field  of 
evaluations  and  impact  assessments  in  each  DG.  Although  evaluation  units 
have  a  different  goal,  these  units  are  recognised  as  established  knowledge 
partners for Commission staff in their DG, which can serve as a good model. 

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The  specific  knowledge  and  insight  of  the  librarian  can  assist  the  work  of 
policy  officers  in  each  DG,  and  embedding  them  functionally  serves  as  an 
effective entry to the various ongoing policy projects in each DG. As such, the 
implementation  of  a  system  of  embedded  librarians  contributes  to  the  key 
it  would 
recommendation  of 
contribute  towards  better  embedding  knowledge  management  in  European 
Commission  policymaking,  and  positioning  the  Commission  Library  as  an 
active partner in this.  

increasing  awareness.  More  crucially, 

The  recently  developed  ‘reference  service’,  which  offers  helpdesk  services  to 
Commission  staff,  is  another  example  of  how  the  Commission  Library  can 
further adopt an active role in knowledge management. It is recommended to 
continue developing the ‘ask a librarian’ service. The embedded librarian 
could  serve  a  relevant  role  in  further  developing  this  service  into  a  service 
enabling  Commission  staff  to  find  the  information  they  need.  Whereas  staff 
members can use the web portal provided on the Library website, and possibly 
on  a  DG’s  MyIntraComm  website,  they  can  also  contact  ‘their’  librarian 
directly.  These  different  means  of  reaching  the  Library  enlarge  its  possible 
use,  but  it  is  recommended  that  these  user  requests  always  be  forwarded  to 
the  ‘responsible’  librarian  in  the  back-office.  His/her  onsite  and  specific 
experience  should  further  facilitate  the  quality  of  the  response  provided.  As 
such, this service does not only serve as a contact point for Commission staff 
in  remote  locations,  but  also  reduces  barriers  from  Commission  staff  to 
request assistance.  

To  ensure  the  quality  of  Library  services  to  Commission  staff,  it  is 
recommended  to  develop  a  broader  quality  approach,  with  the 
definition of key performance indicators (KPI) allowing the monitoring 
of  performance.  These  KPIs  could  be  based  on  ISO  standards  relevant  for 
the  Library  world  (such  as  ISO  2789  on  library  statistics,  ISO  11620  on 
performance indicators for Libraries and ISO 16439 on impact measurement), 
but need to be sufficiently tailored to the specific processes of the Commission 
Library.  In  view  of  this,  it  is  more  specifically  recommended  that  a  client 
management  system  is  implemented  that  allows  the  tracking  of  the 
various  requests  from  Commission  staff  and  monitors  the  quality  of 
responses.  This  does  not  only  allow  the  tracking  of  the  adequacy  of 
responses to Commission staff requests, but, if properly implemented, equally 
allows  the  analysis  of  the  type  of  requests,  split  up  by  DG  or  other  relevant 
sub-groups.  In  combination  with  the  qualitative  information  provided  by  the 
embedded  librarian,  this  would  provide  the  Commission  Library  a  good 
understanding  of  the  information  needs  of  Commission  staff.  This  can  be 
directly  put  to  use  towards  further  development  of  service  provision  in  the 
future.  

Lastly, it is recommended that the Commission Library adopts an active role in 
European  Commission  knowledge  management  by  further  centralising  the 
coordination  of  acquiring  resources.  With  its  proposed  network  of  embedded 
librarians, the Commission will have the tools at its disposal to tap directly into 
user  needs  at  DG  level.  The  acquisition  should  be  initiated  by  decentralised 
embedded  librarians  and  subsequently  coordinated  at  the  central  level.  Such 
coordination  is  particularly  recommended  for  the  acquisition  of  databases 
and  specific  resources.  Although  the  Library’s  expertise  is  already 
recognised among the remaining libraries in the RéseauBIB network, DGs still 
acquire  these  resources  themselves.  For  efficiency  reasons,  and  to  avoid 
unnecessary  duplicate  acquisition  of  resources  within  the  Commission,  it  is 

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Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre 

recommended  that  the  Commission  Library  have  the  central  control  over 
acquisitions of library resources within the Commission.  

