The Current State of UAP (Universal Availability of Publications): Better, Worse, or Much the Same?

Abstract

The universal availability of publications is at the heart of librarianship. In the last ten years the UAP Programme has done much to promote the concept, and useful research has been carried out. Political changes have eroded ideological barriers in some parts of the world, but other barriers have appeared in their place as some states have disintegrated. The cessation of centralized funding in Eastern Europe has affected publishing as well as library budgets; some libraries no longer benefit from legal deposit. Charging for interlibrary supply has become more common, although libraries often cannot keep the revenue earned. The voucher scheme for international interlibrary supply devised by the UAP Programme would help by taking the currency element out of many transactions. Technology opens up the possibility of much better access, whether by the use of CD-ROMs of full text or by online transmission, but since it requires equipment for access and may be costly it could widen the gap between rich and poor. Problems of copyright have also to be solved; the CITED project may alleviate these. Most of the barriers to UAP are outside the control of libraries. The commercial sector is playing a greater part in document supply. Cooperation between libraries has been slow to develop. Overall, there have been improvements in availability but a good deal of action is still needed.