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Library Rules of the State Technical Library

Introduction

Part I

1. Basic Provisions
2. STL Users
3. Loan Rules
1. Borrowing a Document
2. Return Dates

Part II Rights and Obligations of Users

1. General Provisions
2. Rules for Using Computer Technology
3. Instructions for the Users of Electronic Services
1. User Account
2. Rights and Obligations of STL
3. Rights and Obligations of an ES User

Part III Rules for Study Rooms

1. Rules for the General Study Room and for the Abstracts and Trade Literature Study Room
2. Rules for the Computer Study Room

Part IV Penalties for Non-observance of Binding Provisions

1. Charges for Late Return
2. Enforcing the Return of Unreturned Lent Items
3. Compensation for Lost, Damaged or Destroyed Documents

Part V Services Against Payment

1. Copy and Digital Services
2. IIS - International Inter-Library Service
3. Retrieval Services
4. CD-ROM Database
5. Trade Documents
6. The Price List of STL

Part VI Final Provisions

1. Deprivation of the Rights to Use the Services of STL
2. Exceptions from the Library Rules
3. Validity of the Library Rules

Appendix I - Price List of STL Services

Appendix II - Principles of Differentiation of the Loan Services of STL



Introduction

The State Technical Library (hereafter referred to as STL) is the central library. It is of universities for technical and natural sciences and at the same time it is a public science-technical library. It is directly controlled by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Physical Education. Its services are particularly used by university pedagogues and students, scientific and research workers, and also by all interested persons, both from the Czech Republic and from abroad.

STL acquires and maintains a collection of domestic and foreign literature and other information sources from technical fields, applied natural sciences and, to a lesser extent, information sources from social sciences related to technology. STL enables access to its collections by providing loan, copying, electronic document delivery, retrieval, bibliographic, informational and publication services, and in doing so, it applies the principles of differentiation of services, (see Appendix II - Principles of the Diferentiation of Loan Services of STL).


Part I

1. Basic Provisions

    1. Individual, collective and electronic services users are provided with the services of STL. Some services are provided by STL against payment (see Library Rules, part V - Services Against Payment, Appendix I - Price List of STL Services)

    2. The status of a user of STL services can be acquired by:

    • a citizen of the Czech Republic older than 15 years
    • an organization which has been assigned a registration number
    • a foreign citizen and/or a person without citizenship.

    3. STL provides its services on a differentiated basis; the range of the services provided is detailed in the Library Rules, Appendix II - Principles of the Differentiation of Loan Services of STL.

    4. In accordance with the principles for providing differentiated services, STL allows users to have access to various kinds of documents both in the traditional and electronic media, i.e. books, serial publications, trade documents, standards, microfiches, diskettes, CD-ROMs, videocassettes, etc. (hereafter referred to as documents or publications).

2. Users of STL

    1. A user who is registered in the database of the users of STL is issued with a STL User Card (hereafter referred to as Card) which bears a bar code and which is used as a contact document between the user and the library. The issue of the Card is necessary for the borrowing of documents from STL's collections with the purpose of taking them away. The Card also enables the user to make use of the automatic loan ordering service which is available through the STL on-line catalogue ( here the loan ordering service is connected to the database of STL users ).

      1. The validity of the Card is limited to a fixed period of time and it must be renewed within the given time period. After the Card's validity has expired, the user will no longer be able to use the services of STL. The Card is non-transferable and the user will be held responsible for its misuse.

      2. Upon request, STL will issue a Card for the following persons and legal entities:

      • citizens of CR older than 15 years who have the capacity to perform legal acts and who intend to visit the library personally, will be issued a Card upon the presentation of a valid ID card or other document relating to the person's identity, where information on their permanent or temporary residence within the territory of CR is certified and upon paying the fixed registration fee (see Library Rules, Appendix I - Price List of STL Services). A CR citizen aged less than 18 years can only receive a Card with the written consent of his/her legal representative who thus assumes the guarantee to fulfil the obligations following from the STL Library Rules for the under-aged user if the under-aged user does not do so. The personal details of the legal representative will be verified by a member of STL staff according to a valid ID card or some other document on the person's identity.
      • organizations such as schools, institutions, enterprises, commercial companies and private businesses (hereafter referred to as organizations), which have been assigned a registration number and the representatives of which will be visiting STL in person will be issued a Card upon the submission of an application bearing the seal of their organization (if the organization uses a seal), an extract from the Companies' Register or a trade license, Registration Number, signature of its statutory body and signature of the member of staff authorized to represent it in contact with the STL regarding loans. The authorized representative presents a document on his/her identity at the same time. The rights and obligations of a user in relation to STL are always held by the given organization.
      • foreign citizens and persons without citizenship who have a valid passport, residential permit or a diplomatic card

      3. The user of a valid Card is required to inform STL of any changes in name, address or possibly in other data stated in the application of the user inmediately. An organization is required to inform STL about a change in person or in the personal data on the member of staff authorized to be in contact with STL as concerns loans and any change in the name, or possibly in the status or the address of the organization in writing without any unnecessary delay.

