Montenegro’s Library of Parliament launches new online service with support of OSCE Mission

On 17 January 2022, the Library of Parliament launched its automatic electronic publications service through My COBISS profile with the support of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro.

Only a few libraries in Montenegro can deliver electronic loans because it requires that at least 90% of material to be catalogued and entered into the Co-operative Online Bibliographic System and Services (COBISS) to be effective. This milestone was already achieved with the Mission's assistance in July 2021, when the Library of Parliament made its collection of books and journals accessible through the COBISS platform, enabling Montenegrin citizens and users, including legislators and their staff, to access Parliament's online catalogue.

Jelisaveta Blagojević, Head of the Library and Documentation Centre and Archive of the Parliament of Montenegro, said that digitizing the process was essential to modernize the library. "We decided to replace the traditional way of loaning books with a modern online system. By activating My COBISS profile, users will be able to use a range of online services from reserving publications, extending the borrowing period, to searching for review," she added.

As part of its support to the Library of Parliament, the Mission also assisted in drafting the library's rulebook, which details the day to day work of the library, and outlines the rights and obligations of users.

Nikoleta Kovačević, an expert hired by the Mission to support this work said that with this step, the Library of Parliament is making a significant contribution to the development of the Virtual Library of Montenegro project, which should connect all libraries in the country into a single information system.

The Mission stands ready to support Parliament's further digitalization efforts that will contribute to increasing its transparency and efficiency.