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The widespread use of geographic information and applications has been particularly favoured by the rapid changes and developments in GIS that have been penetrated into citizen’s everyday life. Geographical data has become an integral component of decision-making processes across various sectors, including urban planning, environmental management, and public health. The growth of geographic information and the corresponding demand create the need for libraries to play a central role both in its dissemination through organized collections (e.g. maps, geospatial data) and services, as well as enhancing the geo-skills of their users by organizing geo-information seminars and similar activities. The purpose of this work is to raise awareness amongst librarians to get involved in user education programs aiming to develop the geo-informational skills of their users. Though, the evolving role of libraries in promoting geo-information literacy will be explored, and their central contribution to enhancing the ability of users to understand, interpret and effectively use geospatial data will be examined. Additionally, contemporary methods of geo-informational literacy projects enhancing users' geographical skills used by libraries abroad will be presented. Finally, the paper will highlight the necessary skills that the librarian should have in order to successfully fulfil his/her educational duties.

Rapid developments in all areas of today’s life and society have highlighted Skills as key factor, both for formal education and lifelong learning, as well as for the workplace and the economy. Specifically, digital achievements in technology and information have a direct impact on libraries as places of knowledge, learning and awareness, as well as on their employees in terms of the skills they need to have or acquire and continuously develop. In this context, collaborative networks, library associations and consortia, can contribute to putting forward the challenges, needs and changes related to the skills of library staff in the 21st century. This paper presents the results of a survey carried out by the Hellenic Economic Libraries Network (H.E.LI.N.) in July 2023 in Greece and Cyprus, with the aim of recording the views of employees in Libraries and Information Centers on the skills they must possess in the modern information environment. In addition, the survey highlights those skills that participants consider improved by their presence in the activities and actions of H.E.LI.N.

The planning and implementation of the digitization of the Hellenic National Academic Recognition and Information Center (D.O.A.T.A.P.) archive* was a pivotal project for its entire operation. The physical archive of the Organization consists of the individual folders for the recognition of foreign academic titles and covers the period 1979-2019 (220,000 folders/ 132,000 digitized). The presentation analyzes the stages of preparing the material, defining criteria for document selection, dimensioning the documentation and managing needs of project. The development of archive management system, using open source software (Alfresco), represents the core of its digital transition. The methodology for extracting the functional requirements, the challenges and solutions provided are presented. In this context, the construction of the metadata schema, the integration of controlled vocabularies, the management of pre-existing database datasets and the mapping to the new schema, represent a critical factor both in supporting the representation of internal processes and its interoperability with third-party systems. At the same time, due to the active character of the archive, interventions to synchronize the operation of the Organization and the implementation of the project are recorded, with the utilization of internal resources and flexible workflows planning. Furthermore, aligning the digital management of folders with eDoatap platform required partial convergences of metadata and interoperability specifications. The synergies developed (EDYTE, KED) for the Organization's inclusion in horizontal digital services (ptyxia.gov.gr, etc.) and their results, constitute a distinct goal. The project implementation includes the study and rethinking of the overlapping practices, which reflect the historical course of the Organization, with the aim of preserving the institutional memory as well as simplifying and optimizing the processes through its digital transition. Finally, the structural connections of the archive with the National Registries (recognized academic institutions, types of titles, etc.) maintained by D.O.A.T.A.P. and its operation in the Greek academic environment.

Hellenic Economic Library Network (HE.LI.N.) is one of the collaborative networks that have been developed among the Greek librarian community. It owes its creation to the period of the economic crisis, when an immediate need for synergies arose. During its operation it has carried out, and continues to plan, and implement important actions, as a result of its gradual maturation towards the achievement of common goals and the successful communication of its members in terms of managing various issues derived from the participation in a cooperative scheme. This work is a review of the networks’ eleven-year activity, as demonstrated by the results of a survey carried out in July 2023 addressed to the library staff in Greece and Cyprus, regarding the skills of employees in libraries and information centers and the contribution of HE.LI.N. in their improvement. Responses to the research questions are consultation points between the network members and a source of ideas for future actions, aiming to a sustainable development and innovation.

