Library and lending rules
LIBRARY AND LENDING RULES AND REGULATIONS
Libraries of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
Article 1 Basic Provisions
1. Status of the AMU Library
a) The AMU Library is established according to the Statutes of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (article 10, paragraph c) as a specialised information workplace with competence for the whole Academy. Its organisation, management principles, internal structure, relations between its components and their competence are governed by the Organisational Code, which is a separate AMU internal regulation. Pursuant to Section 5 of the Library Act it is filed in the register of libraries as a specialised library.
2. Mission and Activities of the Library
a) The mission of the AMU Library is to provide information resources for study and specialised research
b) activity at AMU. For this purpose the library collects, expertly processes, stores and provides access to specialised library collections. In keeping with its specialisation it helps develop the methodology for processing special types of collections at a national level.
c) In accordance with Section 4 (5) of the Library Act, the library provides public library and information services and permits free and equal access to information. The principle of free and equal access to information is supported by the fact that the library and information services are provided free of charge. The library provides the services outlined in Article 3 of these Library Rules to all its duly registered users, in accordance with the regulations of these Library Rules and their Addenda and according to its operational possibilities and the conditions of the individual faculty libraries. Depending on its operational requirements and capacity it also offers in-library lending services (Art. 5.2) to non-registered users.
3. The Library’s activity is governed chiefly by the following legal regulations:
a) Act No. 341/2006 Coll., amended by Act No. 257/2001 Coll., on libraries and the conditions for operating public library and information services (the Library Act), as amended by Act No. 1/2005 Coll.
b) Act No. 216/2006 Coll., as amended by Act No. 121/2000 Coll. on copyright, on rights related to copyright and on amendments to particular acts (the Copyright Act) and on certain other acts.
c) Act No. 552 of 20 December 2005, as amended by Act No. 111/1998 Coll., on higher education and on amendments and additions to other acts (the Higher Education Act), as amended, and particular other acts.
d) Act No. 499/2004 Coll. on maintaining archives, documentary services and on amendments to particular acts.
e) Decree of the Ministry of Culture No. 88/2002 Coll., on the implementation of Act No. 257/2001 Coll., on libraries and the operating conditions for public library and information services (the Libraries Act).
f) Act No. 101/2000 Coll., on the protection of personal data and on amendments to particular acts.
g) Act No. 106/1999 Coll., on free access to information.
h) Act No. 89/1995 Coll., on the state statistics service, as amended by Act No. 356/1999 Coll.
Article 2 The library collections
a) The library creates and stores specialised document collections in accordance with AMU’s accredited subjects of study. Through its activity it helps support and develop all artistic, specialist and research activities pursued within AMU.
b) The Library collections comprise printed texts and special types of documents, i.e. books, periodicals, scripts, sheet music, audio and audio-visual documents, university qualification assignments. They also include secondary information collections (card and electronic catalogues), other documents published electronically and stored on data media as well as external licenced databases.
c) The library collections are systematically replenished in accordance with the relevant profiles of the subjects of study and the acquisition plans from the Academy’s financial resources and extra-budgetary collections. Other resources are donations or the exchange of publications.
d) The faculty library expertly processes the Library collections and then makes them accessible according to the general regulations stipulated in these Library Rules and their Addenda. Some specialised collections may be deposited on a temporary basis in the departments and are made available by the member of staff authorised by the management of the relevant faculty. Registration and processing of specialised collections, however, always comes under the responsibility of respective faculty library, which also carries out their review.
e) The Directorate of the AMU Library and the AMU Computer Centre are responsible for access to the electronic catalogues in the Academy’s computer network and publicly via the Internet.
f) The licensed electronic resources are made accessible to AMU users usually in scope of the university IP addresses or in limited extent depending always on the contract with the provider, and further via distant access.
Article 3 Library-information Services
1. The services are provided in the Faculty libraries in:
a) the lending areas
b) specialised study rooms and video rooms
c) computer study rooms.
