TEMPUS Programme COPETER Project

Objectives of the project

Strengthening and upgrading the higher education system in the Russian Federation through cooperative management and through the introduction of new information and telecommunications technology (ICT) for document ordering and supply through the university libraries.

Maximising the awareness and use of the locally available collections of books and periodicals.

The Copeter project is built along 5 strands:

1. Consortium building
   Legal and organisational structures for a successful consortium.
2. Management
   Library management has to be strengthened in order to create libraries which can take up their responsibilities in the new consortium.
3. Virtual union catalogue
   Production of Z39.50 compatible catalogues in order to create via this new technology standard virtual union catalogue first for the 3 universities taking part in the project and later on also for other libraries and institutions of St. Petersburg.
4. Electronic document ordering
   Creation of an electronic document ordering system.
   Management of the new service.
5. Electronic document supply
   Creation of an electronic document supply system of articles, grey literature and reports.
   Management of the new service.

By doing so the libraries of the consortium by the end of the project will have easy access to the collections available in the distant universities (collection sharing). New information and telecommunication technology will bring that distant information quickly and efficiently to the physical place where it is needed. This will enhance the quality of the information provision and will create a new learning and research environment for Russian universities. Consortium building and the introduction of more ICT will create a new less isolated type of library in St. Petersburg and through the proposed extensions and dissemination activities also in the entire Russian Federation and the countries of former Soviet Union.