H.E.LI.N. has been active for the last decade amongst the Greek library community, aiming mainly at the dissemination of economic information and the qualitative and effective service of communities of its members. One of the principles that HELIN has adopted is adapting to the latest developments at the social, economic and technological levels. Thus, maintain an essential and active role in progress and development and is not acting as a passive observer. The concept of sustainable development has emerged in recent years as a major global issue. The 2030 Agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the international community’s agenda for achieving short, medium and long-term growth, guaranteeing inclusive social well-being while ensuring the protection of the environment and natural resources for the benefit of both, present and future generations. Focusing on the adequacy and optimal use of economic resources, human needs, the preservation of the quality of natural resources, the survival of natural ecosystems and the treatment of pollution, the economic development and the improvement of economic well-being and the environment, are fundamental issues of ensuring the quality of human life. This paper aims to make known the actions adopted by H.E.LI.N. to inform and promote the 17 Global Sustainable Development Goals to which the European Union, national and international bodies and governments of UN member states committed. The way and methodology used to achieve this goal are also presented.

The purpose of the paper is to provide a detailed description of the academic research scene and scientific communication, in a more general sense, as it has been shaped nowadays, taking into account their constant growth. This growth is studied both in terms of the impact that technological developments and the Open Access movement have on scholarly research. In regards to that, the paper presents the tools, the services and the procedures of the libraries and/or other organizations which, when properly used within the academic space, can facilitate the researcher’s work. In this constantly evolving context of the scholarly production model, the highly active role and nature of the academic library is examined, playing a central role in the guidance and support of scholarly production. The paper also emphasizes the different kinds of collaborations with other organizations and units that could be developed by the academic library, especially within the academic institution, but also within the academic space in general, as well as activities that could be carried out. In addition, a reference is made to the necessary skills that the librarian is required to have, to support all the above as effectively as possible. Finally, suggestions are made for the adoption of good practices by libraries, in order to help enhance the improved pace of researchers in the use of the tools and services offered.

Resource sharing is a common practice for many libraries around the world; for example, in cataloging, in systems sharing and in the exchange and donation of items. Material exchange (books, journals, maps etc.) is a co-operative method between geographically adjacent libraries owning thematically irrelevant material or material available in multiple copies that can be donated to other libraries. This way, libraries with smaller collections and fewer resources can acquire material for free. The National Library of Greece (NLG), in order to promote the proportional distribution of items between members of the National Library Network (NLN), designed, developed, and put the “Exchanges and Donations Service” in a pilot operation, so as to support Greek libraries enrich their collections. At the same time, the goal is to cultivate a spirit of sharing between NLN libraries and strengthen their cooperation. NLG, among other libraries, will constantly supply the National Exchange Service with thousands of new titles from the Legal Deposit, ensuring that libraries collections will be enriched equally. All Greek public libraries that participate in the service will be able to provide and receive items for free. The current work will present the Exchange Service, which resulted from the cooperation of NLG, the Libraries and Information Centers of Panteion University and Harokopio University of Athens and the Library of the Eugenides Foundation. The history of the cooperation that led to the development of the Exchange Service, its purpose and objectives will also be described. Finally, the operating policy of the service and the re-quirements of participation will be addressed.

Purpose – This paper discusses the alternative channels of communication among academic libraries and their users. In times of crises, when the rise in misinformation is strong, communication with a focus on dissemination of the correct information is imperative. During the SARS-CoV-19 pandemic, Ionian University Library and Information Centre chose video production as an appropriate means of communication. Methodology / approach – We review the video production by academic libraries and especially in relation to educating users against misinformation and we also refer to the tools they use or propose for video creating. We present the Ionian University Library case study, taking into account the technical and artistic aspects of video production, as well as the content documentation. Findings – The appropriate collaborations of the Library as well as the need for communication and guidance of the users led to the creation of a series of 6 informative videos. When a "pandemic" of misinformation followed the COVID-19 outbreak, with the know-how and experience we had gained, we produced 2 new videos with two purposes: on the one hand, to maintain the communication with our users which was violently interrupted by the lockdown and on the other hand, to inform our users about misinformation and to equip them with a tool that would help them distinguish the fake news from the facts. Authenticity / value – Few academic libraries produce and systematically promote videos to communicate and inform their users. Even fewer are those that create videos with artistic pretensions. We wish to share the know-how our Library has accumulated over the last years on this issue.