      4. If a user does not fulfil his/her obligation to report changes and STL has to find out data itself, the user will be required to pay any costs incurred.

      5. A user is required to report the loss of a Card immediately, to the personnel of the Information Service of STL who will block the lost Card in the STL Users' Register. The user is responsible for the documents which he/she borrowed up until the loss of Card until he/she returns them to STL.

      6. For the issue of a replacement Card, the user is obliged to pay STL the fixed fee (see Library Rules, Appendix I - Price List of STL Services).

      7. In the case of repeated Card losses, STL may deny the user access to the services of the library.

    2. A user who is not registered in the STL's database of users and who is only interested in studying documents in the study rooms of STL must hold a User's Card for studying in the library (hereafter referred to as the User's Card). The validity of these Cards is limited to 1 week though there is the possibility of prolongation. Such a user does not have the possibility to order the loan of documents from the STL collections for external use.

      1. STL will issue this User's Card to every visitor to the library, if the visitor asks for it and pays the fixed fee (see Library Rules, Appendix I - Price List of STL Services).

    3. A user of electronic services (hereafter referred to as the ES user) concludes an Agreement on Establishing a User Account with the STL whose text is available on STL's Internet address http://www.stk.cz. Alternatively STL will forward an agreement to a user via e-mail or post, upon request. An ES user does not require a STL User Card if he/she does not also require the provision of services conditioned by the User Card.

      1. STL offers ES user document delivery services which are conditioned by the establishment of User Account with STL.

      2. The conditions of establishing a User Account and the information and instructions for using electronic services are stated in the Library Rules, part II, item 3.

    4. Users of Inter-library Loan Service (hereafter referred to as ILS) and the International Inter-library Loan Service (hereafter referred to as IIS) do not have to be holders of any STL Card and do not need to be registered in the STL Users' Register; the provision of the ILS and IIS services are subject to the Rules stated in edict no. 51/63 Coll. and in the Principles of Inter-library Services in CR issued by NK CR in 1996.

3. Loan Rules

    1. Borrowing documents

    STL decides on the possibilities for users to borrow documents in accordance with its mission and with respect to the requirements concerning the protection of library collections (see item 3.1.2).

      1. The range of loan services is governed by the Principles of Differentiation of STL Loan Services (see Library Rules, Appendix II). STL does not lend documents from its collections via post to users from Prague.

      2. The following are not lent by STL for use outside the buildings of STL:

      • parts of the library collection which dates back to 1920 and earlier than that; rare and picture publications, maps, archive publications of Czech origin, documents marked with a small z after the shelf-mark of the publication and documents where there would be a risk of irreparable damage or loss
      • reference documents (encyclopedia, dictionaries, journals with professional statements, directories of companies, etc.)
      • documents acquired through the international inter-library services which can only be consulted in the study rooms of STL

      3. When lending CD- ROMs, videocassettes and valuable documents which may be taken outside the building of STL, the library is entitled to request a security deposit in cash and in CZK against a receipt, from the borrower. The obligation to deposit a bail (financial security) against a receipt also applies to cases where documents are borrowed and taken out of the building of STL by foreign citizens and by persons aged less than 18 years. The Head of the Users' Services Department of STL or any member of staff authorized by him/her decides whether or not a security deposit is required and the amount of such a security.

      4. A user seeks out and orders the documents directly from the OPAC electronic catalogue either personally in the library, via the Internet (URL: http://www.stk.cz), telephone or e-mail (the address is informace@stk.cz). If the given document is not in the electronic catalogue, the user searches for it in the card catalogues and places an order for it with the loans section on the form entitled Order.

      5. Before lending documents, every user is obliged to examine intended loans and report any visible defects immediately to a member of staff from the loan section who will note them down on the loan slip. If a user does not report these defects, he/she is responsible for all defects discovered within the document when it is returned. He/she is will be charged accordingly.