6.1.3  Adjust Commission Library service provision to future information needs 

Thirdly, the streamlining of service provision and collections is recommended. 
The  costs  and  investments  by  the  Commission  Library  need  to  remain 
justifiable  to  citizens,  the  Commission  hierarchy  and  individual  Commission 
staff members. The collections, structures, internal procedures, and allocation 
of  human  resources  need  to  be  continuously  reviewed  against  future  needs. 
Based  on  the  findings  of  the  evaluation,  a  number  of  elements  have  been 
identified here.  

Recommended actions 

  Continue the development of e-resources acquisition and match 

this ambition in the requirements for a future Library Management 
System; 

  Replace the acquisition of printed newspaper copies with electronic 

access, if possible to all Commission staff; 

  Critically weed the centrally located printed resource collection; 
  Combine the teams responsible for circulation, acquisitions and 

renewals of printed resources, and where possible reduce these in 
size;  

  More actively recruit academic experts in computer and library 

sciences; 

  Discontinue the cataloguing efforts of the pre-1978 collections; 
  Digitise Commission Library unique collection pieces for online 

publication; 

  Reconsider the provision of services to external users in the 

reading rooms, and redefine the purpose of these unique spaces. 

The  evaluation  recommends  that  the  Commission  Library  continues  to 
focus on acquisition of e-resources, and does so more radically than it has 
done  so  far.  Although  the  adoption  of  a  ‘digital  first’  acquisition  policy  has 
been a first step, there is still a world of relevant e-resources to be acquired, 
while the orders of printed material become less and less relevant. To support 
the body of Commission staff fully in their work, the adequate acquisition of e-
resources  is  vital  and  the  acquisition  details  for  a  future  Library  Management 
System need to fully reflect these ambitions. Moreover, the future acquisition 
of  a  new  Library  Management  System  offers  the  possibility  to  incorporate 
innovations  in  terms  of  linked  data  support.  These  can  further  improve  the 
usability of search tools and as such of the collections offered, if the software 
solutions  offered  by  vendors  are  sufficiently  mature.  The  same  is  true  for 
printed  media  content,  such  as  newspapers  and  magazines.  The  Library 
service to provide these resources will only remain useful to Commission staff 
if  they  can  be  accessed  easily  from  (any)  Commission  work  station.  It  is 
recommended  that  the  printed  newspaper  copies  are  replaced  with 
electronic access to these publications, where possible for all Commission 
staff, in the shortest possible timeframe.  

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Based on the decreasing use of printed resources, it is recommended that the 
Library  start  a  critical  review  process  of  its  own  stock.  After  the  Commission 
recently has been reviewing the stock from various closing local libraries,  it is 
now  recommended  that  the  Commission  Library  also  review  its  own 
collection  of  printed  resources.  Even  though  the  human  resources 
available for this activity are under pressure from the ongoing weeding of local 
library  collections,  it  is recommended  that  the  Library  start  with  this  as  soon 
as  possible.  Possibly,  its  own  stock  of  ‘general  collections’  may  allow  for  a 
higher  rate  of  deselection  than  has  been  possible  during  the  weeding  of 
specialised  resources  from  the  various  local  libraries.  As  an  indication  of  the 
potential  gains,  over  the  last  few  years  it  has  not  been  uncommon  for 
corporate  libraries  to  reduce  their  physical  storage  space  to  50%  of  their 
original  size95.  Particular  attention  can  be  paid  to  the  future  of  the 
Luxembourg  storage.  Where  possible,  it  is  recommended  that  the  remaining 
collections  in  print  are  merged,  stored  in  Brussels,  and  duplicate  titles 
deselected.  As  a  more  general  recommendation,  the  deselection  process 
should  be  based  on  objective  criteria,  such  as  data  on  last  usage.  Where 
possible,  the  resources  no  longer  in  use  can  be  deselected,  while  resources 
only  marginally  in  use  can  be  stored  at  the  Kortenberg  storage.  For  special 
publications no longer in use, it is recommended to look for a cooperation with 
the Historical Archives of the European University Institute. Only a very limited 
share of active stock is recommended to be kept at VM18. To achieve further 
economies  in  fixed  costs,  upon  deselection  of  a  large  number  of  printed 
resources, the expensive storage spaces in Brussels may be shared with other 
archive  services  in  the  European  Commission,  such  as  the  Legal  Service 
Library or the Historical Archives.  