Purpose – This paper discusses the alternative channels of communication among academic libraries and their users. In times of crises, when the rise in misinformation is strong, communication with a focus on dissemination of the correct information is imperative. During the SARS-CoV-19 pandemic, Ionian University Library and Information Centre chose video production as an appropriate means of communication. Methodology / approach – We review the video production by academic libraries and especially in relation to educating users against misinformation and we also refer to the tools they use or propose for video creating. We present the Ionian University Library case study, taking into account the technical and artistic aspects of video production, as well as the content documentation. Findings – The appropriate collaborations of the Library as well as the need for communication and guidance of the users led to the creation of a series of 6 informative videos. When a "pandemic" of misinformation followed the COVID-19 outbreak, with the know-how and experience we had gained, we produced 2 new videos with two purposes: on the one hand, to maintain the communication with our users which was violently interrupted by the lockdown and on the other hand, to inform our users about misinformation and to equip them with a tool that would help them distinguish the fake news from the facts. Authenticity / value – Few academic libraries produce and systematically promote videos to communicate and inform their users. Even fewer are those that create videos with artistic pretensions. We wish to share the know-how our Library has accumulated over the last years on this issue.

Open Access is an international movement in scholarly communication aiming to render scholarly research free to use, without any economic or technological barriers. Open access infrastructures are a necessity for establishing open access and open science at a national and international level. Studies have proved that more than 50% of scholarly research is now openly available. Searching and obtaining research papers that are openly available is challenging due to the dispersion of scientific literature in numerous open access infrastructures (institutional repositories, subject repositories, open access publishers, subscription publishers’ sites, etc). This paper aims to study how open 1) Greek scholars’ publications and 2) Greek institutional repositories are. It has identified the Greek Universities included in the top 10 places of Scimago Institutions Rankings. Then, all last decade’s publications (2008-2017) from authors affiliated with these universities have been downloaded from the Scopus bibliographic database. Lastly, the Unpaywall service has been used to determine how many of these publications are openly available. The paper presents information regarding the type of OA publications, the type of OA (green, gold, etc) the differences between universities and the levels of OA over time. It concludes with some recommendations regarding the management of institutional repositories within the scope of promoting the research output produced in Greece.

Geographical information is an important type of information, related to citizens’ daily activities, as well as to issues of the wider working and living environment in which they live and work. This makes geographic information a commodity of high economic and political value, which further supports a large number of government services to the citizen. Although academic libraries have been demonstrating operational innovations and actions in the past years, only a limited number sustain geographical collections and services. At the same time, librarians do not use maps and geospatial data, while they seem unable to identify potential GIS needs in their institution. As a result, they do not follow a management strategy for GIS while largely ignore the production of geospatial data by their academic community. The aforementioned above, as a consequence are also reflected to the users’ habits, which have turned to the internet since they consider Greek libraries as insufficient for covering their geo-informational needs. These data acted as a trigger for action for academic libraries, assisted by the National Library of Greece as well, with academic departments for which geographic information is an educational and research priority. Thus, in addition to justifying the importance of geographical information, the paper will present the Geographic Libraries Group to the wider library community and will describe the objectives that led to its establishment. Finally, the actions of cooperation achieved at both organizational and target levels will be noted.

The General Athanasios Daskarolis is one of the unsung officers of the Greek Army in whose long military career Asia Minor Campaign is included as well. After his family decision, and through the intervention of a Harokopio’s University Geography Department faculty member, a collection of 15 military maps of this significant Greek history period, were donated to the Library and Information Center. The maps remained in obscurity for a long time till the time that Library was funded from the European Project “Digital Govergence”. Thus, Library had the opportunity to upgrade the Institutional Repository “ESTIA”. In this context and in order to develop the infrastructure for the exploitation of its cartographic material, Library integrated the organization, processing and dissemination of the General’s A. Daskarolis military maps collection with the ultimate aim of preserving this valuable historical material and promoting it under open access to the wide public. The purpose of this paper is to describe both the collection’s maps and the digitization process used by the Library for their management. Additionally, General’s A. Daskarolis brief biography will be mentioned, while the future actions that should be taken in order to promote more effectively the geographical information derived from these printed documents to the general public, will be highlighted.