      6. An individual is obliged to collect the documents ordered within three days; an organization is obliged to do so within one week, (this includes the day when the order was placed). Failure to collect items within this period, will result in ordered documents being returned to the storeroom.

      7. Documents are lent to individual users upon the presentation of a valid Card against signing the loan slip. Upon the request of STL employee, the user will also be required to present his/her ID card or some other document which provides proof of his/her identity.

      8. Documents are lent to organizations upon the presentation of a valid Card against a loan slip bearing the seal of the given organization (if it uses a seal) and the signature of the representative of the organization authorized to ensure the loan contact with STL. If asked by a member of staff of STL, the user (representative of an organization) is also required to present his/her ID card or some other document on his/her identity.

      9. For users who live outside of Prague and who cannot visit STL regularly, documents are lent via inter-library services according to the Rules applicable to these library services (edict no. 51/1963 Coll. and the Principles of Inter-library Services issued by NK CR in 1996).

      10. If the document required has already been lent to another user, STL will accept a reservation from the interested user, if possible. A user is not allowed to make reservations in OPAC by himself, he/she must ask a member of staff from the Loan Services Section in order to do so. If more than one interested user asks for the same document at the same time, then a waiting list is made which is arranged according to the dates that the reservation request was made and to the Principles of Differentiation of the STL Loan Services (see Library Rules, Appendix II). A fixed fee is charged for the reservation of documents (see Library Rules, Appendix I Price List of STL Services).

      11. When returning a document previously lent, the user will receive part of the loan slip which has his/her signature on it, or possibly a substitute receipt, as the evidence of the return. This can be used as evidence that he/she has returned the document which had been previously borrowed. The user is obliged to keep such receipts. If a document is missing in STL and the user does not present evidence of its return, he/she is considered not to have returned the given document. The documents which is borrowed by a user personally must be returned by him/her in person. When the user returns a document against which a security deposit has been paid, the full amount of the security is returned to the user upon the presentation of the security deposit receipt.

      12. If the document required is not in the STL library collections and if no other library in Prague holds it, the user can request to borrow it through the STL inter-library services.

      13. If the document required is not held within any library within the territory of CR, the user can ask STL to intermediate in the borrowing of said documents or to procure copies from libraries abroad. These requests are made by users on the forms designed for this purpose, (i.e. the Requisition Form for Procuring a Document through International Inter-library Services - hereafter referred to as IIS) personally, via post, via e-mail (the address is mmvs@stk.cz) or on a WWW request form (URL: http://www.stk.cz). STL accepts request forms which are duly filled in and provided with a pre-paid fee stamp which can be bought in the Inter-library and Reprographic Department and which are sent by post, e-mail or through the WWW form available on the main page of the User Account on the WWW site of STL.

      If a user sends the request forms by e-mail or directly submits a request via the Internet, he/she must deposit his/her IIS pre-paid fee stamps in the Inter-library and Reprographic Department.

      Ordering documents from foreign libraries and institutions is governed by those Rules which relate to the international inter-library services. IIS of STL will only procure documents from technical fields and from the related fields of natural sciences. Services mentioned in this paragraph are provided against payment (see Library Rules, part V - Services against Payment, item 2 and Appendix I - Price List of STL Services).

    2. Return Dates

      1. Return dates are determined according to the Principles of Differentiation of STL Loan Services (see STL Library Rules, Appendix II) and are as follows:

      Type of document Date of return
      in personal contact in postal contact
      1. books, bound year's volume of periodicals and micrographic media (non-periodicals) within 4 weeks within 5 weeks
      (for the 1st cat.) within 8 weeks
      2. periodicals - individual issues of non-bound year's
      volumes of selected periodicals (for the 1st cat.)
      within 3 days within 1 week

      3. micrographic media of periodicals

      STL decides on the manner of loans
      4. CD-ROM, videocassettes within 1 month they are not lent
      (only against security)
      5. trade documents


      • individually requested
      within 4 weeks within 4 weeks *
      • circulation of subject series without the possibility to postpone the date of return
      they are not lent in local contact within 3 weeks *

      * + the time really necessary for the postal transportation

      2. STL can postpone the date of return on the basis of a personal, written or telephonic request in such cases where the user makes a request before the date of return and if the document in question has not been reserved by another interested party. Upon the user's request, STL can postpone the date of return on four consecutive occassions-maximum, always by the length of the basic loan period. After this extended loan period has expired, the user is obliged to present the publication to STL and he/she can ask for a new loan against the signature of a new loan slip.

