EKBY’s Library
The library with its reading room has more than 2100 books, 2300 studies, scientific journals, maps, aerial photographs, unpublished reports, as well as selected press releases about the environment. Also, informational and educational materials (leaflets, posters, forms), as well as a photographic archive for nature and biodiversity (slides and photographs).
EKBY’s library participates in the National Collective Catalogue of Scientific Journals of the National Documentation Centre (EKT), and is a member of the Inter-Lending Library Network of EKT, as a user and as a supplier of journal articles. It has a large collection of research material and its enrichment with new material is continuous.
The public can borrow books, studies and CD/DVD-ROMS. The maximum borrowing time limit is 3 days and the number of books up to 4. Borrowing takes place only during opening hours.
Library opening hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
The material is divided into the following categories:
- Books-Official publications (including Conferences, Symposia, Meetings and their minutes).
- Research – Reports – Thesis (special editions, computer typed manuscripts). Books and studies are classified according to the Dewey Decimal System (20th edition). For subject indexing, the rules of the “Sears list of subjects headings” of the 13th edition are followed, but always adapted to the needs of the library’s material.
- Journals (foreign languages and Greek) – Newspapers. Key journal issues are indexed in a special database by journal title, article title, author, publisher, year of publication, and keywords for advanced search.
- Press indexing in special thematic categories. Collection from 1992 to 2022 of newspaper and magazine articles related to environmental aspects and storage in the form of Issues. Articles are sorted in a special database by publication title, article title, publication date and keywords for quick search by subject.
- Legislation Archive (Laws, Directives, Decisions, P.D., N.D., Regulations, etc.).
- Maps.
- CD / DVD-ROMS.
EKBY’s Digital Library
Since 2017, EKBY provides the possibility of online view of the Catalogue of it’s Library through a Digital Library. EKBY’s Digital Library provides navigation capabilities, flexible search of metadata elements and advanced search filters. It does not support interlibrary loan service. It was developed with the web platform for management and open disposal of library catalogues and functions, namely “openABEKT”, that ensures interoperability with national and international platforms for content accumulation and diffusion and indexing by open content search engines such as Google.
OpenABEKT has been made available to EKBY as a Software as a Service (SaaS) via the cloud infrastructure of the National Documentation Centre (EKT), in the frame of a memorandum of cooperation between EKBY and EKT. Data transition from the previous system (ABEKT) to OpenABEKT was also made by EKT, in the framework of Projects: a) “Development of Web Portal for the diffuse of information for Nature and Biodiversity of Greece”, implemented by EKBY and b ) “Platform for the provision of services for the Deposit, Management and Distribution of Open Data and Digital Content”, implemented by the National Documentation Centre, which are included in the Operational program “Digital Convergence” (NSRF 2007-2013) and co-financed by Greece and the European Union – European Regional development.
EKBY’s Digital Repository
EKBY’s Digital Library can also provide direct access to the actual digital resources of EKBY’s Collection of publications, via an established connection to EKBY’s Digital Repository. The repository is an online information system where the intellectual production of EKBY is collected and preserved in digital form. At the same time, it is EKBY’s commitment to the management and organization of its digital content, its maintenance over time as well as its access and availability to the public. It was developed in 2014, in accordance with the guidelines, specifications and standards for interoperability and open data of EKT, which ensure the interoperability of EKBY’s digital resources with the Greek National Aggregator of Digital Cultural Content SearchCulture.gr and with the European digital platform Europeana.