This paper aims to present the Hellenic Economic Library Network (H.E.LI.N.) that was set up in 2012, as a result of cooperation between academic, bank, research and government libraries with coherent link their economic collections, resources and information services. The formation of this network was the reaction to various difficulties economic libraries are facing during the recent years, in an effort, on the one hand, to remain as constant spots of economic knowledge, thinking and information, and on the other hand, to keep offering quality services to their communities: professors, researchers, students, executives from banks, organizations, enterprises and the public in general. This paper explains the importance of economic and financial information in the field of education and research, professional and everyday life. The value of libraries in accessing this content is also defined as well as the role of cooperation in a modern and challenging information environment. In particular, this paper is describing the reasons that leaded to network formation, its mission, its aims and objectives, its organization, its working method and the possibility for enlargement. In addition, this paper includes reference to collections and added value services that are available due to collaboration between the libraries of this network. It also presents actions that have been completed or are in progress, such as an one-day scientific conference, two lecture circles on economics for libraries and library tours. Finally, an evaluation of this cooperation during the first five years of H.E.LI.N. existence is attempted in an effort to show how different profiles between members can turn into advantage in order to boost network's potential and face successfully future challenges.

Library collections have been significantly enriched by electronic subscriptions. Library catalogs have consequently evolved from collection indexes to integrated search environments for printed and electronic resources. Characteristic examples are ebook records created by vendors, or added URLs for connecting records to the electronic or digital version of a printed resource. Greek academic libraries have started acquiring electronic resources since the 1990s. Users could have access to these resources using lists describing available at the library website or through a federated search engine. Nowadays, libraries still offer lists, even though the number of electronic subscriptions has increased and corresponding lists have thereby become big and complex to use. Searching in the contents of integrating resources is facilitated by web scale discovery services, such as Summon, EBSCO EDS. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Library & Information Centre has published in 2014 a new version of its website. The new website integrated the VUFind search mechanism and the Summon web-scale discovery service, thus enabling simultaneous searches in the Library Catalog and other AUTh Library services, as well as in AUTh and HEAL-Link electronic subscriptions’ contents. Monitoring the library website statistics has revealed ineffective searches with keywords referring to integrating resources’ titles, such as Web of Science, JSTOR, TLG, etc. AUTh Library users seem to use the Library Catalog as a main search mechanism for all library resources regardless of their format or mode of access. Within the scope of offering a Library Catalog that enables all user tasks, we have implemented an integrating resources cataloging policy. This paper presents relevant practices from other libraries, the policy implemented in AUTh Library, tools used for the creation of the MARC21 records describing the integrating resources (Ulrich’s Serial Analysis System and MARCEdit), and the prospect of future enhancements in the developed set of records.

As the global librarian community seeks strategies to engage libraries to play a vital role in sustainable development during the pandemic, libraries are trying to fulfill their obligation to promote information, support research and meet their users’ basic and special information needs. HE.LI.N., a cooperative library network which has been developed in Greece during the last decade, took the appropriate initiatives and actions in order to immediately adapt to the new reality and support the information needs of its audience. Social distancing and remote work challenges changed everyone's daily life and the present work will present the difficulties that information scientists faced and their efforts to efficiently respond to the new reality. The network’s actions as well as the evaluation surveys conducted afterwards, will be presented. Even though the planning of the network’s short-term future was directly affected by the constraints and difficulties created by the pandemic, nevertheless the network took advantage of the new challenges to explore and adopt new approaches and perspectives in the collaboration amongst its members. Furthermore, the current work aims to bring forward the concerns of its members regarding the limitations caused by the pandemic and to search for feasible solutions.