      3. STL can issue a document for a shorter loan period or can request the immediate return of documents before the loan period has expired without explantion.

      4. For documents lent from foreign libraries, individual loan periods are is determined, these cannot be prolonged and borrowers have a responsibility to adhere to the stipulated loan period.


Part II


Rights and Obligations of Users

1. General Provisions

    1. The users are obliged to observe the provisions of the STL Library Rules, to obey the instructions of the employees of the library and to obey the written instructions which are displayed within STL. They are obliged to work quietly whilst in the library and to keep all areas of the library clean and tidy.

    2. Whils in the STL, users are obliged to prove their identity to the employees of STL on request with a valid Card, User's Card, or possibly with an ID card or other document which shows their identity.

    3. Every user must pass through the entrance and exit check-point and must avail himself/herself to any other checking measures deemed necessary for the protection of the national property administered by STL and for the maintenance of order. When entering STL, a user is obliged to take a check tally from the security counter at the entrance of the library and to surrender it when leaving. If a user loses the tally, he/she is obliged to pay the fixed fee (see Library Rules, Appendix I - Price List of STL Services). When passing through the exit check-point of STL, the user is obliged to present all documents which he/she is carrying (even those which are not the property of STL), for inspection and to surrender the pass cards for any documents which have been borrowered.

    4. A user must not lend the documents he/she has borrowed to a third party. A user is responsible for them throughout the period for which he/she has borrowed the documents.

    5. Claims and complaints which are connected to the using of STL services, suggestions concerning the supplementation of the library's collections with professional publications and other suggestions concerning improvements to the services provided by the library can be directly made to STL employees currently on duty at any time, written down in the request and complaints book which is held in the loans room or sent to the e-mail address techlib@stk.cz.

    6. When inter-library services are used, the library or the organization which asked for the loan of documents is responsible for the fulfilment of the user obligations. It is obliged to observe the general legal rules relating to inter-library loan services (edict 51/63 Coll.) and those directives and instructions of STL considered applicable. A library or an organization which asked for the loan of documents is obliged to compensate for any damage or loss which it causes and which the STL suffers.

    7. A user is obliged to report any loss of the borrowed documents to STL without any delay and to compensate for the loss within a fixed period as stated in the STL Library Rules, part VI, item 3 - Compensation for Lost, Damaged or Destroyed Documents.

    8. A user is also liable for damage which he/she caused to other property of STL, according to general rules.

    9. A user must ask the Head of the Users' Services Department for permission to make a copy of documents using his/her own camera.

    10. Those users who suffer from contagious diseases and those users who due to their disease, extraordinarily dirty clothes or for some other reason may be a burden on other users, may be excluded from the right to use the services of STL.

2. Rules for Using the Computer Technology

    1. A user must not use the computer technology of STL for any other purpose than for using the services of STL.

    2. The manner in which a user carries out his/her session is always precisely defined at each computer site.

    3. A user is required to present a valid User Card to the personnel on duty before he/she starts to work. The work of a user on the computer technology of STL is monitored.

    4. A user is allowed to work on the computer network of STL (hereafter referred to as the network) only under the user name assigned to that individual by STL.

    5. A user is prohibited from using other software in STL than that which is offered in the menu.

    6. A user is prohibited from copying and distributing parts of the operating system of STL and installed applications and programs.

    7. A user is prohibited from copying information obtained from databases made available on the network of STL or on Internet to his/her own diskettes, a user must ask the staff in the study rooms to provide him/her with this service.

    8. A user must not try to obtain rights of access or a privileged status which he/she is not entitled to. If a user obtains a privileged status or rights of access which he/she is not entitled to in any way (including as a result of hardware or software errors in the system), he/she is obliged to report this fact to the personnel on duty without delay.

    9. A user must not consciously interfere with the work of other users of the computer network or with the function and performance of the network as a whole (for example, by excessively overloading the resources of the network) and must not use the network for obtaining access to other computers or to other networks or for spreading computer viruses.

    10. A user bears full responsibility for his/her possible interference with the configuration of the computer which could have influence on the operation of the computer or the network in any way; furthermore, a user is fully responsible for any damage which may result from his/her inexpert handling of the computer technology, including damage caused by computer viruses introduced by the user.

    11. The operation of the STL network can be restricted or suspended for necessary technical and software maintenance of the network, or possibly for some other serious reasons.