Because  of  the  anticipated  lower  requests  of  the  printed  resources,  it  is  also 
recommended  to  continue  only  with  a  core  collection  of  relevant  titles.  This 
implies  that  the  staff  teams  responsible  for  circulation,  acquisitions  and 
renewal  may  be  joined  together  and  reduced  in  size,  as  their  work  will 
increasingly  coincide  and  focus  on  acquiring  and  renewing  e-resources. 
Meanwhile,  these  developments  also  require  that  Library  staff  has  sufficient 
IT-skills  at  its  disposal  to  follow  and  implement  developments  in  information 
technologies.  For  this,  the  appropriate  remuneration  and  recognition  of  these 
skills is crucial to obtain a sufficient number of members with Master degrees 
in  computer  and  library  sciences.  It  is  recommended  that  the  Library 
actively starts recruiting a number of academically graduated experts 
in computer and library sciences to strengthen the Library staff.  

In view of the low use of the pre-1978 collection, it is recommended that the 
cataloguing  efforts  of  the  pre-1978  collection  by  the  Commission 
Library are discontinued. Instead, it is recommended that unique items in 
the  collection  that  are  not  found  elsewhere  are  digitised  and  –  where 
possible  –  published  as  open  data,  so  these  are  accessible  not  only  to 
Commission  staff,  but  also  to  a  potentially  wider  public  (external  users). 
Consider  in  this  regard  for  instance,  unique  commentaries  on  EC  law, 
biographies or annotated versions of earlier Community treaties.  

95 See for instance D. Zeeman, R. Jones, J. Dysart, (2011), ‘Assessing Innovation in Corporate 

and Government Libraries’, Computers in Libraries, 31(5), pp. 6-16.  

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It  is  subsequently  recommended  that  the  level  of  service  provision  to 
external users in the reading rooms be reconsidered. With the relatively 
low  share  of  Commission  staff  making  use  of  printed  material,  the  costs  for 
the  reading  rooms,  the  resources  dedicated  to  the  circulation  team  and  the 
storage  of  printed  resources  are  disproportionately  made  to  provide  services 
to  external  users.  This  is  not  by  definition  a  problem  (depending  on  the 
defined  objective),  particularly  in  view  of  the  high  appreciation  of  these 
resources by external users.  However, this evaluation shows that this service 
hardly  provides  added  value  to  the  network  of  European  Documentation 
Centres,  which  also  open  up  collections  on  European  integration  to  external 
users,  financed  by  the  European  Commission.  In  view  of  this  overlap,  it  is 
therefore  recommended  that  the  resources  for  service  provision  to  external 
users are deployed towards service provision for Commission staff instead. As 
a  logical  consequence,  it  is  recommended  to  redefine  the  purpose  for  the 
reading rooms in Brussels and Luxembourg, or move to a smaller central 
location  and  reconfigure  the  physical  space  into  collaborative  and  individual 
work  areas.  Another  possible  use  of  the  reading  rooms,  in  view  of  the  other 
recommendations  above,  is  to  remove  the  reading  material  and  transform 
these into a central hub for training on information resources, workshops and 
conferences (internal / external).  

6.2 

Future scenarios 

Four scenarios have been developed, in which a number of strategic directions 
for  the  Commission  Library  are  explored  in  relatively  broad  terms.  These 
scenarios  are  informed  by  the  evaluation  and  are  based  on  the  level  of 
implementation  of  the  recommendations  given.  This  evaluation  does  not 
pretend to be able to predict the future, or the way in which the Commission 
Library will further develop. However, these scenarios, presented by ambition 
level, serve as heuristic tools to help the Commission Library to determine the 
ambition  of  future  strategic  reforms  in  the  wider  context  of  the  Commission 
Library.  

