Supporting and disseminating science – the library in future tense

Presenting the Research Support Department at BME OMIKK (National Technical Information Centre and Library, Budapest University of Technology and Economics)

Abstract

In the 1990s, with the emergence of the internet and digital culture, a significant change occurred in the life of libraries, which has resulted in a complete paradigm shift. In addition to traditional library services, new responsibilities and functions requiring IT knowledge emerged, which enabled university libraries to join the scientific life in new ways, creating a mutually beneficial symbiosis with universities and research institutes. The library has become a universal data and information repository, where not only various print publications are available to students, researchers and professionals, but so are data, research findings and numerous digital electronic databases. The new Organizational and Operational Regulations of BME OMIKK, which came into effect in 2021, enable employees working in non-traditional library jobs to continue their activities not scattered among various organizational units but in a new, independent Research Support Department.