    12. All information and data obtained (in any form, on any kind of medium) will be used exclusively for the personal purposes of the user and for his/her studying purposes. It is not permitted to circulate, reproduce, copy, lend, share, distribute (not even on a computer network), sell or otherwise use, such data and information, particularly for commercial purposes.

    13. Misuse of data and information mentioned above may result in prosecution (see Act no. 256/1992 Coll.).

3. Instructions for a User of Electronic Services (hereafter referred to as the ES user)

    1. User Account

      1. A party interested in using electronic services will ask STL (personally, via e-mail, by sending a WWW form, via post) to establish a User Account. After its establishment, the interested party will place a financial amount in CZK against the financial account from which the fee for establishing a User Account will be deducted (see Library Rules, Appendix I - Price List of STL Services). A foreign citizen can also deposit the financial amount in USD. Subsequently, he/she will be able to use services (both chargeable and free) provided through User Accounts.

      2. STL will establish a User Account upon the presentation of 2 counterparts of the Agreement on Establishing a User Account. The agreement form is available in STL from the Information Service department and it is also available on the Internet (URL: http://www.stk.cz). After establishing an account with STL, 1 counterpart of the agreement is signed by STL and is returned to the ES. At the same time, the ES user will receive the identification number of his/her account, access name and password, extract from the STL Library Rules, Instructions for an Owner of a User Account, information on the recommended technical platform. If the ES user arranges the establishment of the account via post, these materials are sent by registered post to the individual.

      3. A User Account is a password-protected space (directory) on the WWW server of STL established on the basis of an agreement concluded between the library and the user (apart from other things, for the purpose of copyright-legal protection of documents and for the protection of the user when the results of his/her work are made available to him). This directory is only available when the access password of the user is entered. The main site of the User Account contains information on the current balance of the financial account, reference to the list of amounts charged up todate for the services provided.

      4. A User Account can only be used by the ES user on whose request it was established. Each ES user can only establish one User Account.

      5. A financial amount in cash can be placed against the account as follows:

      • personally in STL by paying cash
      • through a transfer order on the basis of an invoice
      • through a post-office money order
      • through a post-office money order to the current account of STL
      • through a bank transfer to the current account of STL

      6. After provision of the service required, the amount fixed in the Price List of STL Services (Library Rules, Appendix I) is automatically deducted from the financial account; the user can obtain information on the payment made on the main page of his/her User Account. If the financial account is empty, the provision of services provided against payment is automatically stopped.

      7. Services provided through User Accounts are usually ordered using a WWW form from the User Account and paid for by the financial amount placed in cash in the User Account.

        1. Digital Copies

        An ES user orders, using the WWW form available on his/her User Account, digital copies of documents from the STL's collections or of documents obtained from other libraries and institutions through ILS and IIS. Data thus obtained can only be used by the ES user for his/her own purposes, in accordance with the copyright law.

        2. Offer of standardized formats of digital copies

        • Black White GIF, 300 dpi
        • Grayscale JPEG, 100 dpi / 150 dpi / 300 dpi
        • TrueColor JPEG, 100 dpi / 150 dpi / 300 dpi
        • PDF Adobe Acrobat

    2. The Rights and Obligations of STL

      1. STL will strive to ensure that service is provided within the appropriate time-scale. If STL is not able to perform the service within the previously fixed period of time, it is obliged to inform the ES user of this by stating this information on the main page of the User Account. This information should include a statement containing those reasons which have prevented the provision of the ordered service. At the same time, the ES user is asked if the order continues to be valid and for what period of time the user is interested in the service.

      2. STL will prevent the further use of a User Account without delay if it has avidence of misuse of the account or if the ES user reports such a misuse himself.

      3. If the ES user fails to observe the terms of the Agreement on Establishing a User Account, STL bears no responsibility for any possible financial losses incurred by the ES user and may suspend the ES user's capability to use the services without any claim to any compensation until a state compliant with these terms is restored. In these cases, STL is entitled to claim compensation for costs thus incurred (for example the handling charges for cancelling the account, etc.) and in serious cases, it can reject a request for re-establishment of the account.

      4. Upon request and in response to appropriate payment, STL is obliged make a list of the amounts withdrawn from the ES user's account over a certain period. The statement of account covers a period of one year; STL is obliged, if requested, to retrive data older than one year from its archives for a fixed charge (see Library Rules, Appendix I - Price List of STL Services).