We  define  four  levels  in  possible  ambition  towards  future  reform  of  library 
services  within  the  European  Commission.  These  four  scenarios  must  be 
considered  what  they  are:  mere  scenarios,  in  which  a  number  of  ‘extreme’ 
variables  have  been  included  to  describe  a  possible  future  direction  of  the 
Commission  Library.  These  are  further  described  in  the  remainder  of  this 
section, but can be summarised as: 

  High ambition: towards an ‘Information Centre for Digital Resources’ 
  Medium ambition: towards a lean Commission Library 
  Low ambition: continue with status quo 
  No ambition: close down Commission Library 

The main facets of each of these scenarios are summarised in the table below. 
The (possible) implementation of the three main recommendations impact the 
result for each of these facets, as displayed.  

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Table 6.2 

Summary of four scenarios 

Criteria 

High ambition  

Medium ambition  

Low ambition  

No ambition  

Institutional   Central 

institutional 

role under SG 

Central 
role under SG 

institutional 

Library under DG EAC, 
accessible  for  entire 
Commission 

Atomised 
information 
services 
DG 

per 

Objectives 

Be  the  central  actor 
in 
knowledge 
EC 
management  

Provide 
information 
Commission staff 

useful 
to 

Make 
collections 
European integration 

available 
on 

none 

Collections 

Comprehensive 
coverage 
e-
of 
resources  on  EU-
related resources 

Widely 
coverage 
resources 

spanning 
e-
of 

Coverage  of  relevant 
main e-resources 

Duplicate 
acquisitions  at 
DG level 

Printed 
collection 

Buildings 

kept 

Small  core  of  used 
resources 
in 
active  stock,  unique 
pieces  digitally  made 
available 

few 

years 
First 
to  printed 
access 
slowly 
resources, 
reducing  possibilities 
to retrieve 

Large share of unused 
materials  in  multiple 
storage facilities 

No  memory  of 
previously 
held 
collections 

Reading  rooms  fully 
into 
refurbished 
training 
modern 
centre, 
storage 
shared 

location 

LU 
reading 
closed, 
offices  moved 
smaller office in BR  

and 
rooms 
Library 
to 

underused 
rooms, 

Two 
reading 
substantial 
office/storage space 

Library 

No 
buildings 

Core  Library 
Staff 

Librarians  embedded 
in  DG,  IT-adept  staff 
at central location 

Librarians  embedded 
in  DGs,  merging  / 
of 
down-sizing 
current 
team 
structure 

Maintenance 
functional 
which 
dominance 

of 
team, 
reflect  print 

Library 

No 
staff 

External 
users 

unique 
Access 
collections  online  and 
academic  content  at 
EDC 

Use  EDC  and  their 
own libraries to meet 
their  needs  on  EU 
resources 

to  consult 
Use  CL 
printed  material,  read 
newspaper 
and 
prepare for Concours,  

External 

No 
users 

6.2.1  High ambition: A Commission Library and E-Resource Centre  

A  first  scenario  approaches  the  future  of  the  Commission  Library  with  high 
ambitions,  and  crucially  assumes  that  Library  is  also  supported  in  these 
ambitions  by  the  European  Commission.  This  scenario  presupposes  that  the 
mission and objectives of the Commission Library are revised to fully focus on 
the  provision  of  services  and  resources  to  Commission  staff  and  as  such 
contribute to knowledge management within the entire European Commission. 
To  do  so,  the  Commission  Library  is  to  be  transferred  to  become  an 
institutional part of the Secretariat-General, from which it can truly perform its 
activities for the entire Commission.  

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Even  under  the  highest  ambitions  for  library  provision,  it  cannot  be  excluded 
that  an  additional  number  of  local  departmental  libraries  may  be  closed  and 
see their collections transferred to the Commission Library. However, in a new 
library  structure  for  the  European  Commission,  with  the  Commission  Library 
as  the  active  hub  for  knowledge  management,  this  is  not  necessarily  a 
weakness, but can contribute to its strength.  

