Regarding the project's goals and expected results, Tünde Székelyné Török, head of the department at ELTE University Library, provided information. She explained that, with the help of the grant, a shared query interface will be created. She emphasized that this is necessary to enable easier and faster access to the library units of institutions belonging to the ELTE library network, which are stored in various ways and places. Additionally, a key objective of the project is to integrate ELTE’s entire document estate into a unified database. The complete processing of unique documents and the expansion of a special collection including literature in exotic languages are also seen as important, said the department head. “We intend to increase the number of unique library units, among other things, by establishing collaboration with ELTE’s Italian and Portuguese Departments,” added Tünde Székelyné Török. Since the majority of the available books have not yet been catalogued, thanks to the grant resources, they aim to raise the current exploration rate of the document estate from 24 percent to 30 percent, she continued.
They are developing the library portal, with which they aim to facilitate library use and expand available online services. Another goal of the University Library is to attract the largest possible proportion of the secondary school age group and encourage them to use the library. To this end, they organize external lessons and competitions in ELTE’s secondary schools. The promotion of reading will be supported with writer-reader meetings and numerous events organized by the institution. The first writer-reader meeting was held on April 19, 2011: the guest of the event was writer Endre Kukorelly.
Project manager Klára Varga outlined the library’s service missions to guests, stressing among them meeting 21st-century challenges, preserving, collecting, and providing access to knowledge, and offering quality services as the most important tasks. “Winning the project means a lot to the University Library. On the one hand, it’s an important resource, and on the other, this grant has reassured us that our ideas and plans are heading in the right direction,” Klára Varga told elte.hu.