Library Regulations

Library Regulations of the Marceli Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS

§1. General provisions

1. The general rules of operation of the Library of the Marceli Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Library’) are specified in the Act on Libraries of June 27th 1997 (consolidated text of the Journal of Laws from 2012, item 642).
2. The Library is opened from Monday to Friday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. The Library staff informs the users about every change of the Library’s opening hours by posting a notice in front of the entrance, sending information by e-mail to the internal e-mail address, and posting information on the Library’s website.
3. The Library consists of office spaces, a reading room and copy stations (accessible to all staff and doctoral students of the Nencki Institute PAS), and a storeroom with a scanning laboratory (accessible only to the Library staff).
4. The document which entitles to use the resources of the Library is a library card along with the reader’s account created by a librarian in the Horizon library system. In the case of newly hired employees a signed circulation card is also obligatory.

§2. Tasks of the Library

The main tasks of the Library are:

1. collecting, registering and making available domestic and foreign literature published on traditional and electronic media;
2. making Polish and foreign journals available to subscribers (ordering journals, participating in consortia, preparing tenders, etc.);
3. searching for information, literature and other scientific aids for the staff of the Nencki Institute PAS;
4. purchasing books on the basis of approved orders from the staff of the Nencki Institute PAS;
5. processing of interlibrary loans;
6. organizing training on the use of bibliographic databases;
7. registration and collection of scientific output of the staff of the Nencki Institute PAS in the Polish Scientific Bibliography, i.e. a database and bibliographic portal created by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education;
8. registration and collection of scientific output of the staff of the Nencki Institute PAS in the Database of scientific publications of the Marceli Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS along with the annually issued pdf files and in the form of a full-text articles’ registry in bounded copy;
9. selection and digitization of items for the Digital Repository of Research Institutes (OZwRCIN), and conducting social media marketing activities on this topic.

§3. Library users

The resources and services of the library & information system may be used by:

1. full-time employees of the Nencki Institute PAS;
2. PhD students of the Nencki Institute PAS;
3. individual users from outside the Nencki Institute PAS (after registering on the users’ list);
4. academic, research or public libraries within interlibrary loan procedures.

§4. Access to the Library collections

1. The library collection is available on site (in a reading room) and outside the Library.
2. Full-time employees of the Nencki Institute PAS:
   a. may use the library collection on the spot and borrow items outside;
   b. have access to the reading room and multifunction devices;
   c. have the right to a long-term rental of library materials – up to 10 items at a time, with the obligation to return them on request.
3. Students of PhD studies/Doctoral School at the Nencki Institute PAS:
   a. may use the library collection on the spot and borrow items outside only after providing to the Library a signed form of the Consent for the issuance of a library card of the Institute of Nencki PAS;
   b. have access to the reading room and multifunction devices;
   c. are entitled to borrowing library materials for a period of 30 days – up to 5 items at a time, with the obligation to return them within the aforementioned period or upon the request of the librarian;
   d. are obliged to return all borrowed library items at the end of each academic year, or to obtain permission for renewal, and to have their library account balance confirmed by the librarian in the Clearance of library account at the end of the academic year documentation;
   e. are required to clear their library account in the Clearance of library account before defending dissertation documentation and return their library card before defending their dissertation;
   f. in the case of destruction or loss of borrowed library items, the full financial responsibility is borne by the doctoral student; if enforcing the amount due from the doctoral student is not possible, the financial responsibility is transferred to the Head of the Laboratory to which the doctoral student had been admitted to, and results in the deduction from the Laboratory’s financial account (‘topic’) the amount indicated by the Library employee.
4. Individuals entitled to use the resources of the Library can borrow the items using the library card and registering the borrowing on the reader’s account in the Horizon library system, which constitutes the proof of concluding a borrowing contract.
   a. The library card is assigned only to one person. It is not allowed to lend it to third parties.
   b. The borrowed books and periodicals may not be handed over to other users. Where necessary, the user who has a particular item on the account has to firstly return it to the Library and after that another user can borrow it using their library card.
   c. If a library card is lost, the Library staff should be immediately notified. In the absence of notification the owner of the card is responsible for all damages caused by the negligence.
   d. Cancellation of a reader’s account takes place after all obligations to the Library have been settled. A Library employee confirms the closure of the account by:
   i. providing a signature on the circulation card (in the case of full-time employees);
   ii. providing a signature on one of the forms: Clearance of the library account at the end of the academic year, or Clearance of the library account before the defense of the dissertation (in the case of PhD students);
   iii. collecting the library card from the user and deletion of the reader’s account from the Horizon library system.
5. The use of the book collection in the reading room is allowed only during working hours of the staff. After using library materials, the reader is obliged to put them back.
6. Doctoral theses before the defense along with the reviews are made available in the reading room only for inspection, on the spot.
7. After the defense, doctoral theses are made available in accordance with the rules of copyright law and the Act of 25th February, 2016 on the re-use of public sector information.
8. Readers from outside the Nencki Institute PAS are entitled to borrow library materials only within the interlibrary loan procedures. The processing of a request and responsibility for a borrowed items lies with the library of the institution the Reader is affiliated to. The borrowing period cannot exceed 30 calendar days.
9. The Library User is fully materially responsible for the library items and computer equipment made available to them. In case of loss or damage of Library property, the user is obliged to:
   a. in case of loss or damage of a book or periodical, the user should provide a copy of the same edition or to cover the costs of conservation;
   b. in case of damage to computer equipment, the user should pay the cost of repair or purchase of new equipment;
   c. if a library card is lost or damaged, the user should pay the cost of purchasing a new card.
10. The following materials are not available for rental:
    a. books from the reference collection;
    b. library collections that require preservation;
    c. books and journals published before 1945.
11. The users are allowed to bring along their own materials and devices (e.g. laptop) and use it in the reading room after showing them to the librarian.
12. Silence is mandatory on the Library premises. It is forbidden to use mobile phones, eat and smoke tobacco or e-cigarettes.
13. The users of reading rooms are obliged to leave their coats at the entrance.

