Christine's comments have raised a few more questions about
who gets what: we have all now had to make our own
arrangements about the OJ and most Eurostat publications
but how many people are still getting COM docs and press
releases on paper? As an older EDC we still have the luxury
of COM docs on paper (and I hope that will continue) but
long since stopped receiving press releases.
The discussion about the abrupt switch of official
documents from paper to electronic media calls into
question the basis of EDCs as research collections. As
others have pointed out, the explanatory memorandum is not
normally included in the version of COM docs which appears
in the OJ but is crucial to any kind of serious research
into the basis of EC legislation. Microfiche is already
out-dated technology and very difficult to reproduce
satisfactorily. CD-ROMs present technical and legal
problems for access to a wide public, and are unsuited to
long-term archiving as no-one knows how durable they will
be. Online sources are in a constant state of flux with
material appearing and disappearing without warning and
access often dependent on the software and hardware
available. If the Commission is so desperate to move
everything onto electronic distribution, the least the
public can expect is a clear statement of (1) whether it
will continue to be free, (2) whether the material will
remain accessible (or fall off the end as new stuff appears)
(3) what the coverage of any of the individual databases
actually is in terms of time span and kind of documentation.
Maybe this is something which should be considered in the
discussions about the new EDC contract or vade-mecum.
Best wishes
----------------------
Patrick Overy
EDC Librarian
University of Exeter
Law Library
Amory Building
Rennes Drive
EXETER
EX4 4RJ
tel. (01392) 263356 fax.no. (01392)263196
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
internet http://www.ex.ac.uk/library/internet/eurostudies.html
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