      5. STL is obliged to cancel the account free of charge and to return the remaining amount for a fixed handling charge within a period agreed but not later than within 30 days from the delivery of the written request of the ES user.

    3. The Rights and Obligations of an ES User

      1. An ES user is entitled to use the User Account with STL on the terms agreed in the Agreement on Establishing a User Account.

      An ES user undertakes not to give any other person the access password to his/her User Account. If this restriction is violated, he/she is liable for all resulting damage.

      An ES user undertakes to treat the data obtained through STL services in accordance with the Copyright Act (The Works of Literature, Science and Art Act no. 35/1965 Coll. (the Copyright Act), in the wording of the Act no. 89/1990 Coll., Act no. 468/1991 Coll., Act no. 18/1993 Coll., Act no. 237/1995 Coll., Act no. 86/1996 Coll. and Act no. 175/1996 Coll.). An ES user does not receive any rights of use except for non-exclusive authorization to use the data obtained only for his/her own personal purposes. An ES user must not copy, modify, translate or otherwise distribute the data obtained, with the exception of cases where it is explicitly permitted by the appropriate act. An ES user bears exclusive responsibility for any violation of the Copyright Act and he/she has been made aware of all possible consequences of such illegal action.

      2. An ES user is obliged to report any suspicion of or any attempt at a misuse of his/her account immediately.

      3. An ES user is entitled to reject a service provided, if the service requested does not take place within such a period of time as fixed and/or it is not of such a quality and scope as required. For any service which receives a complaint, STL is obliged to return the financial amount which was deducted from the User Account for the given service.


Part III

Rules for Study Rooms

Users are required to leave their top clothing, bags, etc., in a place designed for such a purpose, usually in the cloakroom.

In the study rooms, the consumption of food and drink is not allowed; smoking is also prohibited.

The study rooms are used for studying, therefore the users are required to behave quietly and considerately in the study rooms.

A user of a study room is entitled to take up one working place only. If all places are occupied in the study room, it is not possible to dwell there and wait for one of the places to be vacated. It is also not allowed to reserve a place for a user who will arrive later or who has left his/her seat for a period longer than one hour.

1. Regulations for the General Study Room and for the Abstracts and Trade Literature Study Room

    1. The study rooms are mostly used for studying the following in a study room:

      1. documents from the freely accessible collections of the library (reference library, display of new acquisitions, professional-statement and bibliographic periodicals, directories of corporations and manual, etc.)

      2. documents ordered for studying in the study room

      3. reference only documents

      4. microfilms and microfiches

      5. videocassettes

      6. documents lent from foreign libraries

      7. documents stored on CD-ROMs or on diskettes which are supplements to the individual issues of periodicals on display which were published in the current or preceeding year.

      8. trade literature documents stored on CD-ROM (directories of companies, fair catalogues, information on the production activities of the companies)

    2. The study rooms can be entered upon the presentation of a valid STL User Card. Non- registered users can use the services of the General Study Room and the Abstracts and Trade Literature Study Room on an occassional basis upon issue of User's Card for studying in a study room for a fixed charge (see Library Rules, Appendix I - Price List of STL Services).

    3. Requests for the loan of selected journals, diskettes, CD-ROMs and videocassettes must be made to the study room personnel.

    4. Users are obliged to protect borrowed documents against damage, they must not decrease their value even by writing notes in them. They are responsible for any possible damage to the document during their stay in the study room. Documents which were lent for the purpose of being studied in a study room are not allowed to be taken outside a study room. When leaving the study rooms, a user is obliged to present all documents which he/she carries on himself/herself, including his/her own study materials, for inspection.

    5. It is possible for users to make copies of the journals displayed in the study rooms as well as to send print documents or to send outputs from CD-ROMs and diskettes to other diskettes directly in the study rooms for a fixed charge (see Library Rules, Appendix I - Price List of STL Services).

2. Computer Study Room Regulations

    1. The Computer Study Room (hereafter referred to as CS) is designed for the centralized use of the following electronic information sources of STL users for the purposes of their studies:

      1. the display of by the CD-ROM databases available on the STL network

      2. documents available on the Internet

      3. CD-ROM and diskettes from the collection of STL which are separate publications or supplements to publications and journals, with the exception of supplements to journals published in the last two years which are displayed in the General Study Room.

      4. videocassettes from the STL collection.

    2. Admission to the Computer Study is only permitted upon the presentation of a valid Card of a user of STL once the fixed registration surcharge for using the services of CS has been payed (see Library Rules, Appendix I - Price List of STL Services). A User's Card for studying in the study rooms does not entitle its holder to enter the Computer Study.