As  recommended,  we  suppose  that  librarians  work  ‘embedded’  on  a  rotation 
basis  in  the  various  DGs,  in  close  collaboration  with  departmental  evaluation 
units. Through this structure, most Commission staff members working on the 
revision or development of legislation are put in touch with and made aware of 
available library services. Moreover, through regular training sessions in DGs, 
hosted by Library staff, they will also specifically learn how to use the variety 
of  e-collections  to  which  the  Commission  Library  provides  access.  The 
embedded  librarians  provide  tailored  assistance  to  Commission  staff  with 
specific information needs, and do so through personal contacts and the online 
‘ask  a  librarian’  tool.  This  tool  is  based  on  a  professional  client  management 
system,  which  allows  the  centralised  management  of  the  quality  of  requests, 
and  monitoring  of  the  types  of  requests  received.  The  acquisition  of  printed 
resources  has  been  discontinued  where  possible,  even  though  in  the  first 
years  a  small  circulation  team  will  still  be  available  to  retrieve  requested 
documents  that  are  already  in  possession.  Unique  collection  items  will  have 
been  digitised,  stored  permanently  in  the  Commission  archives,  and  made 
available on the Library website, accessible for Commission staff and external 
users. 

The growing importance of online content has been taken into account during 
the acquisition of a new Library Management System. As a result, we conclude 
that  this  will  meet  its  specific  needs.  On  the  longer  term,  the  Commission 
Library may even reconsider the implementation of a discovery tool, based on 
the  experiences  of  innovative  libraries  that  have  experimented  without  it. 
Such experiences will become gradually available over the next few years and 
if libraries, and their users, are satisfied with services without discovery tool, 
this  model  may  also  be  implemented  by  the  Commission  Library.  In  view  of 
the  better-tailored  paid  databases  the  Library  already  makes  available  to  its 
users  and  the  various  free  online  providers,  this  scenario  is  not  unlikely.  The 
freed  budget  can  be  allocated  to  expand  the  acquisition  of  specialised  e-
resources further to meet the needs  of Commission staff in the various fields 
of their work.  

The use and purpose of the reading rooms will be reconsidered in view of the 
various  developments  discussed  above.  Due  to  their  relatively  low  utility  in 
their  current  form,  and  particularly  in  view  of  the  decision  to  stop  to  acquire 
new  printed  material,  the  reading  rooms  will  be  the  first  to  be  closed  in 
scenarios  developed  with  a  lower  ambition  level.  Under  this  high  ambition 
level however, these will have an important role to reinforce the new modern 
image  of  the  Commission  Library,  after  being  refurbished  into  a  Central 
Information  and  Training  Centre.  In  view  of  the  recommendation  to  provide 
regular  staff  training  in  the  use  of  e-resources  and  databases  to  all 
Administrators,  the  current  reading  rooms,  in  Brussels,  but  possibly  also  in 
Luxembourg can provide an added value as a modern library environment for 
organising  trainings  for  large  numbers  of  participants.  As  all  Administrators 
will receive training at the Library premises, the refurbished reading rooms will 
offer  the  necessary  capacity  to  host  these  trainings.  While  staff  receives 
training here, the Commission Library has the unique opportunity to reinforce 
its  central  –  and  crucial  –  role  for  knowledge  management  within  the 

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European  Commission,  by  branding  a  physical  image  to  the  work  of  the 
Commission Library. Moreover, depending on the need, the physical location, 
which consists of much more than only the reading room, may be restructured 
to offer flexible workspaces for staff to work individually, or in group sessions. 
The  higher  ambition  level  allows  for  further  strengthening  of  the  Library’s 
strategy,  whatever  the  exact  use  of  its  physical  locations.  This  way,  the 
physical  library  spaces  and  the  online  collections  and  tools  provided  serve  to 
strengthen each other. As such, the Commission Library serves as the central 
in  the  European 
actor  to  ensure  cost-effective 
Commission,  contributing  to  the  development  of  internal  knowledge,  the 
sharing  of  existing  knowledge  within  the  Commission  and,  most  importantly, 
contributing to the quality of policymaking. 

