Access to patent information and documentation in public patent libraries

The paper summarizes the results of a study performed in 1980 for the Commission of the European Communities. The objective of the study was: to study the organization of existing public patent libraries and on this basis, supplemented with interviews with experts on patent information, to draft recommendations for the improvement of access to patent information in public patent libraries. The patent offices of the Federal Republic of Germany and France and the European Patent Office were visited in addition to the Science Reference Library in London and patent libraries and patent information centres in: Nürnberg, Liverpool, Lyon, Strasbourg and Toulouse. The most important problem areas identified are: identification of user's needs, the extent of the documentation needed, publicity programmes, location of the patent information centres, organization and staffing of the centres. The study is a supplement to two previous investigations sponsored by the Commission: Survey of Readership in Public Patent Libraries and Investigation of the Present and Future Use of Patent Literature.