Services to Libraries

As an apex institution in the field of the library and information services, the National Library provides free consultancy service to Ministries/Departments and other public institutions in the setting up or re-organisation of their libraries or documentation centres.

The National Library has the statutory obligation to act as the National Bibliographic Agency and to compile the National Bibliography of Mauritius. The National Bibliography of Mauritius is an important tool which aims to list every work printed or published in and on Mauritius, to describe it in detail and give its bibliographical and subject matter as precisely as possible according to international cataloguing standard. It includes works in different format, that is, books, serials, society newsletters, government publications, company accounts and reports and newspapers.

The National Bibliography of Mauritius is a useful information tool for researchers and information seekers and gives access to the National Library’s Mauritiana Collection. It also incorporate comprehensive author, title and subject indexes, which are meant to guide users in their researcher work. Moreover, the National Bibliography is a valuable tool for verifying bibliographic information and encourages standardization in classification and facilitates book processing for libraries. It is also a useful tool for collection development for libraries.

The National Library also compiles other bibliographies of national interest, such as, Bibliography on Sir Seewosagar Ramgoolam, Indian Immigrations, Slavery etc.

The National Union Catalogue is a unified catalogue of Mauritiana materials held by twelve major libraries in Mauritius. It is a useful database for information seekers and researchers as they can browse the NUC to identify libraries holding specific Mauritiana materials before physically visiting each library. It is an indispensible element of library cooperation in Mauritius and primarily intended to facilitate inter-library lending and other forms of resources sharing. Participating libraries in this programme are :

1. The National Library of Mauritius – Port-Louis
2. The City Library – Port-Louis
3. The Olof Palme Library – Rose-Hill
4. The Simone de Beauvoir Library – Quatre-Bornes
5. The Carnegie Library - Curepipe
6. The Mahatma Gandhi Institute Library - Moka
7. The National Resource Centre, Open University of Mauritius - Réduit
8. The Police Library – Port-Louis
9. The Mediathèque Centre, Institut Français de Maurice – Rose-Hill
10. The University of Technology of Mauritius Library – Pointe aux Sables
11. The Malcom de Chazal Public Library - Vacoas
12. The Knowledge Centre, Enterprise Mauritius – Port-Louis

The National Library is responsible for the maintenance and updating of the NUC. The total number of records currently available in the NUC amounts to more than 71,000 and is accessible via the website of the National Library.

The ULP is an ambitious collaborative endeavour involving fourteen major libraries in Mauritius. It consists of the compilation and production of an online list of periodicals subscribed by the participating libraries, which are :

1. The National Library of Mauritius – Port-Louis
2. The University of Mauritius Library - Réduit
3. The Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security – Port-Louis
4. The University of Technology Library – Pointe-aux-Sables
5. The Open University of Mauritius Resource Centre - Réduit
6. The Knowledge Centre of Enterprise Mauritius – Port-Louis
7. The Mauritius Meteorological Service Library - Vacoas
8. The Carnegie Library - Curepipe
9. The Chinese Cultural Centre – Port-Louis
10. The Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Library – Port-Louis 
11. The Grand Bay Public Library – Grand Bay
12. The Olof Palme Library – Rose Hill
13. L’Institut Supérieur de Technologie – Rose-Hill
14. The Ministry of Arts and Cultural Heritage Documentation Unit – Port-Louis

The database which is accessible via the National Library Website provides bibliographical details of the periodicals, their location and the period during which they are held. Responsibility for maintenance and for updating the ULP rests with the National Library. For research purposes, this database represents a vital tool as it gives a bird’s eyeview of journal subscriptions available in Mauritian libraries.

At the National Library, journal articles are indexed and abstracts prepared on a regular basis so as to save the time of information seekers by enabling them to retrieve specific information in the shortest possible delay. Indexing and abstracting services are available on our OPAC.

Inter-library lending is indispensable in this information environment characterized by the information explosion, shrinking budget, downsizing and rising price of information. The National Library is well connected to major libraries in Mauritius and abroad. This cooperation among libraries ensures that users get a better service through inter library loan services. The National Union Catalogue of Mauritiana is an indispensable element of library cooperation in Mauritius and is primarily intended to facilitate inter-library lending and other forms of resource sharing and co-operation.