The library is always intertwined in the consciousness of its users as a physical place with books, study spaces and computers. The recent pandemic and lockdown forced the AUTh Library to abruptly postpone all its onsite services. The books remained on the shelves and all study spaces became empty. The AUTh Library proved to be prepared despite the unprecedented situation. All educational and research activities of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki were served thanks to the sound infrastructure that the AUTh Library builds for the last 25 years: electronic sources, open access digital material, electronic courses, online communication and reference services, online services, online guides and educational material, search tools, website and social media presence. Beyond the everyday educational process supported by the AUTh Library electronic courses team, the need for more electronic sources to the bibliographic support of online lectures and research emerged. In this context, the library website became the digital place that users visited to be informed and to discover more electronic material. The Library as a natural space has been temporarily replaced by the digital space, while at the same time online demands were significantly grown. This presentation highlights the role of the AUTh Library’s website and social media accounts during the pandemic. It emphasizes on the strategy that the library website team implemented to inform the AUTh community during the lockdown. It focuses on the target groups and on the use case scenarios implemented by the target groups to access AUTh Library and HEAL-Link sources and services.

The development of Institutional Repositories (IRs) in the last decade has strengthened gray’s literature gathering in academic institutions while at the same time has contributed to the emergence and diffusion of a significant number of collections with cultural content. Continuous changes in academic publishing create new opportunities for academic institutions to provide added value services, utilizing locally produced data, upgrading that way the role of both the institution and its members. In this paper we will present the results of a research addressed to Map/GIS Librarians in western world regarding the development of geospatial collections from locally produced data. The purpose of the survey was to investigate whether Map/GIS Librarians have responded to the new influences of the electronic environment taking advantage of IRs in order to develop innovative geospatial collections from the data produced by their members. Results highlight policies, open access and cooperation as determinants for the formulation of such collections while the point of view of these specialists is of great interest as to how they conceive the development and management of geospatial collections in the modern information environment.

In times of increasing Library Science Research transdisciplinarity and unprecedented global developments in the field of ICT, pedagogy and Higher Education both organizational and operational structures, and already eight years since the Bologna Process Stocktaking Report (Leuven, 2009) that explicitly stressed the necessity of enhancing Greek academic library services, our paper envisions investigating whether a collaborative conceptualization of LIS undergraduate curricula and CPD should be forming the basis of an LIS curricular reform as a necessary condition of sustainable service support and growth that will strategically contribute to promoting added value brought by academic libraries to the university community. Building upon 46th LIBER Conference’s (July, 2017) articulated strong focus on the development of flexible, open, interconnected infrastructural capabilities to support information professionals in LIS changing landscape via reorganization, adjustment and meaningful library, ischool and Higher Education administration conversations, we investigate (1) whether cooperative innovation should not be just confined to service design and delivery but also extend to the sphere of librarian education and training in proactive response to changing times and (2) whether and how we could take advantage of inter/intra-institutional mimetic forces for the transformation of university information centers into double-loop learning organizations. Analysis of a series of dispersed nevertheless interconnected primary research data, forming part of doctoral thesis preparation, focusing on current library pain points and Greek academic libraries transformation patterns, current LIS undergraduate program composition and continuing professional development facts and figures, as well as a literature review of the issues that academic library professionals will soon be challenged with, and a growing mindset towards library full integration in the educational process, a paradigm already becoming mainstream in the US and Australia, will help formulate a set of Greek LIS context-specific recommendations whose practical implementation could eventually help raise academic library sustainability index.

Academic libraries operate as a “hub” for transferring knowledge from universities to society, providing additional motives for action. The outreach shown by academic libraries has recently focused on their efforts to interact with the existing local communities beyond the traditional functions addressed for their users. Thus, the role of the library has expanded as academic librarians are taking advantage of opportunities for new collaborations both within and outside of their academic community, based on the recognition that libraries' can also be a partner in education and research "and not just a place to study or a repository”. The presentation will briefly outline the current state of academic libraries and highlight the knowledge transfer and outreach. Emphasizing academic libraries long experience in collaborations and referring to the existing collaborative schemes that have been formed in the Greek librarianship community, the presentation aims to address the factors that determine their interaction with local communities, while will focus on the actions they can take on a local network development to enhance their active role in knowledge sharing and social well-being.

