Art. 1: Anna Machalska-Garbacz
The participation of the University of Mining and Metallurgy Main Library in the process of evaluating the scientific production of the University. Some practical solutions

The parametric system of evaluating the scientific production of researchers introduced by the State Committee for Scientific Research (KBN) in 1992 requires the familiarity with the sources that supply figures necessary for the evaluation. The basic criteria for the new evaluation system are: the number of publications, their content-related value measured by the number of citations or their standing in the impact factor (IF) hierarchy. Documents published in the journals included on the Master Journal List, known in Poland as the Philadelphia List or indexed in the world bibliographic databases are also top-ranked. These values can be found mainly in the databases produced by the Institute for Scientific Information in Philadelphia and subscribed by most of the Polish research libraries. This made libraries considerably active in the process of assessing cyclically the performance of researchers and their research institutes. The article discusses a few solutions that aim at improving the process of retrieving the data needed for this evaluation. As a follow-up, a database of the University of Mining and Metallurgy Main Library that registers diffferent kinds of training courses run by and for the library staff is discussed.

Art. 2: Aneta Drabek, Silesian University Library
An attempt at evaluating the subscription of foreign journals in libraries, with special emphasis on academic libraries and the Library of the Higher School of Business - National- Louis University in Nowy Sacz.

This article makes an attempt at evaluating the subscription of 797 foreign journals that cover 56 fields of social sciences, the titles subscribed by Polish libraries. The data from Journal Citation Reports database were made use of, as well as the methodology of I.Marszakowa-Szajkiewicz enabling the evaluation of journals irrespective of the branch of knowledge. On the basis of the results obtained, the evaluation of the subscription of foreign journals acquired by Polish libraries in 1998 was made. Special emphasis was put on 13 universities - the biggest centres of social science research, as well as one private university, because of its vast collection of subscribed journals. The bibliometric method used could be an additional criterion which could make it easier to decide which foreign journals to subscribe.

Art. 3: Anna Pacholska, Main Library and the Scientific Information Centre of the Wroclaw University of Technology
Selected ISI publications used in bibliometric research

The article discusses three chosen sources of information published by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) that may be used in bibliometric research: Master Journal List, Journal Citation Reports and SCI. Master Journal List, known in Poland as the Philadelphia List, is a list of journals indexed in the ISI databases. Some search possibilities are reviewed, as well as a list of Polish journals included in this database is presented. Journal Citation Reports provides information on the factors that show the functioning of chosen titles. The most frequently used factors are discussed, such as the impact factor and the immediacy index. A list of 34 Polish journals is also included, as well as all their factors. While discussing the citation databases, an emphasis is put on the Science Citation Index Expanded database and the problems connected with carrying out the analysis of the citation patterns of documents, on the basis of this database.

Art. 4: Hanna Celoch, Main Library of the Technical University of Lublin
Scientometric analyses in the Main Library of the Technical University of Lublin

The article discusses the problem of carrying out scientometric analyses in the Main Library of the Technical University of Lublin, that are commissioned by the university authorities. The data acquired as a result of these analyses are made use of in the parametric system of evaluating the research institutions that apply for grants for pursuing their statutory activities; the system introduced by the State Committee for Scientific Research (KBN). SCI provides a primary base for these analyses. The author presents the history of citation analysis research, as well as experience accumulated so far. The analyses had been first commissioned to another institutions, and later on they were carried out by the Library alone. The article describes the methodology and the ways of carrying out these analyses. Special emphasis is put on the proper preparation of extensive and reliable source materials that form the basis for assessing the performance of the university. Librarians making such analyses have to be familiar with the databases, as well as the university researchers and their publications. Some observations and doubts about the data concerning the university and obtained from the National Citation Reports from Poland database are also expressed. All the publications of the university research workers published in the journals included in Master Journal List are traced in the Main Library of the Technical University of Lublin every year. In spite of the fact that the carrying out of scientometric analyses is an arduous and unrewarding task (it sometimes happens that researchers who are unsatisfied with the assessment of their publications express their resentment towards librarians), according to the author, librarians have a working knowledge of databases and they are best predestined to do this work.