    3. One computer station is assigned to the user by the personnel on duty and all activities on this station are monitored. The user is obliged to observe the Rules for Using Computer Technology (see Library Rules, Part II, item 2). If a user violates these rules, the user's session can be terminated immediately.

    4. If the license terms or other terms which apply to the use of individual sources made available to the user, permit the user to do so, the user can print out the results of his/her work on a networked printer in the CS for a fixed charge or can save them to a new, unused 3.5 diskette provided by STL for a fixed charge (see Library Rules, Appendix I - Price List of STL Services).

    5. Neither the copying, borrowing of original diskettes from the collection is allowed; no exceptions will be made, copies of diskettes will not be lent for the purpose of taking them away or for the purpose of studying them on site.

    6. Only those CD-ROMs which are not a source of secondary information or which do not contain data of a manual-like or reference character will be issued for the purpose of being taken away by a user. A security deposit will be required.

    7. Using Internet

      1. The browsing on Internet by a user is limited to those data files with are related to the information sphere of STL, i.e. to the field of technology and applied natural sciences. It is prohibited to browse on topics which are not related to the focus of STL (eg. entertainment, sports, eroticism, etc.).

      2. If necessary, the personnel on duty can set a time limit on the user's session, depending on the number of places occupied. A user may reserve a computer station for a specific period of time either personally or via telephone or e-mail. If he/she does not arrive at the time agreed, the reservation will be cancelled.

      3. The results of a user's work can be stored by the user, either to his/her working directory from where he/she can send outputs either to a printer or to a diskette for a fixed charge (see Library Rules, Appendix I - Price List of STL Services). When the session is terminated, the contents of the directory will be erased.

      A user working on the Internet must observe copyright law and other rules and conditions of access to his/her individual addresses/files. A user is obliged to respect the instructions of the producers as stated for the individual files. A user can only browse through the freely accessible addresses/files which are available to the user free of charge. A user is obliged to pay all costs incurred by STL as a result of the user's incorrect or unauthorized access to sources on Internet.


Part IV

Penalties for Non-observance of Binding Provisions

1. Charges for Late Return

    1. STL is not obliged to ask its users for the return of the borrowed documents, however, it can notify a user of the expiration of the loan period by sending him/her a reminder. The period used for the calculation of fines charged to the user for the late return of the document covers the period from the expiration of the loan period to the date of return of the document. The obligation to pay the penalty for late return arises on that day which follows the date of expiration of the fixed loan period. If the last day of the fixed loan period falls on a day when the library is closed, it is postponed to the nearest loan day. If a user does not return the borrowed document on time, he/she is obliged to pay on overdue penalty for late return regardless of whether or not he/she has received a notice reminding him/her to return the borrowed documents. If a reminder is sent, then the user is obliged to pay the charges for the STL's sending of reminders in addition to the penalties for late return (see Library Rules, Appendix I - Price List of STL Services).

    2. The fixed penalty for the late return of a document is paid for each volume (library unit) or for each issue (with periodicals not bound into year's volumes and with periodicals on micrographic media) as follows:

      1. for each (as well as initiated) period after the expiration of the loan period

      2. with trade documents, for each (as well as initiated) period after the expiration of the loan period per loan slip, with subject series for each additional week per loan slip

    3. Penalties for late return are collected in cash at the location where the documents are lent. If a user cannot pay the penalty for late return in cash, he/she will be sent an invoice for the amount due, this will include a handling fee.

    4. If a user does not pay a penalty for late return within one month from its assessment, he/she loses the right to loan services.

2. Enforcing the Return of Unreturned Lent Items

    1. If a user does not return the documents borrowed within the fixed period, he/she is sent a 1st, 2nd, 3rd and a Director's reminder for which the user is obliged to pay for a fixed charge to the STL (see Library Rules, Appendix I - Price List of STL Services) on returning the publication.

    2. If a user does not return the borrowed documents within one month from the sending of the Director's reminder, STL will proceed to enforcing the return of the document through a lawyer and subsequently through action in court. In such cases, the court costs will also be invoiced. This is based on the fact that the library collections of STL are a national property and as such are subject to special protection. Owner's rights to the documents in the STL library collections are not subject to negative prescription and they cannot be acquired by holding.