The implementation of an institutional repository is a complex process of analyzing the needs of the academic institution that it serves, evaluating and selecting of software, documentation of establishing policies, valorisation of interoperability models and long-term preservation of its content. In the case of the Library of Panteion University, a framework is proposed for the development of the Digital Library "Pandemos", based on the choice of Fedora software for its installation and operation. The choice of Fedora software was based on its advanced management and representation of collections and objects, which in combination with its flexible architecture, it permits the integration of heterogeneous digital material (gray literature, photographical and historical archive, conferences material, journals, etc.), electronic submission of material, documentation and publication, further improvement and display of the content (SEO), application in multiple metadata formats, etc. This paper describes the stages of software selection, management and organization of collections and implementation by developing separate metadata import environments (editors), the applied standards of interoperability, the determination of policies for describing the material with the selection of metadata schemas. Furthermore, we indicate the main problems that were resolved in each stage of the implementation of the institutional repository, the steps followed to address them, collaborations developed with the involved staff members of the Library (computer engineers & librarians) and the degree of interdependence of their work. Finally, the uniqueness of the development of an academic Greek digital library in Fedora environment is presented, as far as the knowledge obtained and the prospects for the future.

The last decade was a turbulent one for Greek academic libraries, which had to deal with a number of issues such as the continuous remodeling of the higher education system by the Ministry of Education, the constant budget cuts in conjunction with staff reduction. For Greek academic libraries in order to become viable and sustainable in the future, there is an urgent need to cultivate develop and sustain strong relations of cooperation and synergy among them, as well as with other institutions and organizations. This presentation focuses on two interrelated issues: The first issue involves the academic library of Harokopio University that has undergone a number of changes such as the redesign of its information literacy programmes, the development of new electronic services as well as changes at its physical environment. In order to evaluate the impact of these changes and its extent to users, as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of their application, it was necessary to carry out a user study. The user study has revealed a number of interesting issues for further discussion and research. The most interesting and important proved to be the fact that very low percentages were recorded, of users that are familiar with the electronic information resources provided by the library. This finding calls for a redesign of the existing Information Literacy programme as well as the development of a virtual environment of guidance on demand, for information literacy. The second issue involves the working placement of final year students of the Department of Library Science and Information Systems of ATEI of Thessaloniki. This cooperation is most important for the library as students have become an integral part of it. Through this presentation it is attempted to present an example of good practice, highlighting their contribution in the day to day management of the library.

The electronic or digital book (e-book) is a book published in digital form. It can either be an electronic version of a printed book, or an electronic born book (e-born book). An e-book contains much more information than a printed book (e.g., dictionary, pictures, video, hyperlinks, translations into different languages, etc.) The reading is done with specific software by using specialized electronic reading devices (tab, e-readers), ordinary computers or even smart phones. The transition from printing to electronic publishing has led to significant changes in the publishers’ world. In this context, the business model has changed, in certain publishing stages such as printing, transportation etc. Therefore, the libraries must be ready to face the new reality that is formed and be able to understand the changes in the publishing business, which are dictated by the introduction of e-book and the certain domination of it over the next decade. The present diploma thesis is an effort that aims to investigate for the first time, the status of the Greek publishing in relation to scientific e-books. Publishers are considered "partners" of Greek libraries (including academics), so the study of the changes occurring is very important in order to develop any strategy. After research we collected 655 email addresses belonging to Greek publishers, focusing in the scientific book. An electronic questionnaire was sent to them by electronic mail. The main topics examined were: (a) the degree of e-books exploitation by Greek publishers, (b) the advantages and disadvantages of e-books compared to print (from publishers prospective) and (c) their intentions for cooperation.

A way of dealing with the problem of highly inflectional languages as well as the query – document terms mismatch problem is by implementing Language Processing Techniques. The aim of this study is to report, through presenting empirical data, on the Language Processing Techniques and their advantages if implemented by the information retrieval systems of Greek Academic Libraries. The objectives of this study are twofold. First goal is to acknowledge these techniques and then try to designate the interoperability issues deriving from the varying implementations. For this purpose, we examined Greek Academic Libraries which host both an OPAC and an Institutional Repository towards whether they implement any kind of language technology. Additionally, we report whether these techniques are implemented consistently in terms of the OPAC and the Institutional Repository of the same institution, as well as among different institutions.

The name authority files (personal names and corporate bodies) of Greek library automated public catalogues (OPACs), as it was resulted from a research made both with a questionnaire and bibliographic searching in more than 100 libraries of any type (academic, public, special), present errors that affect their reliability and effectiveness. Errors, that was tried to be detected, are mainly mechanical, that is orthographic, of typing, but also place in the wrong MARC tag or subfield, multiple establishing etc. Such errors result in decreasing retrieval effectiveness, since the way of establishing sometimes makes individual records recall more or less difficult or impossible. For a better approach, the presented types of errors are analyzed and band, the situation is evaluated while causes are searched. Finally methods of resolution are proposed, aiming to better development of human and other resources.