information  provision 

6.2.2  Medium ambition: towards a lean e-library 

Secondly,  a  scenario  was  developed  in  which  the  recommendations  in  this 
evaluation  are  followed  up,  but  with  a  relatively  medium  ambition  and  an 
attempt to reduce the budget. This is not unrealistic in view of the continuing 
pressure  on  the  European  Commission  budget  in  the  next  coming  years.  At 
the  same  time,  we  recognise  that  the  definition  of  a  strong  strategy  by  the 
Commission  Library  also  contributes  to  ensuring  stable  budgets,  while  a 
relatively  underdeveloped  institutional  strategy  is  generally  the  first  to  face 
budget  cuts,  as  outlined  in  the  less  ambitious  scenarios  below.  As  such,  the 
strategic 
the 
recommendations  of  this  evaluation,  will  already  contribute  to  reinforcing 
stable budgets in the near future. 

formulation  of  objectives,  whether  or  not  based  on 

Many elements based on the recommendations in Chapter 6 and described in 
detail  under  the  high  ambition  scenario  above,  are  also  applicable  here.  This 
scenario  presupposes  that  the  mission  and  objectives  of  the  Commission 
Library  are  revised  towards  service  provision  for  Commission  staff,  and  the 
Commission  Library  will  be  transferred  to  the  competence  of  the  Secretariat 
General.  This  scenario  also  presupposes  the  introduction  of  embedded 
librarians  in  DGs,  and  a  continuation  of  the  move  towards  increasing 
acquisition  of  e-resources.  The  main  difference  between  a  medium  and  high 
ambition level would depend on the choice to keep the two physical locations 
in  Brussels  and  Luxembourg  open.  These  physical  library  locations  and  their 
reading  rooms  are  a  considerable  (yet  under  some  scenarios  acceptable) 
burden on the budget, and this scenario imagines that the Commission Library 
can also contribute to knowledge management without its reading rooms.  

This scenario builds on the assumption that the strong presence of embedded 
Library  staff  in  the  various  DGs,  and  the  foreseeable  strong  decrease  in  the 
provision  of  printed  resources  (also  to  external  users)  makes  the  choice  to 
close  the  reading  rooms  easier.  As  a  result,  under  this  scenario,  the  current 
office  buildings  in  Brussels  and  in  Luxembourg  can  be  closed  down.  The 
Library  staff  working  in  the  central  location  is  considerably  smaller,  as  more 
than half are embedded in DGs. This smaller core body of Library staff can be 
relocated  more  efficiently  to  a  different  location  in  Brussels.  Moreover,  the 
closure of reading rooms and the removal of book storage in the longer term 
would  make  the  buildings  available  for  other  purposes.  The  freed  up  budget 
related to the closure can be partly earmarked to the acquisition of additional 
access to online e-resources, and partly reserved as budget saving.  

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It  is  recognised  that  this  scenario  will  substantially  change  the  current  shape 
of the Commission Library into a ‘lean’ e-Resource and Documentation Centre. 
This  Centre  will  have  as  primary  objective  to  deliver  existing  information 
tailored  to  the  daily  work  of  the  European  Commission  in  an  adequate  and 
user-friendly  way.  At  the  same  time,  the  Commission  Library  will  have 
considerably  less  resources  to  be  able  to  offer  a  substantial  added  value  to 
resources available in the wider world of information.  

6.2.3  Low ambition: continue with status quo 

Thirdly, a scenario has been developed based on a continuation of the current 
situation.  This  scenario  is  therefore  applicable  in  case  the  mission  statement 
and  objectives  of  the  Commission  Library  remain  largely  unchanged.  In  this 
situation, we expect that the continued closure of more local libraries will put 
the  Commission  Library  in  a  more  fragile  position.  It  is  assumed  that,  as 
before, former DG library employees are relocated within their DG, while one 
is  appointed  as  correspondent  to  the  Library.  As  currently  is  the  case,  often 
these  correspondents  do  not  have  the  time  to  fully  dedicate  themselves  to  a 
role  as  librarian,  and  in  many  instances  this  role  is  limited  to  delivering  the 
annual list of desired acquisitions to the Commission Library. This will not lead 
to  higher  relevance  of  the  Commission  Library,  and  will  further  limit  the  use 
and utility of its services and collections.  

