Annex: Declaration by Parliamentary Library user

2. The Library is a specialized library [Section 3, Subsection 1, Paragraph (d), and Section 13 of the Libraries Act].

3. The Library is entered in the Library Register (Section 5 of the Libraries Act).

4. The Library's mission is to provide information and library services at the level of contemporary knowledge and in line with new directions in information sharing to the Deputies and Senators, to the bodies and agencies of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, to the organizational units and employees of the Office of the Chamber of Deputies, of the Czech Republic - Office of the Senate ("OS"), and to other institutions and users.

5. The Library provides public library and information services (Section 4 of the Libraries Act) and interlibrary services (Section 14 of the Libraries Act) to all its registered users on equal basis (Articles 1 and 3 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms) and based on the freedom of information legislation (Article 17 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms).

6. The Library's activities are further subject to the following laws and regulations:

a) Act No. 106/1999 Coll., Respecting Free Access to Information, as amended,
b) Act No. 20/1987 Coll., Respecting National Monument Protection, as amended,
c) Act No. 46/2000 Coll., Respecting the Rights and Duties Concerning Publishing of Periodical Press and to amend other Acts (Press Act), as amended by Act No. 302/2000 Coll.,
d) Act No. 37/1995 Coll., Respecting Non-Periodical Publications,
e) Act No. 121/2000 Coll., Respecting Copyright and Related Rights and to amend other Acts (Copyright Act),
f) Act No. 101/2000 Coll., Respecting Personal Data Protection and to amend other Acts, as amended,
g) Act No. 89/1995 Coll., Respecting the State Statistics Service, as amended,
h) Regulation of the Ministry of Culture No. 88/2002 Coll., to implement Act No. 257/2001 Coll., Respecting Libraries and Conditions for Operating Public Library and Information Services (Libraries Act),
i) Regulation of the Ministry of Culture No. 252/1995 Coll., to implement certain provisions of Act No. 37/1995 Coll., Respecting Non-Periodical Press.

7. The Parliamentary Library fulfils its mission as it primarily

a) systematically creates, updates, maintains and makes available an optimally profiled collection of monographs, journals, and other information documents and sources, including information stored on modern carriers (floppy discs, compact discs, etc.),
b) creates, with the aid of an integrated automated system an on-line catalogue containing all types of information documents, and, in co-operation with the OCD and OS Information Technology Departments ("IT departments"), ensures its maintenance in the computer networks of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, as well as on the Internet,
c) provides reference services specialized to suit the expert focus of parliamentary committees and other organs of both Chambers of the Parliament, and in co-operation with the IT departments provides management of the material contents of the computer network,
d) systematically creates and makes available information services in the form of bibliographic, factual and fulltext data in standard and electronic form,
e) makes available standard and electronic primary and secondary information from other libraries and information sources in the Czech Republic and abroad,
f) publishes lists of acquisitions, information bulletins, bibliographies and surveys of the legislative activities of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic,
g) provides users with tutorial training and advisory services concerning availability and utilization of local and external information sources (library collections, catalogues and databases),
h) in accordance with Article 19, paragraph (f) of the OCD Organizational Rules, maintains and develops active relations with foreign parliamentary libraries and international library and information organizations, primarily through the provision of international exchange of publications.

8. The Parliamentary Library endeavours to provide objective and impartial information and serves as an independent information channel for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Czech Republic Parliament and all its users.

9. Based on its collection profile, activities, and the focus of services provided, the Parliamentary Library possesses the character of a specialized and scientific library.

10. The Parliamentary Library Council ("The Council") composed of Deputies and Senators of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and external experts is an advisory and initiative body of the Parliamentary Library. Proposed by the Director of the Parliamentary Library, the Deputies and Senators as members of the Parliamentary Library Council are approved by the Chairpersons of Parliamentary clubs and/or by the Speaker of the Senate. The external experts proposed by the Director of the Parliamentary Library are approved by the Secretary General of the OCD. The activities of this body are governed by the Rules of Procedure of the Council.

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a) loan services:
- loans for studying in the reading rooms,
- for official purposes on the premises of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic,
- loans to be checked out of the Library,
- procurement of interlibrary loans from libraries located in the Czech Republic,
- procurement of international interlibrary loans;

b) photoduplication service (Library materials):
- self-service photocopying,
- express while-you-wait service,
- individual purchase-order services,
- Current Contents service (copying the contents of journals and copies of subsequently ordered articles);

c) reference services:
- familiarizing users with the user module of the automated library system and providing training classes in local database searching,
- providing location and information service concerning accessibility of other libraries' collections and electronic information sources via Internet,
- searching of information in local and external databases and networks,
- developing manuals and database guides,
- bibliographic information service and production of background searches using different information sources,
- selective dissemination of information service (SDI) upon request,
- special information services.

