Art. 1: Claude Jolly, Ministry of Education, France
Bruno Curvale, Centre National d'Evaluation, Paris
French universities and their libraries - action policy and its assessment (1989 - 2001)

Andre Miquel Commission report, published in 1989, describes a very difficult situation of French university libraries due to recent and significant increase of the number of students. This increase created an urgent need to develop a policy for modernisation of university libraries. The policy introduces five fundamental goals:

1. re-organising a library into a general information (data/documentation) system, and merging/integrating of main university library with departmental branches
2. changing the library funding policies - the government provides funds for libraries, however, it reserves the right to distribute the monies, (the creation of more positions for library staff)
3. construction of new libraries - considering the fact that many existing libraries, due to ever-increasing number of users stopped serving its function properly (lack of free access, shortage of workstations); a new doctrine of building university libraries was developed, based on the article, "How to build a university library: from concept to realisation" (1993);
4. establishing of government and universities' co-operation based on signing a four-year long contracts, and then, evaluation of libraries
   1. improvement of library user services,
   2. creation of data bases, info-base of and documentation: both printed and electronic,
   3. upgrading the services to current standards;
5. creating a network of university libraries performing various functions:
   1. ongoing and continuing education for specialised library personnel,
   2. improvement of computer access to bibliographic information,
   3. proper management of day-to-day operations
   4. data co-ordination by: CADIST - Centre for Gathering and Distributing Science and Technical Information; COUPERIN - University Consortium of Electronic Journals.

The presentation contains statistical data referring to the efficiency of university libraries.

Art. 2: Lluis Anglada, Consortium of Academic Libraries of Catalonia, Barcelona
Sharing tools, sharing experiences: the evaluation of Catalan University Libraries

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The Consortium of University Libraries of Catalonia (CBUC) is an institution formed by eight Catalan public universities and the National Library of Catalonia. The purpose of this alliance is to improve library services through mutual assistance and close co-operation. Its main programmes are: Union catalogue, ILL and the Digital Library of Catalonia. In its 1998 Business Plan, CBUC decided to start a pilot programme aimed at establishing a framework for the global evaluation of the quality of library services. Naturally, such an initiative merited the support of and partnership with the Catalan Agency for the Quality in the University System. CBUC and the Agency's library evaluation plan envisioned the employment of a specific methodology outlined in a guide destined for the libraries. The authors, while researching their work, took into account all available data.
The CBUC's objectives are as follows:

1. to promote the self-evaluation of libraries and use it as a probe of the quality of library services.
2. to acquire an internationally approved methodology, with guidelines pertaining to the training of library staff in the matters of evaluation and quality improvement.
3. to conduct a thorough analysis of the use of library services which, compared with results of similar studies in other countries, would provide information about the level of research and teaching process within the Catalan academic system.

The presentation shows the ideas leading to the conception of the pilot project, as well as the creation of the book of guidelines. Also, some recent results of the evaluation process are be presented.

Art. 3: Asa Lindberg-Sand, Evaluation Office, Lund University, Sweden
The importance of library services in the universities' educational process

The role of the Lund University Libraries (LUB) has been undergoing rapid changes recently, with both young students and experienced university staff changing their ways of researching the information. Therefore, a wide survey of library use was initiated - the so-called Barometer 2000 conducted at the Lund University, which yielded a thorough account of the library working process. The aim of the Barometer was to explore the means of information research employed by various groups of users, and to probe their opinion about library services. Over 2000 users responded to the survey which showed varied results as to how which group (students and researchers) went about getting the information they needed and how they used the library. It appears that students were more library-dependent in their quest for information than researchers. LUB has gradually become an integrating link between the research and teaching processes - and it is a very new approach, yet to be verified in practice. It is suggested that the process of conducting the study and implementing the findings rather than concentrating on which services to improve will play an important role in creating a new identity for LUB.

Art. 4: Ewa Glowacka, Division of Library and Information Science Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun
An Introduction into Quality Assurance and Total Quality Management with reference to library and information institutions.

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The author presents different systems using quality as common denominator in the process of managing libraries and information centres. The author compares ideas, methods and tools commonly used in Total Quality Management, ISO standardisation and Quality Assurance. The text is illustrated with pictures depicting the process of implementation of these ideas in Polish and foreign agencies. The author also presents various interactions of above-mentioned systems. She encourages further efforts in searching for more effective solutions to the challenging quest for quality.

Art. 5: Malgorzata Kisilowska, Department of Information and Library Studies, University of Warsaw
Quality Assurance in Higher Education in the Field of Library and Information Science

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The author focuses on the rules governing the internal system of quality assurance using the analysis of the theory of quality assurance in Polish university education. The author presents the rules pertaining to the process of studies' planning and management, curricula, as well as methods and tools of quality evaluation with respect to library and information science.

Art. 6: Miroslawa Majewska, Library, Information and Documentation Centre, Warsaw
Quality assurance issue in pre-university and information science education.

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At present, teaching and learning in the information society presents new educational challenges due to the job market's ever-growing demand for well-educated, information technology-savvy people. New social and economic status, as well as technological advancement of today's libraries greatly influences the quality of library and information services. These services are in great need of well-trained, professional and technologically advanced personnel. Consequently, adequate professional training depends on quality of teaching. Library institutes, while they aim at reaching TQM and ISO standards, must include in their teaching every person and/or organisation engaged in education: management staff, teachers, students, co-operating institutions, etc. Library, Information and Documentation Centre's new agenda is the continuing education and training of librarians on pre-academic level. The Centre, (including its 14 branches), has been developing its own system of quality assurance thus providing the continuous improvement of its activities. This process's main purpose is to become more responsive to the needs of users - the students, teaching and administrative staff and others- and, by the same token, to equip them with the right tools and skills necessary for further individual education. CLIDE plans to prepare students to handle the ever-evolving science and technology, to cope with changes in management trends, marketing and communication, and to create and promote an institution of a library in local communities. CLIDE, in light of the library industry's demand for quality assurance, needs to permanently analyse goals and contents of the teaching process along with promoting its improvement, to monitor the progress, and to develop a flexible system of library and information professionals' continuing education.