It is unlikely that the continued communication activities in their current shape 
will  be  able  to  turn  this  around.  With  the  small-scale  workshops  and 
information stands, and the standardised newsletter only a few hundred staff 
members are effectively reached. As such, less and less staff will be aware of 
the  existence  of  a  Commission  Library  and  e-Resource  Centre.  As  a  result, 
(former)  library  users  will  increasingly  find  other  ways  to  meet  their 
information  needs.  Although  they  possibly  still  make  use  of  paid  library 
content  without  knowing  it,  the  lack  of  conscious  search  strategies  does  not 
benefit knowledge management  or the quality of policymaking. This does not 
contribute  to  support  from  the  higher  management  levels  in  the  Commission 
either,  and  most  likely  will  lead  to  further  budget  cuts  and  reorganisations 
within  the  next  few  years.  These  budget  cuts  will  gradually  affect  service 
provision  levels,  which  will  inevitably  reduce  the  utility  of  Library  services  to 
end-users and risks initiating a vicious circle.  

Even  though  the  percentage  of  e-resources  will  steadily  grow,  considerable 
volumes  of  printed  material  are  still  being  acquired  for  the  next  ten  years. 
These printed resources will increasingly end up in the storage after one-time 
usage,  which  hardly  contributes  to  actual  efficiency.  More  importantly,  this 
also  has  negative  effects  on  the  perception  of  efficiency  amongst  higher 
management. As a result, we conclude that the current scenario ‘status quo’, 
will  gradually  contribute  to  a  further  alienation  of  the  Commission  Library 
services  to  its  users.  A  possible  next  interim-evaluation  in  a  few  years  will 
most  likely  further  underline  the  –  then  more  urgent  –  need  to  actually 
transform into an e-resource documentation centre, which focuses fully on the 
needs of its (potential) users.  

6.2.4  No ambition: close down Library 

Finally,  a  scenario  was  developed  in  which  no  ambition  exists  to  provide 
library resources to Commission staff and external users. In such a situation, 
the  European  Commission  can  decide  to  completely  close  down  the 
Commission Library, sell its buildings, discontinue its collections and dismiss or 

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Interim evaluation of the EC Library and e-Resources Centre  

relocate its staff. Although a relatively drastic scenario, it is not unique in the 
perspective of a large number of corporate libraries that have closed over the 
last  twenty  years,  in  view  of  the  increasing  amount  of  resources  available 
online and the lack of alignment to real ‘business’ activities.  

Even  though  the  option  of  closure  is  coined  here,  a  decision  towards  this 
scenario  does  not  seem  justified;  half  of  Commission  staff  indicated  not  to 
make  use  of  the  Library,  the  other  half  does,  and  in  fact  sees  a  clear  added 
value  for  the  continuation  of  services  and  collections  of  the  Commission 
Library.  Fully  closing  down  the  Commission  Library,  therefore,  risks 
considerable damage to the knowledge position of (a considerable portion of) 
individual  Commission  staff.  This  will  consequently  have  a  direct  negative 
impact  on  the  quality  of  policymaking.  Moreover,  due  to  the  continued  need 
for  resources  one  way  or  the  other,  the  acquisition  of  online  resources,  such 
as specialised academic journals, will be taken  up by individual DGs.  Without 
the  structure  in  place  to  (1)  coordinate  acquisitions  within  the  various 
Commission  DGs  and  avoid  duplications,  (2)  achieve  efficiencies  due  to  a 
larger  scale,  and  (3)  to  build  internal  expertise  in  the  acquisition  of  library 
resources, the full closure of the Commission Library will not be efficient in the 
long term.  

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