2. The Library shall provide its services on a differential basis depending on user categories (see Article 3).
The Library shall provide user services free of charge; this provision may be revised (Section 4, Subsections 3, 4, and 5 of the Libraries Act).

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a) local users, and
b) external users.

2. The local users shall include:

a) Deputies and Senators of the Parliament of the Czech Republic,
b) OCD and OS employees,
c) assistants to Deputies and Senators of the Parliament of the Czech Republic,

3. The external users shall include:

a) constitutional officials who are not local users,
b) other members of the College of the Supreme Audit Office and members of the Bank Board of the Czech National Bank,
c) employees of central state-administration bodies, employees of the Office of the President of the Czech Republic, the Supreme Audit Office, the Constitutional Court, courts, scientific institutions, as well as council members of regional self-government units, university staff, students, and members of the general public,
d) interlibrary loan service ("ILL") and international interlibrary loan service ("International ILL") participants.

4. The individual user categories shall have rights of different levels concerning access to specific information sources and collections which have been determined by the library and loan rules as follows:

a) local users' needs shall be expedited with priority by the Library,
b) the Library shall permit external users access to the Library premises in accordance with the regulations governing the protection of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate premises,
c) ILL and International ILL user requests shall be accommodated pursuant to the generally binding legal regulations applicable to these services (Section 14 of the Libraries Act).

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2. An individual or a legal entity shall become a user upon registration. The condition for registration is the acquaintance with these Loan Rules confirmed by a signature affixed to the "Declaration by Parliamentary Library User" form.

3. Local users shall be issued a user's identification card upon registration.

4. The user's identification card is not transferable. All users are required to report to the Library, without undue delay, the loss or theft of a user's identification card.

5. An automated user registration database shall be kept by the Library in order to protect its property and collections, to maintain the quality and promptness of its services, and to fulfil the obligations resulting from Act No. 89/1995 Coll. While processing personal data, the Library shall proceed in compliance with Act No. 101/2000 Coll. and other generally binding legal regulations.

6. Loans of materials from the library collection are governed by the provisions of the Civil Code (Act No. 40/1964 Coll., Civil Code, as amended).

7. The standard maximum number of materials on loan amounts to twenty-five volumes; assistants to Deputies or Senators may check out up to ten volumes. Exceptions are subject to approval by the Library Director. The following items may not be checked out:

a) books printed before 1946,
b) rare documents prone to irreplaceable loss or damage,
c) documents from reference collections kept in studying rooms
(parliamentary materials, collections of laws or law reports and opinions, encyclopaedias, multilingual or monolingual dictionaries, directories, timetables, etc.),
d) individual or bound copies of newspapers and magazines,
e) selected electronic documents stored on compact discs,
f) video documents.

8. The Library shall accept reservations on documents held on loan by another user. After the return of the document, the library shall notify the user who may collect it within seven days from the dispatch of the notice. In case of request for a single document by multiple users, the sequence of users shall be established on the basis of the recorded time of request and user category (Article 3).

9. The loan period may be short-term (two weeks), standard (four weeks) or long-term (400 days). Renewals are possible up to five times unless the documents on loan have been reserved for another user. The information resources on loan through ILL and International ILL are subject to a special loan regime and are governed by Section 14 of the Libraries Act and by the Regulation of the Ministry of Culture No. 88/2002 Coll. Users will be charged a set fee for the procurement of a loan from a foreign library.

10. The Deputies and Senators of the Parliament of the Czech Republic or OCD and OC employees wishing to keep certain documents permanently at their offices may be provided with such documents on the basis of a long-term loan.

11. Items on loan returned by a user to the Library show the same condition as upon check-out. At the time of the check-out, the users must inspect the respective items and immediately report any flaws. If they fail to do so, they shall be held responsible for any flaws discovered at a later point and liable to refund the cost of repair or replacement as in case of lost items. Users are not allowed to sub-lend or to make otherwise available items on loan to third parties and shall be held responsible for such items until they are returned to the Library.

12. The Library shall issue a maximum of six overdue reminders. Five unheeded overdue reminders shall be followed by a reminder with a caution; the only subsequent step shall be legal enforcement.