§5. Processing library requests

1. All employees and doctoral students of the Nencki Institute PAS may request an article, book or journal by sending an e-mail to the Library address (biblioteka@nencki.edu.pl). (It also applies to the requests within the interlibrary loan procedure).
2. Orders for books and journals from the on-site collection are fulfilled by the Library staff on an ongoing basis. The user is informed back by an e-mail or by phone about the possibility of collecting the materials personally from the Library.
3. Orders for publications in electronic form are fulfilled directly in response to an e-mail order. All articles received or ordered in the form of pdf files and scans are recorded in the internal order book and in the delivery book (concerning external orders).

§6. Purchasing books from Laboratory grants/accounts (‘topics’) by the employees of the Nencki Institute PAS

1. The books whose purchase is financed with funds from grants or accounts (so called ‘topics’), remain the property of the Nencki Institute PAS and are registered in the library inventory.
2. All newly purchased books are kept in the Library and may be lent to the readers.
3. The purchase of new books should be done according to the following rules:
   a. the ordering person registers the purchase order in the EVO system – the order is processed by the Supply Department (for Polish books) or by the Library (for foreign books);
   b. all newly purchased books are received by the Library;
   c. the Library staff member records the item in the inventory book, then prepares a bibliographic description in the electronic catalogue, and annotates in the internal catalogue the grant/account (‘topic’) number from which the book has been purchased;
   d. the person ordering a book in the EVO system receives a notification from the Library employee about the possibility of collecting the book;
   e. the Library employee lends the book to the ordering person according to the rules in force (as stated in §4 (4) of the Regulations).

§ 7. The usage of multifunctional devices

1. All the employees and doctoral students of the Nencki Institute PAS are allowed to use the multifunctional (copying) devices located in the Library only with an individual access code assigned to a specific laboratory of the Institute. At the same time, one should know that:
   a. the Library staff do not provide information on the access codes of the laboratories;
   b. the cost of making copies by the user is covered by the laboratories’ resources (‘topics’) on the basis of monthly reports provided by the Library staff.
2. All photocopying services performed for persons from outside the Institute are provided directly by the Library staff. The price list of services is available on the Library’s website: https://biblioteka.nencki.edu.pl/o-bibliotece
3. Library users may scan, copy, send the copy on e-mail, or take photos of the library materials with their own equipment according to the provisions of the Copyright Act.

§ 8. Final provisions

1. Failure to comply with the provisions of the Regulations by the users may result in loss of the right to use the collections of the Library.
2. The resolution of matters not governed by the provisions of the Regulations is the responsibility of the Institute’s Deputy Director for Organization and Development.
3. The Regulations shall come into force on April 1st, 2022.

Additional information

All required forms, i.e.:

Consent for the issuance of a library card of the Nencki Institute PAS

Clearance of the library account at the end of the academic year

Clearance of the library account before the PhD thesis defense,

are included in the appendices to the Regulations and can be also found on the Library website in the bookmark: About the library/Documents to download.