The idea of MedSIG was first discussed at the 8th EURASLIC conference in Aberdeen in 2000 and 9th EURASLIC conference in Brest in 2001. Joan Baron Varley was the first to work through the initial proposition. The group was formed and had a discussion session at the 10th EURASLIC conference in Kiel in 2003. During that session, there was also presented a proposal to set up a network of Mediterranean libraries dealing with marine environmental information. Margaret Watts from UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan (Greece) and Sofia Goulala from National Centre for Marine Research (Greece) agreed to coordinate further actions. By the 11th EURASLIC conference in Split in 2005, the network begun to form. It was a cooperative effort amongst 45 libraries and information centres around the Mediterranean. Its aims were to share and exchange information on issues related to the Mediterranean region and professional advice and support on developments in information management.
First meeting of Mediterranean Marine and Aquatic Sceince Libraries and Information Centres Network was held in Cadiz, Spain, in 2008, where 10 representatives from six countries presented their libraries and information centres. Later on, the web portal of the Network was set, the ILL network started to form, and network changed its name to Mediterranean Aquatic Libraries and Information Centres Network. Due to the closing of library/information center of UNEP MAP, whose staff (Margaret Watts) did the majority of MedSIG work, after 2012 MedSIG and the Network stopped its activities.
Further reading:
Managing resources in a sea of change : proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference of the International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centres [IAMSLIC] and the 9th Conference of the European Association of Aquatic Sciences Libraries and Information Centres [EURASLIC], joint IAMSLIC/EURASLIC Conference held 14-19 october, 2001 at Brest, France / editors James W. Markham, David J. Hyett and Andrea L Duda. - Fort Pierce : IAMSLIC, 2002. pp 124
Tenth EURASLIC Conference : Short Post Conference Report to IAMSLIC // IAMSLIC Newsletter, 2003, no. 88 (August)
Smooth sailing : crossing the boundaries in aquatic sciences information management : proceedings of 10th Biennial meeting of EURASLIC, 7-9 May 2003, Institut fuer Meereskinde, Kiel, Germany / edited by Snejina Bacheva, Joan Baron Varlye, Barbara Schmidt and Allen Varley - Varna : Institute of oceanology, STENO, 2003. pp. 81-82
Watts, Margaret; Mayer, Marina (2010) Mediterranean Aquatic Sciences Libraries and Information Centres Network. In: Barr, Dorothy, (ed.) Confluence of Ideas : Evolving to Meet the Challenges of Global Change : Proceedings of the 35th IAMSLIC Annual Conference & 13th Biennial EURASLIC Conference. Newport, Oregon, IAMSLIC, p. 169.
Team: Jan Haspeslagh (project leader); Snejina Bacheva; Euraslic National Representatives
Sponsors: EURASLIC; IAMSLIC
One of the early projects of EURASLIC was to prepare a directory of aquatic sciences libraries and information centres across Europe, and the first edition was published in 1991, with the assistance of the Institut océanographique in Paris, giving details of 335 organizations:
Moulder, D.S.; Momzikoff, N. (Ed.). (1991). EURASLIC Directory of European Aquatic Sciences Libraries and Information Centres.
Institut océanographique: Paris, France. ISBN 2-903581-09-6. 184 pp.
The second edition contained details of 517 organisations, with information on the organisation (address, phone, fax, telex, email), and the library or information unit (staff, holdings, services etc). The second edition is now out of print:
Moulder, D.S. (Ed.). (1994). Directory of European Aquatic Sciences Libraries and Information Centres. 2nd edition.
Ministerio de Agricultura Pesca y Alimentacion: Madrid, Spain. ISBN 84-491-0023-2. 280 pp.
European Association of Aquatic Sciences Libraries and Information Centres (EURASLIC): Membership directory 2003
available as pdf
EURASLIC has now started the process of updating the EURASLIC Directory of European Aquatic Science Libraries and Information Centres.
The updated Directory will be uploaded into the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS).
This project is partly funded by IAMSLIC through their Special Projects Grant Cycle 2004
Team: Olga Akimova (project leader); Snejina Bacheva; Jan Haspeslagh
Sponsors: EURASLIC; IOC
Possible sponsors: ASFA-Board; IAMSLIC
BLICOP aims to create an online knowledge management system for literature on the Black Sea.
The proposed system will create (where necessary) and unite the electronic catalogues and databases of the Black Sea marine libraries into an efficient online information exchange system, providing access to the distributed co-operative resources, and supporting a document delivery service.
Users will be able to make online literature searches in the electronic catalogues of the libraries involved in the project and receive electronic versions of fulltext documents from the library stock. 6 Black Sea states (Bulgaria, Georgia, Rumania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine) are cooperation within this project.
A preliminary project meeting has been held in Oostende, Belgium (participants: Olga Akimova-Ukraine; Snejina Bacheva-Bulgaria; Jan Haspeslagh-Belgium) where a first project proposal draft was written. This meeting was funded by IOC.
Team: Maria Kalenchits (project leader); Jan Haspeslagh; Ludmila Kulagina; EURASLIC ECET Group members
Possible sponsors: IAMSLIC; IOC
The aim of this Project is to create an online searchable Union List of serials available at the EURASLIC ECET Group aquatic libraries. Information about serial holdings of aquatic libraries at the following institutions will be included to the database:
A priority goal is to optimize Interlibrary Lending Service within the Association through improvement of the access to the information on serials available at the aquatic libraries of Central and Eastern Europe.
Once completed this Union List will enable other interested libraries to add information about their serial holdings to the List