13. Borrowers who are employees of the Office of the Chamber of Deputies or the Office of the Senate, must return all documents on loan before the termination of their respective employment contracts. Is the borrower a Deputy or a Senator, he or she must return all documents upon the completion of his or her mandate.

14. The user shall be held responsible for reporting to the Library the loss or damage of any document and, within the time-limit set by the Library, he or she shall compensate the Library in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code for the damage incurred. The mode of compensation shall be specified by the Library Director. A damage or loss may entail the following forms of compensation:

a) procuring a replacement copy of the respective document,
b) procuring a bound photostatic copy of the respective document,
c) providing another document of equal value, or
d) providing financial compensation in the amount of the book-market price listing applicable at the time of the loss adjustment.

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2. Personal studying materials must be reported to the service desk clerk of the studying room.

3. The studying room users must maintain silence, behave in a respectful manner to other users, and obey instructions issued by Library employees. The consumption of food and drink and the use of mobile telephones is not permitted in the studying rooms.

4. Visitors to a studying room are entitled to use reference collections available in the studying room including newspapers and magazines on display. Bound and unbound newspapers and magazines must not be taken outside the studying rooms.

5. Each user may take out from the reference collections only information-source materials for his or her immediate use; after completing their work, the users must leave such materials on the desks. In principle, such source materials may not be borrowed for use outside the Library.

6. Publications from the reference collection in the studying room must not be taken to other rooms, and users must not damage such materials in the course of study.

7. Self-service photocopying is permitted only for a personal use. The Library may refuse to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction, providing that

a) it does not possess the necessary technological equipment or if such equipment is out of service,
b) the request exceeds the technical possibilities and capacity of the respective equipment in the Library,
c) the originals do not originate from the Library's information resources,
d) the originals are unique and rare prints prone to damage,
e) the binding and/or paper of the original material is in a poor condition (old prints).

8. The computer equipment available in the studying rooms is designated for information searches executed through local workstations, the local computer network or the Internet. The use of computer equipment for word processing, e-mail messaging and other applications is permissible only if it does not interfere with the primary designated use of the computer equipment by other users.

9. It is strictly forbidden to alter the configurations or settings of the Library computers, to install software brought by users, and to copy the applications or databases installed on Library computers. Personal floppy discs may be used only after being checked for absence of computer viruses by the service-desk clerk. Any data obtained by means of the computer equipment serve exclusively to the personal use of the respective user, and any further dissemination or commercial use is prohibited. Any user causing damage to the computer equipment due to improper manipulation shall be fully liable for the damage.

10. Compact discs containing databases will be inserted in the CD-ROM units by the service-desk clerk upon a user's request. The use of the computer equipment and the computer network may be restricted due to their maintenance.

11. Documents studied by a user in the studying room may be reserved in his or her name for a maximum of two weeks. The reservation period of most frequently used documents will be adequately reduced.

12. The permanent exhibit of new acquisitions displayed in the legislative studying room shall be continuously updated. The documents on display may be checked out immediately or reserved for check-out with the service-desk clerk.

13. Library users may recommend, orally or in writing, the supplementation of information collections by new sources.

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2. The binding form "Declaration by Parliamentary Library User" represents an integral part of these Library Rules.

3. Comments and suggestions regarding Library operation may be submitted to the Library Director orally, in writing or by electronic mail.

4. The Parliament Library Rules of November 15, 1996 are hereby repealed.

5. The present Parliament Library Rules take effect as of August 19, 2002.

Dated at Prague, this 5th day of August, 2002

Annex:

First and Last Name, Academic Degree......................................................................

Permanent residence...................................................................................................

Identity Card or other piece of identity (type and number of ID)...................................

Contact Address:
Parliamentary Chamber (Chamber of Deputies, Senate)...........................
Department/Committee...........................................................................
Extension................................................................................................
E-Mail Address .....................................................................................

I hereby declare that I have made myself acquainted with the Library Rules and Loan Rules of the Parliamentary Library, and I agree with and will adhere to the aforesaid rules.

I understand that a serious failure to comply with the conditions set by these rules may result in suspension or cancellation of my privilege to use the services rendered by the Parliamentary Library.

I understand that the borrowing conditions are governed in particular by the respective provisions of the Civil Code and the Labour Code regarding the contract to borrow and liability for damage.

Dated at Prague, this ......day of ...................

................................
User's signature

I hereby confirm that Ms./Mr. ................ is my assistant. I shall report any termination of his or her contract or the appointment of a new assistant during the given term of the Chamber.

.............................................
signature of Deputy / Senator