2. Types of services:
a) loans of documents to be taken outside the library (check out)
b) loans of documents to be used in the library (in specified areas)
c) reference services: providing information on its own and other collections, available study sources for selected thematic fields, or possibilities of contact with specialists
d) special services to order: research, bibliographical/annotations, consultation on the relevant subject (theatre, film, music), information on the information resources available on the computer networks, assistance in searching in the electronic catalogues, possibility to work with computer technology according to the operational conditions of the relevant faculty library
e) AMU electronic catalogue services
f) access to internal and external databases
g) access to the Internet (priority given to information searches required for study and teaching purposes)
h) users may connect their notebook to the Internet via Wi-Fi point
i) the accessing of information on the library on the library’s Internet pages
j) review of new titles
k) instruction for users
l) following agreement with the faculty library the possibility of using the premises to hold special study seminars or to teach lessons (see relevant Addenda)
Article 4 Charges and Fees:
a) The services are provided free of charge; for inter-library services the libraries charge a fee according to actual costs.
b) In some cases a library may ask for a security deposit to be put down for rare documents. The payment of a security deposit is also required from foreign students. The regulations are stipulated in the relevant Addenda to the Library Rules.
Article 5 Users
1. The Library User:
a) A Library user may be a private individual with a legal relationship with AMU who has a valid AMU student or employee identity card. Failure to present this identity card will mean the user is not entitled to borrow items for use outside the library.
b) For lending purposes each user is allocated a user category, which determines the conditions for lending. These are regulated by the Addenda to these Library Rules for the relevant faculty libraries.
c) Separate provisions apply for external AMU employees, extraordinary students (including foreign) and the public.
d) User categories are defined by the relevant Addenda.
2. User registration:
a) On first visiting the library (registration) a user should present a valid AMU identity card and familiarise him/herself with the terms and conditions of these Library Rules and its relevant Addenda. By signing the registration form (see the Annex to these Library Rules) he/she undertakes to observe the stipulated regulations. Duration of the registration is set by the relevant faculty library. The identity card is not transferable and each holder is personally liable for its misuse by an unauthorised person. Each user is allocated a unique identification symbol within AMU which is also used to maintain his/her library user account on computer.
3. General obligations and rights of AMU Library users:
Each library user is obliged to observe the regulations in these Rules, in particular:
b) to attend the introductory lecture on information and study possibilities and on using the equipment
c) to check and keep the loan period of the borrowed documents through his/her user
d) account in the electronic catalogue, which is accessible on the basis of the same log in as for the
e) computer network of AMU
f) only to enter the internal library premises after leaving his/her coats and bags in the place set aside for this
g) to observe the ban on smoking and not to bring food or drinks onto the library premise
h) not to use mobile telephones on the library premise
i) to inform the staff if they wish to bring their own study materiále
j) to abide by the instructions of staff, not to behave in a way that would disturb other visitors, and to treat every collection and the library equipment with care
k) not to remove the stipulated reference collection from the library premise
l) not to take items from the collection out of the library premises without due registration
m) to enter the depositories only when accompanied by a member of staff
n) to notify staff without fail when returning borrowed documents
o) to operate all library facilities, i.e. audiovisual equipment and computer stations independently only with the consent of staff and following the relevant instructions
p) to report any observed malfunction of the equipment or library facilities
q) to observe the principle that searching for the required documents in the computer databases has priority over using computers for other activities
r) reserved computer stations can only be used to search for items in the AMU Library catalogue
s) to observe the provisions of the Copyright Act, in particular the ban on making copies of audio and audio-visual recordings and printed sheet music
t) the user is obligated to get acquainted foremostly with the rules for lending audiovisual documents
u) not to remove cards from the catalogues
v) to allow staff to check his/her bags etc. before leaving the library
w) t) the user has the right of free access to all AMU Library card catalogues and databases and to use all the reading-rooms, and also has free access to the reference library including newspapers and magazines
Article 6 General conditions for providing services
1. Check out loans
a) Documents can only be borrowed for use outside the library upon presentation of a valid AMU identity card. Other users may only borrow documents for use outside the library if they meet special conditions (see the relevant Addenda) and with the consent of the Head of the relevant faculty library.