Today, the need for direct and open access to critical information that helps social cohesion, economic growth and information society’s advancement is a climaxing one. This need is based on social and organizational pressures for free and transparent access to trustworthy information. This need is now assisted by the ability of information systems to support new usage models and new demands and the maturation and spread of the appropriate access policies. As result, there is the development of Current Research Information Systems (CRIS). A CRIS is an information system for data gathering, recording, processing and promotion of research activities, organized by researcher, project, organization and funding program. CRIS can be used either as a national information infrastructure for research, or as an individual system for a particular University or organization. The major contribution of the existence of a national CRIS system is the centralized, homogeneous public promotion of Universities’ and other research organizations’ activity and the reusability of the current research information for educational purposes and further development. A CRIS should not be considered as an independent, standalone system, but as an integral system to the reality of researchers and institutions, with a central position in a network of systems that responsibly collects and presents otherwise distributed information. A CRIS interacts with the other information systems, such the ones in Research Committees, and Institutional Repositories, in order to increase the operational interoperability of metadata used in CRIS and OAR systems, by definition of metadata exchange and common vocabulary use. Some of the benefits of CRIS’ operation are: precise and efficient metadata input, avoidance of duplicate efforts, increment of the metadata quality, reliability, reusability, cost reduction for metadata handling and of course, improvement of the level of services offered by the University or organization. The further goal of a CRIS system is the achievement of open access to information in the form of open research and open education. Research information is represented, according to the Common European Research Information Format (CERIF) format, by a particular structure. CERIF is a formal model used to setup CRIS’ and enable their interoperation and it represents research information through key entities, such as People, Projects, Organizations, Publications, Patents, Products, Funding, Equipment, as well as with their in between relations. These research entities are categorized in four main categories: base entities (Person, Project, OrganizationUnit), result entities (Publication, Patent, Product), second level entities (Facility, Equipment, Service, Funding program) and link entities which consist of the relationships between the entities of the model. In this paper, we present the development of CRIS services that promote the current research activities and results of Hellenic Universities and institutes. The title of the project is “Services of documentation, promotion and development of scientific activity and research results of Hellenic Universities (CRIS)” and its implementation is the result of the co-operation between the National Documentation Centre and the Hellenic Academic Libraries Link. It is implemented under the nation-wide “Digital Plan” project, subproject 9: “Services of Added Value for Libraries and Information Services, Other Organizations and Final Users”, and it is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Greek Government. The Library and Information Center of University of Patras, Greece is the coordinating body of this project that that has as main targets the advancement and improvement of the following: - the collection, organization and projection of research information, such as projects, researchers, funding programs, publications, research data, etc., in Hellenic Universities. - the promotion of research activity for each University or research organization - the search for specialized researchers and the presentation of products of their research activity, such as publications - the presentation of results that are produced within each project and funding program - the quality, reliability and reusability of the research information Further goal of the above-mentioned improvements is estimated to be the promotion of all the Hellenic research activity and civilization in a well structured and organized form and the enablement of the public to access in open education and research information.

This presentation tries to offer some insight towards the goal of open academic textbooks in Greek Academic Libraries.

ΕSTIA constitutes one of the first open access repositories developed in Greece through the 2nd CSF, where initially graduate/postgraduate theses and PhD’s have been archived by Library's staff. The present study describes the development of the whole procedure to a self archiving model and its transition into an inter-departmental collaborative framework. This new model allows the end-user to deposit his work at the reposirtory. All theses are being checked by the LIC’s staff and consequently are published on the repository. Ιnitial results of the evaluation process are briefly presented. All the above are included in the project for upgrading LIC services named “Advanced Digital Repository and Electronic Library Services for Harokopio University” co funded by the European Operational Program “Digital Convergence”.

Presentation presented in the informative discussion-meeting organized by Harokopio's University Academic Staff Association along with Greek Free/Open Source Software Society (GFOSS) in Harokopio University on July 9th 2013