    3. Any damage to or theft of documents from the collections of STL is subject to recourse according to the general criminal law, without this affecting the claim of STL to a complete compensation for damage and to compensation of costs connected to asserting the rightful claims of STL.

3. Compensation for Lost, Damaged or Destroyed Documents

    1. The user is required to report any loss, damage to or destruction of documents to STL without any delay and he/she has an obligation to compensate for damage etc. within a specified period of time.

    2. In agreement with the user, another copy of the publication of the same or more recent edition, a copy or some other publication which STL will specify and which will be of the same value as the lost or destroyed publication or a full financial compensation can be accepted as compensation by STL. Informative and financial value of the library collections must be preserved. If the lost publication had been provided with a book binding at the expense of STL, the user is also obliged to pay STL the price of this binding.

    3. If the damage etc. is not compensated for in the manner mentioned above and if, therefore, the previous state is not restored to the effect of the provision of paragraph 442 of the Civil Code, STL will impose an obligation on the user to pay the amount due which is needed to make a reprographic copy of the said item and bind it, as a form of financial compensation.

    4. STL is entitled to claim the compensation of damages in full even if the loss, destruction or damage only concerns a part of a multiple-volume work, if this had resulted in the impairment of the whole work.

    5. In the case of a partial damage to a publication, STL can limit its claim to the price of the copy of the damaged part, to the price for re-binding, etc., if such a modification will not affect the value of the document.

    6. In addition to the compensation for damages resulting from the loss of, damage to or destruction of a document, the user is also obliged to pay the fixed fee for late return, for the reminders sent, for the Director's reminder and other costs incurred.

    7. In all cases, the management of STL will decide on the manner and the amount of the compensation after the matter has been investigated by authorized employees of STL.

    8. The provisions of the Civil Code on lending, on liability for damages and on the kind and scope of compensation for damages applies to the lending of documents by STL.


Part V

Services against Payment

1. Reprographic and Digital Services

    Reprographic and digital services are provided in connection with documents from the collections of STL and from documents procured by the library, solely for the personal purposes of the user in accordance with the provisions of the Act no. 35/65 Coll. (Copyright Act) in the wording of the Act no. 86/96 and 175/96 Coll.

2. IIS - International Inter-library Loan Service

    Publications and copies of articles in periodicals which are not available within the territory of the Czech Republic can be procured through this service from foreign libraries and institutions. The service is provided in response to the use of pre-paid fee stamps.

3. Retrieval Services

    The Retrieval and Reference Department performs literature searches either manually by using primary and secondary STL collections or on computers using CD-ROM databases, databases on the STL network and databases freely available on Internet, on the basis of an individual order placed by a user who, for whatever reason, cannot use the services of the Computer Study Room.

4. CD-ROM Databases

    CD-ROM databases are available to users in the Computer Study Room for their individual sessions (see Library Rules, part III, item 2). The retrieval services are provided on the basis of an individual order against payment (see Library Rules, part V, item 3).

5. Trade Documents

    STL provides the following chargeable services:

    1. The search for and the loan of trade documents on given topics (for users outside of Prague only).

    2. Procurement of trade documents from abroad and preferential loans on the basis of a specific written request. Fixed fee is charged per company.

    3. Regular sending of newly acquired trade documents in the circulation of subject series on the basis of a written order. Fixed fee per loan slip is charged.

    4. Retrieving and supplying the name and address of a company on the basis of a written request made by the user. Fixed fee is charged, per company.

    5. Borrowing company directories for studying in a study room. A fixed fee per volume of a directory is charged. (Free of charge for the 1st category).

6. The Price List of STL Services Forms the Appendix 1 to these Library Rules.

    1. When executed orders are sent via post, the postal charges according to the valid tariff and the packaging fee are added to the prices (see Library Rules, Appendix I - Price List of STL Services).


Part VI

Final Provisions


1. Deprivation of the Rights to Use the Services of STL

    A user of STL services who does not fulfil the obligations imposed on him/her by the STL Library Rules, which with his/her signature, he/she undertook to fulfil, can be deprived of the right to use STL services for a set period of time or permanently.

2. Exceptions to the Library Rules

    Exceptions to the Library Rules are permitted by the Director of STL.

3. Validity of the Library Rules

    These STL Library Rules were approved and went into effect on the 1st of September 1997. These Rules superceed the STL Library Rules dated 01/06/1995.


Prague, on the 29th day of August, 1997 PhDr. Jan Bayer, CSc.
Statutory Deputy Director of STL

© 1999 State Technical Library