b) The loan periods for all types of documents and the amount of items borrowed are governed by the provision of the relevant faculty library in the Addenda to these Library Rules and by the user’s allocated category.
c) All materials intended for lending outside the library are lent according to a search of the relevant shelf-mark. For documents which have been processed in the electronic catalogue the applicant is also obliged to determine whether the requested material is in its place.
d) If a document has been reserved the registered applicant shall have priority.
e) For extremely valuable or precious documents the Head of the faculty library may decide either that they will only be lent for use on library premises or that a special deposit must be paid.
f) At the end of the semester each user of check-out loans is bound to follow the relevant library’s instructions on dates for returning documents and for loans for the holidays.
g) Students who finish or interrupt their studies are obliged to notify the library and to settle any outstanding payments with all the faculty libraries. The study department of the relevant faculty shall ask for confirmation that all borrowed items have been returned (leaving certificate). In case the obligations are not fulfilled the library will proceed in accordance with valid legal regulations.
h) The library provides the final loan 15 minutes before the end of opening hours.
i) AMU teachers take precedence in the expediting of items.
j) Penalties for exceeding the borrowing time-limits are governed by the Addenda to these Rules. The Head of the relevant faculty library shall decide on exceptions.
2. In-library loans
a) In-library loans are provided to all users, i.e. also to visitors who do not have a user identity card. However, registered users have priority in the event several people are interested in the same item.
b) Special and reference services (articles 3.2.4 and 3.2.5) may also be used by unregistered users.
3. Reminders
Reminders are automatically generated by the library system and sent via school e-mail addresses to the users of respective AMU faculties.
4. Reservations
Each registered user of the library can reserve documents in respective libraries through his/her user account in the electronic catalogue, or to apply for reservation of documents directly in the respective library.
5. Access to computers and networks
a) The Library permits all visitors to have access to the Internet. Access to the Academy’s computer network (Intranet) is only possible with an individual user password, which is automatically allocated to AMU students, teachers and employees by the Computer Centre.
b) Anonymous or group access to the network is not permitted for security reasons.
4. Damage to and loss of documents
a) The user is fully liable for damage to or loss of library documents. When receiving the loaned item he/she is obliged to check its condition and if he/she identifies any defects to report them. Failure to do so shall cause him/her to become liable for any previous damage.
b) Documents which are damaged so that they cannot be used shall be classified as loss.
c) A user who causes damage to or the loss of a work is obliged to find an adequate replacement for the same title in its full value. A copy of the work cannot be accepted as a replacement.
d) The user is also obliged to pay for the repair or replacement of the cover of a library document that he/she has damaged.
e) The user is obliged to pay for damage that he/she has caused to the library’s equipment and reading rooms (in particular audio apparatus or computers and also is liable for viruses that he/she may cause to the computer network).
Article 7 Concluding provisions
a) The relevant general provisions of the Civil Code apply to the lending of library collections.
b) The Director of the AMU Library may deprive a user who repeatedly grossly breaches these Rules of his/her right to use the services of the AMU Library.
c) These Library Rules are generally valid for the operation of all AMU faculty libraries. The Director of the AMU Library may permit exceptions.
d) The relevant Addenda regulating the specific and concrete operational conditions for the individual faculty libraries form an integral part of these Library Rules. The Heads of the relevant faculty libraries may permit exceptions to these Addenda.
These Library Rules enter into force on December 27, 2011.
doc. Ivo Mathé
Rector of AMU
PhDr. Iva Horová
Director of the AMU Library
